FREE EBOOK _ On how to use Twitter

It's only today - 11-8-14 so go now.. don't whine if you miss it, there will be another freebie along shortly

http://www.amazon.com/Twitter-Marketing-Attract-Followers-Social-ebook/dp/B00NYO2D40/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&sr=8-1&keywords=Twitter+Marketing

Another eBay Change...

I thought ebay was only supposed to change things prior to the 4th quarter?

Correct me if I'm wrong but OCTOBER is 4th quarter right??

So here is their newest NON-Change Change for the FOURTH Quarter... (4 ebay 4th.. as in NO changes from October 1 to December 31st.  Not as in "oh lets hack around and see how we can finance John's golden parachute. )

Ebay's FEE INCREASE from October 23, 2014

And basically what it says is:

NAH NAH NAHNAH we can charge you more if we want to...

Ok, actually it says all those "FREE 3X automatic relists" they've offered over the past 10-12 months?? They are history. Now they are going to take them out of your store's monthly alotment. Cause after all store owners don't pay enough already.

Be sure to go a little further down and read the whole damn thing for the exact details cause the ebay devil is always in the details. (OH and the one and three day listings are permanently not included in this ever any more... )

Sellers: Update to maximum final value fee and automatic relist feature

At eBay, we monitor our rates, and periodically make adjustments to them. The following updates will take effect on November 6, 2014:

• Fee update for sellers without an eBay Stores subscription. The maximum standard final value fee—the maximum fee sellers without an eBay Stores subscription will pay per sold item—will be raised from $250 to $750. This change only affects items that sell for more than $2,500.
  Note: The current $250 maximum final value fee for sellers with an eBay Stores subscription is not changing.

• eBay will be making the following updates to the free automatic relist feature, currently available to some sellers:
  • Starting November 6, items relisted via the automatic relist feature available to some sellers will count towards your monthly allotment of free listings*. Once a seller’s allotment of free listings is used up—or if the relisted item does not qualify for a free listing—the standard insertion fee of 30¢ per listing will apply, as well as any optional feature fees.
  • Starting later this year, the automatic relist feature will no longer be available for 1- and 3-day duration listings.
  • The automatic relist feature currently relists an unsold item once. Starting November 6, if you are opted-in to this feature, your item will automatically be relisted up to two times.
    Note: Sellers will be credited—either via their free listings allotment or on their invoice— for insertion fees for the automatic relisted items where the free automatic relist feature was selected prior to November 6. The manual relisting policy will still apply.
  • When listing an item, be sure that the automatic relist option is either checked or unchecked, depending on your preference. Note that before choosing this option, you may want to check the Selling section of My eBay for any personalized recommendations to improve your listings.

Considering the changes above—and the fact that eBay’s new global brand campaign will inspire buyers, now and through the high-volume holiday season—it’s a good time to review the benefits that come with an eBay Stores subscription. Starting as low as $15.95 a month, subscriptions offer:

• More free listings*—up to 2,500 a month with an Anchor-level subscription
• Final value fees as low as 4%, capped at $250 per item
• Access to powerful promotional tools that can help you sell more
• Your own dedicated eBay.com home page
• Exclusive, subscriber-only promotions

As always, thank you for selling on eBay.
* Pay no insertion fees for your allotted free listin

- See more at: http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/10/sellers-update-to-maximum-final-value-fee-and-automatic-relist-feature/#sthash.VUiAYCg0.dpuf

Sellers: Update to maximum final value fee and automatic relist feature

At eBay, we monitor our rates, and periodically make adjustments to them. The following updates will take effect on November 6, 2014:

    Fee update for sellers without an eBay Stores subscription. The maximum standard final value fee—the maximum fee sellers without an eBay Stores subscription will pay per sold item—will be raised from $250 to $750. This change only affects items that sell for more than $2,500.
    Note: The current $250 maximum final value fee for sellers with an eBay Stores subscription is not changing.

    eBay will be making the following updates to the free automatic relist feature, currently available to some sellers:

        Starting November 6, items relisted via the automatic relist feature available to some sellers will count towards your monthly allotment of free listings*. Once a seller’s allotment of free listings is used up—or if the relisted item does not qualify for a free listing—the standard insertion fee of 30¢ per listing will apply, as well as any optional feature fees.
        Starting later this year, the automatic relist feature will no longer be available for 1- and 3-day duration listings.
        The automatic relist feature currently relists an unsold item once. Starting November 6, if you are opted-in to this feature, your item will automatically be relisted up to two times.
        Note: Sellers will be credited—either via their free listings allotment or on their invoice— for insertion fees for the automatic relisted items where the free automatic relist feature was selected prior to November 6. The manual relisting policy will still apply.
        When listing an item, be sure that the automatic relist option is either checked or unchecked, depending on your preference. Note that before choosing this option, you may want to check the Selling section of My eBay for any personalized recommendations to improve your listings.
{PROPAGANDA BELOW}
Considering the changes above—and the fact that eBay’s new global brand campaign will inspire buyers, now and through the high-volume holiday season—it’s a good time to review the benefits that come with an eBay Stores subscription. Starting as low as $15.95 a month, subscriptions offer:

    More free listings*—up to 2,500 a month with an Anchor-level subscription
    Final value fees as low as 4%, capped at $250 per item
    Access to powerful promotional tools that can help you sell more
    Your own dedicated eBay.com home page
    Exclusive, subscriber-only promotions

As always, thank you for selling on eBay.

* Pay no insertion fees for your allotted free listings per calendar month. Final value fees and optional fees, including advanced listing upgrades and supplemental service fees, still apply. Learn more.


- See more at: http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/10/sellers-update-to-maximum-final-value-fee-and-automatic-relist-feature/#sthash.VUiAYCg0.dpuf
- See more at: http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/10/sellers-update-to-maximum-final-value-fee-and-automatic-relist-feature/#sthash.VUiAYCg0.dpuf



SO, you've been warned, your mileage will vary more than usual with this depending on your selling level. JUST BE AWARE OF THE CHANGE.

Sellers: Update to maximum final value fee and automatic relist feature

At eBay, we monitor our rates, and periodically make adjustments to them. The following updates will take effect on November 6, 2014:

• Fee update for sellers without an eBay Stores subscription. The maximum standard final value fee—the maximum fee sellers without an eBay Stores subscription will pay per sold item—will be raised from $250 to $750. This change only affects items that sell for more than $2,500.
  Note: The current $250 maximum final value fee for sellers with an eBay Stores subscription is not changing.

• eBay will be making the following updates to the free automatic relist feature, currently available to some sellers:
  • Starting November 6, items relisted via the automatic relist feature available to some sellers will count towards your monthly allotment of free listings*. Once a seller’s allotment of free listings is used up—or if the relisted item does not qualify for a free listing—the standard insertion fee of 30¢ per listing will apply, as well as any optional feature fees.
  • Starting later this year, the automatic relist feature will no longer be available for 1- and 3-day duration listings.
  • The automatic relist feature currently relists an unsold item once. Starting November 6, if you are opted-in to this feature, your item will automatically be relisted up to two times.
    Note: Sellers will be credited—either via their free listings allotment or on their invoice— for insertion fees for the automatic relisted items where the free automatic relist feature was selected prior to November 6. The manual relisting policy will still apply.
  • When listing an item, be sure that the automatic relist option is either checked or unchecked, depending on your preference. Note that before choosing this option, you may want to check the Selling section of My eBay for any personalized recommendations to improve your listings.

Considering the changes above—and the fact that eBay’s new global brand campaign will inspire buyers, now and through the high-volume holiday season—it’s a good time to review the benefits that come with an eBay Stores subscription. Starting as low as $15.95 a month, subscriptions offer:

• More free listings*—up to 2,500 a month with an Anchor-level subscription
• Final value fees as low as 4%, capped at $250 per item
• Access to powerful promotional tools that can help you sell more
• Your own dedicated eBay.com home page
• Exclusive, subscriber-only promotions

As always, thank you for selling on eBay.
* Pay no insertion fees for your allotted free listin

- See more at: http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/10/sellers-update-to-maximum-final-value-fee-and-automatic-relist-feature/#sthash.VUiAYCg0.dpuf

Sellers: Update to maximum final value fee and automatic relist feature

At eBay, we monitor our rates, and periodically make adjustments to them. The following updates will take effect on November 6, 2014:

• Fee update for sellers without an eBay Stores subscription. The maximum standard final value fee—the maximum fee sellers without an eBay Stores subscription will pay per sold item—will be raised from $250 to $750. This change only affects items that sell for more than $2,500.
  Note: The current $250 maximum final value fee for sellers with an eBay Stores subscription is not changing.

• eBay will be making the following updates to the free automatic relist feature, currently available to some sellers:
  • Starting November 6, items relisted via the automatic relist feature available to some sellers will count towards your monthly allotment of free listings*. Once a seller’s allotment of free listings is used up—or if the relisted item does not qualify for a free listing—the standard insertion fee of 30¢ per listing will apply, as well as any optional feature fees.
  • Starting later this year, the automatic relist feature will no longer be available for 1- and 3-day duration listings.
  • The automatic relist feature currently relists an unsold item once. Starting November 6, if you are opted-in to this feature, your item will automatically be relisted up to two times.
    Note: Sellers will be credited—either via their free listings allotment or on their invoice— for insertion fees for the automatic relisted items where the free automatic relist feature was selected prior to November 6. The manual relisting policy will still apply.
  • When listing an item, be sure that the automatic relist option is either checked or unchecked, depending on your preference. Note that before choosing this option, you may want to check the Selling section of My eBay for any personalized recommendations to improve your listings.

Considering the changes above—and the fact that eBay’s new global brand campaign will inspire buyers, now and through the high-volume holiday season—it’s a good time to review the benefits that come with an eBay Stores subscription. Starting as low as $15.95 a month, subscriptions offer:

• More free listings*—up to 2,500 a month with an Anchor-level subscription
• Final value fees as low as 4%, capped at $250 per item
• Access to powerful promotional tools that can help you sell more
• Your own dedicated eBay.com home page
• Exclusive, subscriber-only promotions

As always, thank you for selling on eBay.
* Pay no insertion fees for your allotted free listin

- See more at: http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/10/sellers-update-to-maximum-final-value-fee-and-automatic-relist-feature/#sthash.VUiAYCg0.dpuf

Protecting YOUR Identity & Information

So periodically something like this crops up (too often in my opinion) http://ht.ly/vAUjf

and what can we do about it??

I just called Paypal and a very helpful customer service person in the Business Security area (cause I have a business account at Paypal) advised:

1. change your passwords every 60 days (the IT dept I once worked in still says every 30 - depends on your tolerance for change I guess)

2. make your password more secure by NOT using the following as passwords: Password, default, 123456.

3. Do not use that same password across platforms. EVERY financial thing should have it's own separate, unrelated password and then the same for things like Ebay, Amazon, Gmail etc.

4. choose two numbers - say a year... that will be significant only to you   so for me it might be 14.  For you it can be any year that means something to you (so it makes it easier for you to remember)  but is not your birth year, your age  or the birth year of your kids or your husband ...

5. choose a word at random...

6 add two symbols.. like #

End result? A very strong password

AS for the Heartbleed bug?? follow the suggestions in that article.  And keep an eye on your financial accounts til this gets "plugged"

If you open a Hoagie shop, You should know what goes into a hoagie

Let me start by clarifying that i was raised in South Phila.  I'm old school South Philly - Irish Catholic, and I grew up on Hoagies, Cheesesteaks and pizza (oh and spaghetti with "red sauce").

So, why is it, these days, you go to your favorite "hoagie" shop and ask for a hoagie, and they ask what you want on it?  Do you want tomatoes, lettuce, onions, oregano, oil/vinegar or mayo?

 Let's set the record straight - lettuce, tomato and oregano are GIVENS.  They should automatically go on EVERY hoagie.  Onions are optional in my book and so is mayo but NOT mayo mixed with oil and vinegar.  If I say American hoagie, I want mayo, the non-spicy ham and american cheese.

 If I say Italian hoagie, I want oil and vinegar or hoagie dressing (a recent hybrid sold in some delis) and the spicy capacole and provolone cheese.  .

If you don't know what goes on a Hoagie, move back to NYC and make your stupid sandwiches there.

Here's a recipe for an Italian Hoagie..don't forget to drizzle some olive oil on the roll first and then put the other ingredients, red pepper, a pinch of oregano (chopped oregano) and some red wine vinegar..just a dribble  and then

1/4 lb prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced
1/4 lb capicola, thinly sliced
1/4 lb genoa salami or 1/4 lb soprassata salami, thinly sliced
1/4 lb provolone cheese

top with shredded lettuce
1/4 lb provolone cheese
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced (I prefer the onion pulled into raw rings and cut in half and sprinkled throught the lenght of the hoagie.)

Time for lunch!!

PS this rant was brought to you by yet another Hoagie Shop employee asking, "ya want tomatoes and let_us on that?" DUH it's a hoagie right??? Of course I do.

I haven't said much about this BUT..it's time.  The Marketplace Fairness Act... that is SOOOOOOOOOOOO unfair to all of us...

Well this person said it better than I can so read this:

The Inside Scoop

Tell your congressman to GET BACK TO WORK and KILL THIS stupid act ok??

You can find the email address etc. here http://www.ebaymainstreet.com/region/united-states

Since When Did Having a Telephone?

Since when did having a telephone mean you were open to random stupid marketing phone calls at the whim of some slimeball marketing company??



In  the 1950's phone calls were for emergencies.  In the 60's for conversation. Now it seems like it's the toilet bowl of communication.  Every turd has my number and thinks they can use it.

First it was my house phone, so I got an unlisted phone number. Which GOOGLE choose to make public by crawling a press release with it on there, that had nothing to do with Google.





So I got my phone numbers on Pennsylvania's and the Fed DO NOT CALL LIST.  Fat lot of good that's done me. The worse annoyers are The Republican Party during the primary and election cycles.



They don't want to market to me, The Democrat.  They are after my husband for contributions and The Independent registered here who has moved on to a real life. 

To add to the "misery loves company" theory, some marketers are now sending text messages to my cell phones, costing me money (cause I'm not paying Verizon for texting ability) and waking me up at 3 AM.  Sure I'll buy your shit that you pushed to me in the middle of the night making me think someone died or had a horrific car accident on the way home from work. NO PROBLEM.  Here, hold your breath and I'll buy when you turn blue and die.


Today's recipient of PITA award is SENIOR BENEFITS.  

Do not call me. Don't call me manually. Don't call me on an automatic dialer and make me wait while your stupider than rat turds operator gets on the line and keeps pissing me off more and more asking dumber than dumb questions (sample: "Is this your own phone?"   I used my Dad's line, "No I was just passing by and hear the phone ringing so I came in and answered it").  If it's Not my phone what am I doing here??

DO NOT CALL ME.  IF i WANTED TO TALK TO YOU? I'D HAVE CALLED YOU ALREADY.

Top 5 Reasons I Miss The Kid Who Moved Out

So 6+ months ago, my kid moved out.  I'd say finally but that would imply I was waiting for him to go. Not really.  He was old enough and smart enough and knew how to wash his own clothes, run the vacuum and cook enough different foods to not get hungry when he was 15.  But he finished school, bought a truck and paid off about half his student loan, while finding the "right" room mate. (Who, frankly? I really like..........a lot)

So now that he's gone, I realized why I was never in a rush for him to leave.

1. HUGS - there were baby hugs, boy hugs, teenage "don't let anyone see me doing this hugs" and great hugs from the Man whom my son is now. I happen to love hugs.  I miss them the most!

2. Muscles and height. I'm 5'2" and shrinking, short, fat and out of shape.  He's Not.  He's 5'11.9999" so he can easily reach the top shelf in my kitchen cabinets and closets and frankly, he was quicker than me getting the step ladder and climbing (and less clumsy)

3. Security - really, how much "threat" is a short, fat 5'2" older woman if there are intruders or crazy people on the sidewalk?? He worked out, had muscles and although he's pretty mild-mannered, the deep baritone and his "shadow" are pretty effective deterents for some things.

4. Jokes and pranks...he snuck up on me all the time, and scared the bejesus out of me at least once a week.  So my heart has not been "restarted" since April 1.  He also has a dry sense of humor and had a way  of making my "kitchen disasters" into comedy that I lack.  I make them into sobstories...like the chocolate cake this week. The one that tried to kill me. Seriously, a murderous chocolate cake (a WHOLE other blog post)

5. The cat. He stole one of my cats when he left. Not immediately but about 6 weeks ago, he visited, and left with the cat in his pocket.


Ok, not really. I told him he could have the cat but I hadn't realized how much I'd miss the cat. Boy I hope he brings him to visit soon.         seriously, first the hugs and now the cat.  I might have to go visit for an extended visit.


Disclaimer: Beth's son lives about 20 min away and she drives right past his house regularly. She could certainly go get a hug from the cat at any time. If the cat would just answer the door.