5c insertion fees on eBay from June 2 to 15 (select categories only)

If you are an eBay seller, or want to give eBay a try, be sure to check out their new 5c insertion fees promotion running from June 2 to June 15, 2009!

This applies to select product categories, which however, include popular items such as many consumer electronics and select sporting gear (eg golf clubs). This applies to fixed price items only.

They also have more requirements and prerequisites, in typical eBay ball-busting bureaucracy.

Apparently they haven't fired enough of the idiots who ruined eBay by making stupid decisions one after the other and created insanely convoluted situations while allowing thieves and scammers to get away with cheating honest eBay sellers and buyers!

eBay, you need change we can believe in! Not rearranging the deck-chairs-change!

Tuesday only: 15c auction-style listings on eBay

If you are selling or thinking of selling stuff on eBay, be sure to take advantage of this one-day promotion on Tuesday April 21st, 2009! eBay.com is offering 15c auction-style insertion fees. This is especially beneficial if you are planning to list items of higher prices, because you would pay higher insertion fees.

For example, an item with a starting price of $500 has a $4 insertion fee. But with this promotion in place, you only pay 15-cents.

So if you have things you want to sell, but don't want to give away at bargain basement prices, you can take advantage of this opportunity and list them at the price you think they deserve to be sold at!

50% off auction-style listings in January (eBay)

As the new eBay bosses are making things worse and royally pissing off some long-time eBay sellers, it seems that they think that a month-long listing fees discount for selecting listings may sweeten the sour mood just slightly.

The promotion offers 50% auction-style listings for one-day and three-day listings. This is not unconditional as they do have some restrictions. Check your eBay messages or the Seller Central website for more details.

And be sure to tell eBay that you are unhappy with the way they have SCREWED UP eBay the last few years. And that includes YOU new executives!

Why do I say that? Look at the fees, look at the user interface for a seller, look at the convoluted category fees, it's a major pain to list stuff on eBay, and if they sell, eBay takes a BIG chunk of your money. Especially when you have alternatives like Craigslist.

eBay executives,

WAKE UP

Half-off auction-style listing fees at eBay (Monday and Tuesday)

Attention eBay sellers! eBay is having a two-day "sale" on listing fees for auction-style listings. The special discounted prices are good for Monday and Tuesday November 24 and 25, and they are on Pacific time, from 12:01am on Monday (one minute after Sunday is over) to 11:59pm on Tuesday.

Needless to say, this is good if you are planning to list items that you would otherwise not consider listing because you think that there was a good chance they may have not sold. With half-off the listing price, you can either save on listing fees, or perhaps choose higher prices or upgrades, thus having a better chance at a more favorable outcome. Or, if nothing else, pay a lower listing fee :-)

eBay sellers special: 25c fixed price listings until July 29!

eBay has just launched a new special to entice people to use fixed price listings from July 16 to July 29, as they will only charge a 25c listing fee. This is only for "Fixed Price Listings", not all eBay listings. This is especially good if you are planning to sell items that would otherwise have high listing fees, since your risk now is much lower, namely 25c per item, instead of the standard fees.

And speaking of eBay, if you are selling or plan to sell more than a few items, do consider investigating the eBay store and ProStore options, depending on the number of items and volume. This can save you on listing fees, especially if you have a lot of slow selling items. You can save a lot in listings fees and unlike an auction, you don't have to sell it unless the buyer pays your prices, or makes a reasonable best offer.

eBay Sellers: Discounted FVF (Final Value Fees) for offering free shipping!

eBay is having a special promotion going from May 23 to June 1, 2008, in order to entice sellers to offer free shipping. Of course regular eBay sellers are well aware that eBay likes free shipping because they can also charge a final value fee on the shipping and handling fees, eating away at the poor seller's already thin profit margins. Of course buyers like free shipping too, even though I'm sure most of them are not dumb enough to think that they won't pay for shipping one way or another.

So it's with that irony in mind that we present the details of this eBay sellers promotion, which includes a 15% return of the final value fees. Be sure to read all the terms and conditions and restrictions if you are interested.

We think that if eBay is honest about wanting people to offer free shipping, they should permanetly offset the final value fees for free shipping seller listings. Are you listening fee-Bay? :)

50c fixed price listings on eBay (May 7 to 14, 2008)

eBay sellers, current and future, there is a special offer by eBay, running from May 7 to 14, 2008. Your eBay listing fees for fixed-price listings, will be limited to 50cents, regardless of how much the regular listing fees may be.

This is a great deal for those who are typically paying more than 50c in fixed-price listing fees! This means that if your starting price, opening value or reserve price is $10 or more, you will only 50c regardless! Visit eBay for more details.

1c auction-style listings on eBay for a whole week!

eBay is trying to generate some buzz on its site by offering eBay sellers and eBay users in general a special on linsting fees. But there is a catch, the sellers must have a certain DSR level to get the special promotion. Apparently eBay does not want to encourage "iffy" sellers to flood the market with more "iffy" listings :)

The special promotion, in pacific time, ranges from March 25 to 31st, 2008. Details on it by eBay itself.

DSR for those not familiar, is the relatively new "detailed seller rating" that eBay introduced so as to give buyers a better handle on how good a seller is. They apparently decided that the three tier rating of "positive", "neutral", or "negative" was not detailed enough, and it was not giving buyers an accurate picture.

There are some exclusions and restrictions and such, so be sure to read all the details, and if you haven't check, take a look at your DSR rating if you are an eBay seller.

eBay slashes listing upgrade prices for March 1 and 2, 2008

eBay sellers, eBay is running a special for you! The listing upgrade prices have been slashed! These are not the standard listing prices, but prices of listing upgrades, things like the "Value pack", "Featured Plus", "Picture Pack". If you don't know what these mean, you are probably not using them.

If your listings are just the basic with the minimum fee required, you won't save a thing. But if you do usually pick extra listing features, you may get some nice savings.

Also, this could be a good opportunitey for you to experiment with these new features at a discounted prices. More details at eBay.com.

eBay sellers: 20c auction and fixed price listings today!

Whether you are a regular eBay seller, or a brand new eBay seller, eBay has a special promotion for you! Everything you list in the auction-style and fixed-price listing categories have a fixed 20c listing fee. This is a good opportunity to list items with higher starting prices, without having to worry about paying a high listing fee.

This is a good way to get rid of the gift cards you accumulated during the holiday season, and you have not used them, and you do not plan on using them or re-gifting them!

More details at ebay.com

eBay Motors $1 vehicle insertion fee

Attention eBay sellers! eBay has a special offer for you. More specifically, those who are interested or using eBay Motors! They have a special promotion running on February 9 and 10, 2008. You only a $1 insertion fee to list a vehicle on eBay. Not bad considering the prices of most vehicles.

The promotion runs on pacific time zone, so it's 12:01am on February 9 until 11:59pm on February 10 pacific time. Add three hours for eastern, and adjust appropriately depending on your local time zone.

For more details, terms and conditions, and such, be sure to visit the ebay promo page.

20c listings on eBay on Wednesday (auction style and fixed price)

eBay sellers eBay has a special for your tomorrow, Wednesday, January 16 2008! You get 20c fixed price and auction-style listings regardless of the starting price of your listing! The special runs from 12:01am to 11:59pm on Wednesday using eBay time which is Pacific time.

For more details, check your email or visit the eBay Seller Central website. This is a nice deal for eBay sellers!

Great Article: What to do with your unused and unwanted Gift Cards and Gift Certificates

While surfing around the net we found this great article discussing what to do with your unused and unwanted Gift Cards and Gift Certificates. One option of course is to send them to me, but most people don't like that option :)

There are some great ideas and tips there.

I have one bonus tip for you: Today only eBay has a 10c listing special (today: Thursday December 27, 2007). You can list an item (auction-style or fixed-price) for 10c, regardless of what its price or starting bid. So let's say you have a $100 Starbucks card. You want to sell it at a good price but don't mind keeping it and using it yourself. So here's what you do: You create a fixed price listing, 7-day duration, and put the Buy-It-Now price as the maximum you hope to get (eg $100 or $95 or something like that). Then enable best offers, and mention prominently in your listing that you accept best offers. This will generate a reverse-bidding situation where you can get offers from interested parties and you can make counteroffers as well (up to 3 offers per interested person). If someone makes an offer or buys it at the Buy-It-Now price, that's great! If no one makes a good offer, then you have only lost 10c (10 cents).

On the other hand if you create an auction-style listing, you will have to sell the card to the highest bidder whether it's $99 or $59. In order to protect yourself there you would have to have reserves or high starting bid prices. This really depends on the type of a gift card. If it's a hot item, it will probably do very well in an auction-style listing. But it also depends on supply and demand.

10c listing fees on Thursday December 27 on eBay!

Attention eBay Sellers! There's a listing special starting up on eBay at midnight pacific time tonight! 10c listing fees! The offer is good for December 27, the whole day, using the pacific time zone which is eBay time. This is a one-day only special!

New promotion: 10% Off Holiday eBay Purchases with the eBay MasterCard

This promotion is mentioned in Friday's eBay Announcements. eBay shoppers this is for you: Get 10% Off Holiday Purchases with the eBay MasterCard for your eBay purchases. The max you can get back is $25 (meaning it caps at a $250 purchase). The promotion runs from November 15 to December 15, 2007. Details at the eBay Masterard promotional website. The 10% rewards credit will appear automagically on your credit card statement.

New PayPal Security Key from eBay

In an effort to increase security and decrease PayPal fraud, eBay is launching a new PayPal security key. This is a physical key that you will receive in the mail from eBay/PayPal for a small non-refundable $5 fee to cover cost and S&H.

The key changes a unique security code every few seconds, so it adds an extra layer of protection around your account. It is a small thing, think of those small mp3 players or usb drive size, rather than cell phone size.

If security is your #1 priority on PayPal and you had issues before, then it is definately worth a look. This will add an extra layer of usage since you will have to enter the security code, so for some people the extra task may not be worth the effort. It is up to you to check what it offers, guestimate your risk factors, and decide what's the right thing for your situation.

eBay sellers: Two days of free 10-day listing upgrades on eBay (Thur and Fri)

For the next two days (Thursday and Friday) you can upgrade your new listings to 10 days for free. You still have to pay the usual listing fee, but you don't need to pay the 40c listing upgrade fee to make your listing last 10 days.

This promotion covers the 10-day upgrade listing fee which would 40c. This offer applies to Auction-Style listings and Fixed-Price listings, the two most popular eBay listing categories.

Sadly it is not a free 10-day listing as I had originally thought when I first read their promotion :(

eBay sellers: No listing fees with a Gallery picture on August 15, 2007!

One day special on eBay, if you use a Gallery picture in your listings, and start under $10, the listing (insertion fees) are free. This is good for Auction-style and Fixed-price listings. The day is defined by pacific time, so it starts at 12:01am pacific going from Tuesday to Wednesday, and ends at 11:59pm pacific going from Wedn to thursday. Pacific is +3 hours from eastern time.

This is a good deal if you plan to use a gallery picture and start your listing at under $10. If not, then there are no savings :(

July 24 Daily Deal Round up

American Express promotes it's rebooted Membership Express Rewards program. One prominent new feature is actually very useful: Points Advance!. You can take an points advance if you are close to a reward. Then you have a few months to earn those points. If you do not earn them on time, then they will charge you with the purchase of those points. A very fair system in my opinion. They have also added new rewards from Red Lobster, Olive Garden, California Pizza Kitchen. You can also redeem for pre-paid Express Rewards Hotel Cards. Always earn double points in the Bonus Points Mall website.

AAA members don't forget that your membership card can give you instant discounts on a number of restaurants, both local and chains. Check under Dining on the AAA website for a list by city or by zipcode. Also if you select an automatic renewal of your AAA membership you get a one time $5 off discount off your current dues!

Rite Aid has one of the best rebate programs in the country because you can submit everything online, simply by entering numbers from your cash register receipt on their rebate website. Their rebates for the month of July total $500 if you use every single offer in the book (171 offers). Obviously very few people can do that, but they may have some items you will like. For example this week you can get one Fuji T120 VHS tape free after rebate.

Borders Books has sent an email invitation to take an online survey. Survey participants will receive a 30% off any one item coupon with purchase of over $10

Two day sale at Kohls, and free shipping with orders over $75 according to their latest email. Some of the items mentioned in the email: Kitchen Aid Classic Plus Standard Mixer at $190 and Heavy Duty Plus Stand Mixer for $250. They also promote a $20,000 summer giveaway for those visiting their website.

The latest email from Sears is promoting their washers and dryers, with free delivery, an extra 10% off if you buy a washer and dryer together, no interest and no payments for 12 months with purchases over $400 (Sears put the amount requirement in the fineprint instead of the ad, Bad Sears Bad!). They also promote a 32" Samsung LCD HDTV for just $900. It's amazing how much LCD HDTV prices have fallen! Also a Sony DVD player/VCR combo for $90

More chances for college savings at Upromise, with Land's End purchases now earning 5%, Lillian Vernon (you may remember them from the recurring MadTV sketches) at 8%, Nordstrom at 3%, Magazines.com 25% (yes twenty five percent), Overstock 6%, Sears 2%, a flat $12 reward with a new NetFlix membership and a lot more. Visit their website for more details.

For the latest digital camera deals, be sure to visit camera deals

eBay Sellers get 50% picture pack fees. Picture pack gets you up to 12 pictures in your listing slide slow, allows supersize pictures and shows the gallery picture in eBay's search results. Some listings may benefit from it, but certainly it doesn't make sense to use it for everything.

Two Sony items are advertised in the latest CompUSA email, the Sony Reader Electronic Book for $300 (you get $150 worth of eBooks with purchase and registration before 7/31), and the Sony VAIO FZ180E/B notebook computer at $1850 after a mail-in rebate of $150.

For gift card collectors out there, Office Max is adding five new back to school gift card designs.

Universal announces a new 75 original theatrical cartoon collection of Woody Woodpecker and friends

Amazon offers a free 2gb memory card with select digital camera purchase, the TomTom GO 510 GPS for $300, the pink Apple iPod Shuffle for $75, LCD monitors under $200 and a lot more

Now through September 1, 2007 get $30 in reward certificates after your first purchase with your Best Buy card outside of Best Buy stores or BestBuy.com

$50 dining dough dining card with any purchase over $150 at Staples. Be aware though that the dining dough card is a restaurant discount certificate program, it is not a $50 gift card. The way it is presented is misleading for those not familiar with the program. Read the details at diningdough.com

eBay added to shopping cashback programs

If you frequently shop at eBay, and you participate in caskhback referral rewards programs (eg FatWallet, eBates, Citibank Thank You Network or Bonus Cash Center, the equivalent from Chase, ShopDiscover or American Express) be sure to check for eBay as they have been added there. They are usually in the 1% cashback category but if you shop often or spend big amounts, they add up. Every penny counts!