Chalk this up under Yard Sale bonuses! David and I were delighted when we pulled up to a yard sale recently to find a great assortment of sports memorabilia. We soon discovered the reason for the abundance of sports items. The home belonged to a Hall of Fame sports figure. Needless to say, David was thrilled, and was even happier to find his idol sitting in the living room chatting it up. After buying a few choice items, David and I introduced ourselves to this sports great, and had a nice conversation. He even signed one of David's purchases. You just never know whose house you might be in when you go out looking for yard sale treasures!
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There's nothing more satisfying than feeling that someone out there is listening. Helen Ledgewood wrote about MyBiz.com for this issue. She pointed out some features that she felt needed improving. I contacted MyBiz.com for a response, and they acted quickly. They've already made changes to the service based on Helen's feedback!
MyBiz sells tools that help auction sellers provide customer service to their customers, and it sets a good example by responding to customer feedback so quickly. I hope other vendors are listening!
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David has redone the USPS/UPS comparison chart that he created last month. The new chart reflects the hike in UPS fees that occurred earlier this month. While he was recalculating the fees, David noticed that, while there were moderate rate hikes all across the board, UPS actually DROPPED rates for packages that were being shipped to Zone 3 destinations. You can find the new chart at http://www.auctionbytes.com/Yellow_Pages/postratesnew/postratesnew.html. To figure out what zone you're shipping to, try this USPS link:
http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/content.jsp?D=16868
As always, you can find some of the more interesting headlines from Newsflash at the end of this issue. Newsflash is our daily email newsletter; subscribe by sending a blank email to: auctionflash-subscribe@topica.com
Ina Steiner is Editor of AuctionBytes.com and author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). She has a background in marketing and research in the high-tech and publishing fields. If you have story ideas, comments or questions, send them to ina@auctionbytes.com.
