Learning Internet Marketing

I've been hearing a lot about using eBay not just to earn money, but as a learning tool for Internet Marketing. So I listed my first item for sale and managed to sell it for enough to buy myself a coffee. I'm learning to write headlines, take good pictures, and write short, interesting copy - things that I need to know to succeed as an Internet Marketer. Granted, I didn't make much money, but the item was a small plastic toy and my description was good enough to attract 9 bids. I read some sales copy recently that was in the form of an exciting story and it was so well written that I hung on every word. That's the way I want to be able to write copy. Thanks to eBay, I'm beginning to feel like this is a game - see how convincingly I can write, so that someone will want to buy, whether they need it or not. Are you playing too? Until next time, Carol

My daughter has had an eBay store for some time now. She recently set herself up with a pre-paid charge card, but now eBay will no longer recognize it and have suspended her account. That alone would not bother her, but when your account is under suspension, it can't be used or cancelled. Which means that every month store charges are added and the initial small amount is growing bigger and bigger. She is due to have a baby soon, so eBay has taken a back burner and she can't seem to find out how to rectify things - other than getting a regular charge card, which she did not want to do. I have been recommending those pre-paid cards to my eBay students, since many of them are seniors and hesitant to use a charge card online. Guess I better investigate more. Have you had any experience with eBay and pre-paid cards? Until next time, Carol

This is my mother (the young one in the middle), now 82 years old, and a budding Internet Marketer . She is an inspiration to me and we try to figure out a lot of things together. Mom sells on eBay and she has been a bit frustrated this week about her dropshipper. A dropshipper is a wholesaler that you choose products from and try to sell them. When the products sell, they take care of all shipping, you pay them the wholesale price and you keep the difference of whatever your selling price was. So you don't have to bother with shipping, storing inventory, or paying money upfront. My mom has one problem though. When she posts an item on eBay, sometimes the dropshipper sells all of their stock before her auction is over. Not a good thing to happen! If any of you have a suggestion for mom, we would love to hear it. Until next time, Carol