FVEBS Annual Christmas Party December 8, 2009
We had a great time at our annual Christmas party at the Fireside Grille in Sugar Grove!
FVEBS Club Minutes November 10, 2009
19 in attendance. Ellen mentioned tha Shipsurance was on eBay radio today. Introduction of 4 new people. Office Depot can be used as a UPS drop off also. There is one on the corner of Rt 34 and Rt 30.
We discussed ideas for our annual Christmas party. We will do the same as last year. Bring new underwear wrapped, we exchange and open for fun and then Deb H gives them to Hesed House.
We talked about what everyone wanted in the coming year for our meetings. Nancy mentioned just getting together and talking eBay rather than a formal meeting. Sheri mentioned having one head with 12 members one for each month to hold a meeting topic and Shelley said we should get back to simpler layout and mentoring each other. Elections were discussed. Deb H agreed to be our Facilitator as no one else wanted the position of President or Vice President. Jerry B agreed to be our Secretary and Treasurer for the upcoming year. Sheri K will remain our Membership and Publicity officer. Thank you to these people for taking on the responsibilities of leading our club this next year.
Ellen talked about trends. One thing she mentioned was “Womenomics”. The next 100 years will focus on women. Rent, bartering and trading.
FVEBS Club Minutes October 13, 2009
Cory Porris-Warren from First Midwest Insurance Group was our guest speaker this evening. She gave a very informative talk on insurance for small sellers. Inventory for eBay selling is not covered unless you purchase a business or personal property endorsement and add to your homeowners insurance. This endorsement should also cover your business equipment.
Thank you to all the members who helped with Griff’s visit in September. A special thank you to Jerry for providing all the members with CD’s of pictures from the event!
Treasurer’s report was given and Janice gave a short review on dinner with Griff and eBay CEO John Donahue in Chicago. Janice reported on freecycle. Next drop off for recyclables is April 24th 2010. So far 9 people have received packing items.
We had a round table discussion on shipping insurance as eBay no longer has the optional insurance choice for buyers. Most said they self insure. Using self insurance add additional cost to shipping to cover yourself. Shipsurance was mentioned as an option. Use shipgooder.com to compare shipping rates from different carriers.
Mosey.com was brought up to back up things on your computer. Skip McGrath has a new book, eBay for Geezers.
We added three new members this evening.
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Minutes from August 11, 2009 Meeting
27 in attendance with 7 guests and 20 members. President Ellen Bloomer opened the meeting with welcome to guests. Went around the room introducing ourselves and telling how long we have sold on eBay and what we sell. We had 6 guests, 27 total in attendance and 4 joined after the meeting. We welcome new members: Brenda, Betty, Kelly and Mary.
Nancy read the minutes from our July meeting and Gayle read the treasurer’s report.
Ellen discussed Griff’s visit in September. She has 36 registered so far for our Sept. 8 meeting with guest speaker Griff from eBay in San Jose. Ellen asked for volunteers for this meeting. Barb, Jerry, and Shelley volunteered for help with set up and Jan, Jeanne, Sheri, and Betty volunteered to bring food. Ellen asked that we be able to submit receipts for purchasesfor this event.
Ellen discussed using money from the treasury to buy small gift for outgoing officers, previous speakers, and volunteers. Some discussion and was tabled for now.
Sheri had previously asked if anyone does Squidoo. Jeanette, Debra, and Gayle have done some and Jeanette gave us an introduction to Squidoo and marketing your business with this technique. People read articles that you write (lenses) for Squidoo and they are searchable and can help to bring more visitors to your ebay auctions.
Shelley presented our program on “Powerseller in less than a year”. She talked about the advantages to selling on eBay: You are your own boss, set your own hours, take vacation or day off when you want to. She started out by going to garage sales, seeing items and then returning home to research completed auctions through the Advanced Search button on eBay to see if they were selling and the prices they were going for. May 2008 she went full time with selling and by Christmas she was a silver powerseller. She gave us handout called “12 Step Program for Becoming an Ebayaholic”!
Gayle read some of the highlights of the July 09 eBay announcements.
Sheri talked about us volunteering for the 2009 Oswego Reuse Recycle Extravaganza on September 26 from 8 – 2, as we are a part of the recycle efforts and need to help out for this event. Here is a link to that information: http://www.oswegoil.org/village-government/2009%20Oswego%20Reuse%20Recycle%20Extravaganza%20Accept%20List%20Flyer.pdf
Betty let us know that the Yorkville library is having a book sale.
Next meeting September 8, 2009 with guest speaker Griff (Dean of eBay Education and Sr. Manager, Seller Advocacy. This meeting location will be at the Old Second Bank in Yorkville at 26 W Countryside Pkwy at 7 p.m. If you need to reserve your free ticket yet, please email Ellen as soon as possible at spottedhorse3@att.net
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Fox Valley eBay Sellers Club Meeting Minutes July 14 2009
19 in attendance. 9 members and 10 visitors. President Ellen Bloomer opened the meeting. Minutes from the June 9th meeting were read by Vice President Gayle Treend. Minutes were accepted. Treasurer’s report given by Gayle Treend. Ellen welcomed all our visitors. Went around the room with each person stating how and when they started on eBay and what they sell. Gayle mentioned that anyone can add content to our blog/website at foxvalleyebaysellersclub.com in the form of, comments, information, etc. and she will moderate. Jerry reported on a location he found to hold our special meeting September 8th when guest speaker Jim Griffith (Griff) from eBay Seller Development will be here. That location is the Old Second Bank in Yorkville at 26 W Countryside Pkwy. We have it reserved from 6 – 10 p.m and we are responsible for cleanup. We discussed whether we should have any beverages available. Will discuss more at next meeting. Anyone can come to this meeting as long as Ellen receives an email at spottedhorse3@att.net for a ticket by August 11th. We have to do this in order to know exactly how many to plan for. There is no charge for this meeting. We participated in a round table discussion about books and Janice spoke on how half.com. works. Janice let us know that we cannot ship magazines media mail! Some of the books mentioned were manuals, Christian book series, landscape, Western Horsman, Crafting, Quilting, Auto and motorcycle, cookbooks, comic books, textbooks and more. There was an open time for questions. 5 of our guests joined tonight. We welcome them. Next meeting Tuesday, August 11, 2009 7:00 pm at Panera Bread in Yorkville
Fox Valley eBay Sellers Club Meeting Minutes June 9, 2009
Fox Valley eBay Sellers Club Meeting Minutes June 9, 2009 17 members present. Minutes were read from May 12th meeting. Correction made: Meeting date with Griff from eBay as guest speaker will be on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Special Meeting: Tuesday, September 8, 2009 Jim Griffith (Griff) from eBay Seller Development will be guest speaker. Jerry to head committee to set up meeting location. Sheri to assist. Guests are welcome at this meeting. Attendance will not count towards the club rule that states after 2X at meeting a person must join to attend again. Club Promotion Information has been placed on craigslist. foxvalleyebaysellersclub.com is our club web address o get a link to your eBay store by mentioning the club and listing the website in your “about me” page on eBay – contact Gayle to set up o blog set up on eBay community board Oswego Recycling Contact Sheri if you are interested in helping at the recycling events (date TBA) and what products you are interested in obtaining eBay Host Sites Discussion regarding Auctiva’s new pricing program Discussion regarding listing directly onto eBay (additional free pictures in certain categories and other sites such as Inkfrog Program Liz and Deb presented step-by-step detailed information on organizing and running their eBay businesses. Next Meeting Tuesday, July 14, 2009 7:00 pm at Panera Bread in Yorkville
Ebay Sellers Discuss Selling Books and Half dot com
The Fox Valley eBay Sellers will meet on Tuesday, July 14th, from 7:00 until 9 PM in the meeting room of Panera Bread in Yorkville at Rt. 34 and 47. Anyone who sells on eBay and is interested in expanding their selling skills is welcome to the meeting. Many members meet
shortly after 6 PM for a meal and conversation. Everyone is welcome to come early.
The topics of this meeting will be a round table discussion of selling books on eBay and selling on Half.com, the other selling arm of eBay. Members who sell on these venues will concentrate on helping others to understand the nuances of optimizing listings for greatest hits and increased sales.
The Fox Valley eBay Sellers club has met monthly since January, 2007. Their Mission Statement declares: “ The eBay Sellers Club exists to bring eBay sellers together to share their knowledge and experience so they may expand their knowledge of eBay and the Internet; increase their sales; set goals and achieve them, and ultimately become Power Sellers.”
Contact Ellen Bloomer, president, 630-553-1996, for further information or just show up.
Fox Valley eBay Sellers Club Meeting Minutes May 12, 2009
16 people in attendance. Meeting was held at Panera Bread in Yorkville. Meeting was opened by President Ellen Bloomer. Ellen read the club’s Mission Statement.“The Fox Valley eBay Sellers Club exists to bring eBay sellers together to share their knowledge and experience so they may . . . Expand their knowledge of eBay & the Internet Increase their sales Set goals & achieve them Ultimately become Power Sellers” Sellers who recently achieved Power Seller status were acknowledged, and also those who are currently Power Sellers. Reminder to listen to eBay live radio – this week by listening Ellen gained valuable information and was able to secure Griff to speak at our September 12th meeting. Jim Griffith is eBay’s Senior Manager for Seller Advocacy. He is the foremost education specialist for eBay since 1996. www.unclegriff.com Discussion followed on securing an alternate location for this meeting. Our current location at Panera Bread in Yorkville can only accommodate 40 people.
Promoting our club – There is a Chicagoland eBay Club that meets in a northern suburb. There is a club in Texas that is run by eBay seller galleriagifts. www.meetup.com This is a site that advertises meetings by town. Cost is $12 per month for 6 months. Membership decided to wait to use this site until we have explored advertising sites that are free. Craigslist has a community section where you can advertise clubs and events. The community section and the event section allow posts for 45 days. Gayle Treend volunteered to set this up. www.icollect.com Debra S. volunteered to advertise the club on this site eBay: Deb H. volunteered to do a search of eBay sellers within a 10 mile radius of Yorkville and bring findings to next meeting. Goal would be to contact them through eBay to promote the club. Web Page: Butch Babos volunteered to set up web page for the club www.kijiji.com Brian volunteered to advertise the club on this site Domain name: Sherri K. made a motion to purchase a domain name from www.godaddy.com $9.99 for one year. Discussion followed. It would be less expensive per year to purchase multiple years – the membership decided to wait and see what the first year results were then decide if we wanted to purchase more years. The domain name will be FoxValleyeBaySellersClub.com Motion was seconded; a vote was taken and approved by majority vote. Tri-fold flyer Sheri designed a tri-fold flyer that can be customized for each individual seller while still promoting the club. Sheri will send an e-mail and attach a link to the brochure so members can print them for themselves. Business cards for the club were designed by Debra S. She will order some from a free site. The membership adopted a “fox” logo for the club along with using the eBay colors. The fox design is a free Microsoft clip art and can be used freely.
New Business – Sheri asked the club to consider (at a future date) that we may want to adopt a policy that each member needs to do some sort of presentation for the club once every three years. Discussion followed. Liz passed out a flyer promoting the Oswego High School Rummage Sale which is Saturday, May 23. Drop offs are on Friday, May 22 from 3 – 7 pm at the field house. This is a great way to clear your old inventory. Receipts will be given for tax purposes. The sale supports the National Honor Society and “Rally for the Robinsons”.
Presentation - Gayle Treend demonstrated how to set up a blog on www.wordpress.com. There are also sites such as www.blogger.com. By utilizing blogs, the internet search engines have another way of picking up your store and/or items when people search the internet. Gayle will forward her printed notes to the club as a reference tool. By placing the notation ?refid=store after your store name in a non- eBay site directs the person to your eBay store, you get discounts on your final value fees from eBay if the person directed purchases something from your store inventory.
Closing - President Ellen Bloomer wants the club to begin to think about our vision for the size of the club. The last 3 years the club has averaged 20 -25 members. Discussion followed. Jeanette M. plugged her bump site: www.advertiseyourauctionsforfree.com Discussion followed.