Vintage Children's Books to Look For: Fold-Out Panorama Books

I personally love these fold-out panorama books, and they have always done well for me on eBay.  I have a couple of these books in my personal collection -- one is 1940's vintage and folds out 10 feet long.  They are so charming and make a great tableau for displaying collectibles at home or in an antiques booth.  I just listed two different panorama books that are particularly nice:  Hickory Dickory Dock 1963 Platt & Munk Foldout Panorama and Animal Panorama 1964 Fold-Out Book McLouglin Brothers.  Animal Panorama is especially cute, featuring a Beagle puppy on the cover and on page of the fold-out panorama.   Very sweet!

Vintage Children's Books to Look For: Unusual Pop-Up Books

I have always done well on eBay with unusual pop-up books.  This one is really unique and I hope it will do well.  It is a pop-up book of the Presidents, from George Washington to Lyndon Johnson.  (Not all presidents are pictured.)   I'm including a couple of photos for you -- the pop-up picture of John F. Kennedy at Cape Canaveral is particularly nice.  If you'd like to see this item on eBay, you can peek at: History of Our Presidents 1960s Vintage Pop-Up Book PB

Selling Coupons on eBay

Over the years, I've focused on my favorite niches on eBay -- vintage children's books and ephemera.  Occasionally, though, I find something that I want to list that isn't in one of these areas.  I usually list these items either once for a 7 day auction or once for a Fixed Price 30 day listing.  If the items don't sell, they then go in a donation box for my next trip to Salvation Army to donate items.

A couple of weeks ago I received these coupons in the mail.  They are for Purina horse feed.   One is for a free 50 pound bag.  Great!  -- except, I don't have a horse.  So, I tried listing them on eBay for a 7 day auction just to see what would happen.  I started the auction at 99¢.  To my surprise, they bid up to $10.01.  Neat!  I will certainly list other "free stuff" coupons that I find on eBay.  I'm not going out looking for them, but if I find them they will go online.

If you'd like to see the closed auction, you will find it here:  Auction for Purina Horse Feed.

Two Great Blogs for Sellers

Hi all!

I want to recommend two great blogs for sellers;  I think you will enjoy them both.

Suzanne Wells has a wonderful blog called eBay Selling Coach.  I have been a reader for a while now, and I love the tips she gives.  She always has great pointers about what is selling NOW and tips on great things to look for.  I have learned a lot from reading her articles!   I enjoyed writing a guest blog for her site:  Selling Vintage Children's Books on eBay.  In the article I talk about vintage children's books to look for.  It was fun to write.

Susan of My52cents has a great auction blog.  She is one of the most positive, upbeat people I know, and this is captured in her writing.   I think you will enjoy reading what she has to say!   Susan is the queen of Squidoo, and has so much knowledge.  I have learned a lot from her tips!  I enjoyed writing a guest blog for Susan on Vintage Little Golden Books.  It includes information you may enjoy, like how to spot a true "A" (First) edition.

Again, I cannot recommend these two wonderful blogs highly enough.  I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do!

Using Markdown Manager to Increase eBay Sales

eBay's Markdown Manager is a wonderful way to increase your eBay sales.  With this tool, you can put all your eBay fixed price items (or just some of your items) on sale -- at the percentage off that you choose.

When sales are sluggish, I have found that Markdown Manager ignites them ... it seems to bring new attention, since the prices are different from before.  And buyers seem to be drawn to a percentage off sale.

To find Markdown Manager, go to My eBay, then Account (top of screen), then Marketing Tools.  You'll find Markdown Manager on the Marketing Tools page.

To use Markdown Manager, sign in to the page.   First you will want to choose a sale title.  This is just for your reference, so it can be anything, i.e. Books 10% Off. 

Then you will need to choose a start and end date for your sale.  In my experience, a good sale period is 2 - 7 days.  I have not had success with sales less than 1 day or more than 7 days.

Then you can choose a percentage off.  This is up to you -- 5%, 10%, 15%, etc.  I generally have deeper sales (i.e. 20% - 25%) for 2 days, and smaller sales (5% - 10%) for 7 days.   But experiment with this, and see what works for you.

Then you can choose to put one category of your listings (i.e. Books, Sewing Patterns, Postcards, etc.) on sale, put your entire store on sale, or you can choose items selectively using any criteria using the link "Select listings individually."   I love this feature, and usually select items this way -- i.e. items under $8, or ephemera only, or items over $20, etc.

I am a great fan of Markdown Manager and Best Offer (an upcoming blog post!), and find both these eBay tools are great for generating sales.  I hope this is helpful for you too!