Postal Rates Going Up This Month (Again)

The Online Seller's News, January 27 2012, Volume 12, No. 2

Tips, Tools, News and Resources for eBay, Amazon and Independent Online Sellers
by: Skip McGrath

In This Issue:

Musings from eBay, Amazon, and beyond

1. Postal Rates Going Up This Month (Again)
2. Merchandise Marts – A Wholesale Bonanza in Almost Every City
3. When Amazon Holds up Your Product for Hazmat Inspection
4. eBay Niche of The Month – Southern Heritage Cookbook Library
5. New Wholesale Sources for eBay and Amazon Sellers

"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." ~ George Edward Woodberry

Musings from eBay, Amazon, and beyond

This is the time of year when eBay makes their announcements of the big changes in policies and fees that take effect in the spring. If tradition holds, they always do it the day after I send out my newsletter. So if you see an announcement from eBay about new changes, check my blog a day or two later and I will have my take on the changes posted there.

Amazon is giving away a free copy of Chris Green's book Retail Arbitrage on Kindle for just a few days. If you have a Kindle reader you can get your free copy here. Retail Arbitrage

This is a reminder notice for Amazon FBA sellers. On February 1, 2012, Amazon fulfillment fees and how they calculate weights for Units sold on Amazon.com will be changing. In an email to sellers, Amazon said:

"We remain committed to providing low cost fulfillment services. At the same time, we must balance this with our commitment to provide the high level of service and the fast, free shipping our customers expect. FBA storage, order handling, optional services, and Multi-Channel Fulfillment fees will not be affected by these changes."

The following fees will be effective as of February 1, 2012:

• The Pick & Pack per Unit fee will be $1 for all Standard-Size Units ordered on Amazon.com.
• The Pick & Pack per Unit fee for Oversize Units ordered on Amazon.com will be $6.00.
• We will use the Outbound Shipping Weight rounded up to the nearest pound to calculate the Weight Handling Fee and decrease the per-pound fee from $0.40 to $0.37.

So if you have any oversize items in the warehouse, you may want to revise your prices to account for the new fees. Personally with the new $6.00 P&P fee for oversize items, I am lowering the price on my oversize items to get rid of them, as that is a huge cut into my margin.

 New Module for The Proven Amazon Course:  As mentioned in my previous newsletter, the 'Proven Amazon Course' has just been upgraded to include "Advanced Retail Arbitrage" training. It's the best "what to sell and where to find it" retail training you'll find for your Amazon (or eBay) biz.  This training was delivered via webinar and was made available to only 30 students that paid $1,400 each! They were mentored live in the webinar by Chris Green, Nathan Bailey (my coaching director), and Jim Cockrum. The good news: It was all recorded!

 As a result of this new "Advanced Retail Arbitrage" training having been added to the original PAC course, the course now has a slightly higher price tag (I failed to mention that in my previous mailing - sorry). If you don't have the PAC course yet, it's still a steal at $159!   Click here to get the new Proven Amazon Course.

 Already have the PAC? For those that purchased the PAC prior to the new training being added:

If you want to upgrade and get the new "Advanced Retail Arbitrage" training, please visit the bottom of the current PAC resource page (the link you received when you purchased the PAC originally) and look at the bottom of that page for upgrade options.  If you have questions contact us, or Jim Cockrum's customer support. 

[Note from Jim Cockrum:  Sorry for any confusion about PAC pricing, but the fact is, the value of the PAC course just went up by hundreds of dollars (minimum) so a price increase was necessary].

While you are at eCommerceBytes (formerly AuctionBytes) doing the survey, there is a really excellent article about Challenges Facing Online Sellers.

EcommerceBytes asked a panel of experts a series of questions about the challenges and opportunities facing online sellers in the year ahead. Part 1 tackles the biggest challenges online sellers face in 2012 and asks if ecommerce is more difficult for small sellers now compared to 5 years ago.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y12/m01/i09/s000. Part 2 of this series on online selling trends tackles the opportunities available to sellers in 2012.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y12/m01/i10/s02. Both of those are really interesting articles.

Lets get started with this month's articles:

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1. Postal Rates Going Up This Month (Again)

Postal rates going up again; not exactly a surprise. If you ship your eBay products via US Mail (USPS) then you need to go into your listings and adjust your shipping charges. The new rates went into effect on January 22^nd. The Shipping Calculator, eBay Labels and PayPal Labels will be updated this week to reflect these changes. Priority Mail prices increased an average 3.1% which isn't too bad – When I read the stories about how many billions the postal service is losing, I was expecting more.

Here is the new domestic retail pricing for Priority Mail Flat Rate products:

• Small box — $5.35
• Medium box — $11.35
• Large box — $15.45
• Large APO/FPO/DPO box — $13.45
• Regular envelope — $5.15
• Legal-size and Padded envelope — $5.30

Commercial base Priority Mail pricing will offer an average 6.8 percent discount off retail prices for customers using online and other authorized postage payment methods. This would include printing your postage through eBay or using a service like Stamps.com, which is what we use. Stamps.com is still running their special $100 bonus offer for my readers. If you sign up through Stamps.com/skipmcgrath you will get a free $50 postage scale, $45 in free postage and $5 worth of shipping supplies.

USPS is adding a new, larger Regional Rate Box C (12" x 12" x 15") to the existing two sizes. If any of the three Regional Rate Boxes is entered at retail, a 75-cent additional charge will be applied.

First-Class Package Service (formerly known as First-Class Mail commercial parcels and now a Shipping Services product) will see an overall price increase of 3.7 %. The USPS Intelligent Mail package barcode will provide free visibility to these parcels.

USPS also adjusted prices for other Shipping Services products and services, including Parcel Select, Parcel Return Service, International Mail, Premium Forwarding Service and Post Office Box Service.

If you ship with USPS, be sure to review the changes and adjust you listings as necessary.

As a part of the January 22 rate update, USPS will begin extending FREE Delivery Confirmation to First-Class Mail. So if the cost of Delivery Confirmation was holding you back from using online labels, now's the time to get started. With eBay Labels or Stamps.com you can purchase discounted postage, prepare multiple shipments, and print shipping labels—all automatically prefilled with your buyer's name and address.

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2. Merchandise Marts – A Wholesale Bonanza in Almost Every City

I have written about Wholesale Merchandise Marts before. After Wholesale Trade Shows they are my absolute favorite place to source products to sell on eBay and Amazon.com.

Merchandise Marts are located in most large cities and some smaller ones. They are wholesale showrooms that are not open to the public. Typically you will have to prove you are a legitimate reseller. Most marts will ask to see a business card and your resale number (state sales tax certificate). A few marts will ask to see a checkbook in your business name. Once you enter for the first time, you will be in their system and in the future just walk in, give the receptionist your name and they will hand you a badge. With the badge, you can walk into any of the shops in the mart and place orders.

The merchandise marts have shops that look just like retail stores. You shop for goods, just like you do in a store but you are buying wholesale by the case. Most marts do not have product to carry out. Typically you place an order and the goods are shipped to you. The individual shops are owned by Manufacturer's reps that take a small commission from the manufacturer who ships the goods directly to you.

The prices are authentic wholesale prices. The price you are buying at is usually 50% of the MSRP. Most lines require a minimum opening order. Typically this will be between $150 and $500. Then the re-order amount is usually half of that.

Here are some shots of our wholesale mart in Seattle, The Pacific Market Center.

We visit our market about three times a year and pretty much spend the whole day. There are over 300 vendor shops in our market so there is plenty of merchandise to look at. Some of the categories represented include housewares, kitchen products, clothing and fashion accessories, jewelry, toys, gifts and even a few electronics suppliers. Occasionally some of the product lines represented will not deal with online sellers, but there are enough that do so you will have a wide choice of products to source.

If you own the Complete eBay Marketing System or The Wholesale Buying System, then you have a list of US Merchandise Marts and over 100 wholesale trade shows in your bonus items.

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3. When Amazon Holds up Your Product for Hazmat Inspection

Has this ever happened to you? You create a new product on Amazon and when you go to ship it you get a message that your product has to go through Hazmat evaluation. Or even worse, you ship your product to Amazon; they receive it and show it as Unfulfillable inventory. When you email support they tell you its because its being held up for a Hazmat inspection.

If I were dealing with hazardous materials I would understand, but Amazon has done this on obviously not Hazmat items. For example I created a listing for a glass vinegar & oil bottle and Amazon held that up for two weeks. Then the same thing happened on a set of glass kitchen canisters. Somehow I doubt if my empty vinegar & oil bottle would be hazardous unless you smashed it and ate the pieces.

One of my readers had this happen on a huge shipment of fast selling spa products just like those already selling on Amazon. Amazon held those up for weeks, then asked her to fill out a Hazmat form but didn't tell her where to get a form.

Amazon support says the Hazmat review takes 2-3 business days but the least time I have experienced is one week and the longest was three weeks.

So I did a little checking around and think I have found a workaround. When you create an item, there is a page where you can enter More Details. (See the screenshot below).

Now when I create an item I fill out all of the information under the tabs except on the More Details page. On that page I only set the Start Selling Date, the item size and weight and the package size and weight. Leave everything else blank (unless you really are selling a product that might be considered a Hazmat threat).

I have found that since I started doing this, none of the items that previously caused me problems is being caught. In my particular case, all the items that caused an issue were made of glass. By not telling Amazon the item was made of glass, it seemed to solve the problem.

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4. eBay Niche of The Month – Southern Heritage Cookbook Library

This month's niche from the Home Run Guide is by Sharon Ware. Sharon designed my eBay store and works with us in our coaching program. The Home Run Guide is an excellent book about product niches that really work for eBay sellers. If you want to get it, use the code Skipsniche at checkout and you will save $25.

Sharon is the founder of Dandelion Consulting and an eBay Certified Business Consultant (one of only 32) with clients worldwide.

Sharon consults and partners with sellers both large and small in growing an eBay business and offers consulting for beginners to advanced sellers, eBay store set up or re-design, site analysis, plus lots more. Her eBay store is Dandy Rubber Stamps and Crafts at (http://stores.ebay.com/Dandy-Rubber-Stamps-and-Crafts).

Her website is: http://www.DandelionConsulting.com

Southern Heritage Cookbook Library

If you love cookbooks, stories and history about food, old photographs, vintage advertisements, Victorian die-cuts and verbal vignettes that link people, places and events of Southern history with the recipes, you will love this 19 volume set of cookbooks by Southern Heritage.

I have been a collector of this series of cookbooks for over 20 years. They are by far my favorite! Most recipes call for every day, common ingredients and the results are always reliably delicious. The great thing about this series is that they are collectible, which means of course, that if you can find them for a bargain, you can make money selling them! It is my pleasure to share what I know about this niche market.

About the Cookbooks

This set of Southern Heritage Cookbooks contains 18 recipe books and one index volume and was published by Oxmoor House beginning in 1983 through 1985. They are available in hardcover and were eventually reprinted in soft cover. The hardcover books are the most collectible.

The Volumes

• All Pork Cookbook ©1984
• Beef, Veal & Lamb Cookbook ©1984
• Breads Cookbook ©1983
• Breakfast and Brunch Cookbook ©1984
• Cakes Cookbook ©1983
• Celebrations Cookbook ©1984
• Company's Coming! Cookbook ©1983
• Cookie Jar Cookbook ©1985
• Family Gatherings Cookbook ©1984
• Gift Receipts Cookbook ©1985
• Just Desserts Cookbook ©1984
• Pies and Pastry Cookbook ©1984
• Plain & Fancy Poultry Cookbook ©1983
• Sea and Stream Cookbook ©1984
• Socials and Soirees Cookbook ©1985
• Soups and Stews Cookbook ©1985
• Sporting Scene Cookbook ©1985
• Vegetables Cookbook ©1983
• The Southern Heritage Cookbook Library Index ©1985

Every time I pick up a book to look for a recipe, I truly enjoy seeing the old-timey pictures from way back when, when it seems like times were more simple and when family, friends and neighbors came together and celebrated accomplishments big and small with bountiful home-cooked meals.

So okay, we‘ve established that these are wonderful cookbooks that any cook would love to receive as a gift. But they are also highly collectible! Once you receive one, you will of course want to seek out and collect an entire set. But the problem is, they are becoming scarcer and certain volumes are harder to find than others.

Condition

Of utmost importance to a collector of this series is the condition of the book. It goes without saying you should always look for the books in excellent condition: no writing on the inside, no stains from the book being open around the cooking area when the recipe is used, no torn pages or turned down corners.

It is very common for these books to have yellowed spines. Spotting and glue splotches on the spine are also common problems.

In addition, the front and back covers are frequently scuffed. Pay attention also to bumping of the corners and edges from shelf wear. Pass on those that are bumped and extremely scuffed.

If you ever find one of these books with a dust jacket and in excellent condition on the inside as well, you‘ve found a gem. Dust jackets are rare and if it has one, the book cover itself should be pristine, which will make it even more valuable. Some of these volumes are being offered for sale at over $150 for a pristine copy.

Pricing

You can still find individual books and even full and partial sets for a bargain on all the online platforms. If you search by price on the upper end though, you will see that some sellers recognize the collectible value of these. On the lower end, they clearly do not. I personally have purchased volumes for a low price on several sites and resold them on another site and made more than ten times my money back. I once sold a full set for $125 and a Cookie Jar volume by itself that I paid $1 for sold for $49.

Prices can also fluctuate with the season. Prices will go up as the holidays get closer and there are more family gatherings. This set also makes a great Christmas or Holiday gift for the true cookbook collector.

Southern Heritage Cookbooks You Should Always Buy

Always purchase the hardcover books and pass on the soft cover copies.

Here are the books you should purchase (ranked in order of popularity and ones that are harder to find):

• Cookie Jar
• Cakes
• Gift Receipts
• Index
• Vegetables
• Socials and Soirees

And all the others follow after these

Southern Heritage Cookbooks You Should Never Buy

Pass on the soft cover editions, as well as those books that are excessively scuffed or stained.

(Note: I had to shorten this article a bit to fit in the newsletter, but you can read the entire article in the Home Run Guide by Janelle Elms. Don't forget to use the coupon code, Skipsniche to get your $25 discount).

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5. New Wholesale Sources for eBay and Amazon Sellers

One of our advertisers, Topper Liquidators, has just started a daily deal on their website. When you get to the main page just look right at the top center for the deal. There is a countdown clock right next to it to show you how much time is left. I have been following it from earlier this week and there have been some fabulous deals. They have been advertising with me for about a year now, and I have had really good feedback from readers who have tried them.

Imports Unlimited sells a really neat line of colorful entryway door mats – some have beautiful artwork and others have clever sayings.

His Hands Laser Engraving sells a line of quality Christian gifts that are laser engraved. These are high end items all aimed at the Christian market.

Glamorous Chicks Cosmetics specializes in a mineral cosmetics line. One of their leading products is a unique mineral eye shadow that has seven different uses including: Eye Shadow, Lip Gloss, Mascara, Nail Polish, Eye Liner, Blush & Bronzer.

Cortizza designs, manufactures, and sells accessories made from sustainable cork leather, cork fabric, and cork paper. Very unique products that are both beautiful and eco-friendly.

T&L Handbags offers a line of very unusual large handbags. They offer free shipping on orders of $500 or more.

Killer Beads supplies retailers with thousands of beads, bracelets and necklaces in a wide variety of styles and designs.

D&D Imports sells a large line of fashion jewelry in a wide variety of styles and designs.

The Shine Company sells solid wood outdoor furniture and garden accessories. They will either ship to you or drop ship directly to your customer. You will have to register at their website to see the product catalog.

Continents Apart is a national wholesale rep group specializing in drop shipping for home, gift, licensed sports and leisure lifestyle products. There is nothing to join, no fees, no bogus lists to buy and no drop ship or handling fees. Everything is factory or importer direct, NOT from 'distributors'. I have not personally dealt with this company, but one of my readers recommended them. As with any dropshipper, you want to be careful and do a couple of small test buys before you commit a lot of time, work and effort with them.

Here is something unusual, but there is a growing market for it. Tonic Concepts sells holders for toolbooth passes including EZ Pass, I-Pass, Fastlane Pass, I-Zoom, Smart Pass, I Tag, Etc. (coming soon for the Fastrak). Each holder is tested to work with a number of toll devices while on your dashboard and on your windshield.

That's it for now.

Skip McGrath
The Online Seller's News

P.S. If you missed the last issue, click here to read it.

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