Online Sellers to Benefit from Kabbage and UPS Partnership

Kabbage, Inc, a provider of working capital for small businesses, and UPS recently announced an important alliance for small businesses throughout the US. Kabbage provides advances to established online sellers who need a funding to help build their business.

In determining the amount of the advance a seller qualifies for, Kabbage looks at a seller's selling history, social networking, and other factors. UPS will allow Kabbage to view shipping history to determine how established an online seller is.

In addition to showing a seller's shipping history, UPS Capital, a division of UPS, will also provide Kabbage with a credit facility which will allow Kabbage to reach even more sellers. The company currently assists more than 15,000 online sellers.

“Access to working capital for small businesses is fundamental to the country’s economic recovery,” said Alan Gershenhorn, UPS chief sales and marketing officer. “This alliance with Kabbage is an example of how UPS and UPS Capital can help small businesses gain access to the working capital they need to grow their business. We’re looking forward to extending our alliance with Kabbage and the thousands of e-commerce companies it supports.”

For more information about the partnership, please click here.


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Tebow Fans, You Could Call This a “Cheesy” eBay Listing!

The end of the football season is no reason to not have a touch of Tebow, Tim Tebow that is, in your life. One eBay seller recently offered a grilled cheese sandwich that seemed to resemble the NFL’s Denver Broncos quarterback.

According to the listing, eBay Seller “carlspackler76” of Roanoke, Virginia, was just quickly making lunch with a less than perfect frying pan one day when he was “thoroughly amazed by the image staring back [at him]... the now iconic "Tebowing" pose of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow!”

The auction began at only 99 cents on January 13, 2012. After receiving 46 bids, it ended on January 20, 2012 at a whopping $85.00! And just think, this success story started with two slices of bread, a slice of American cheese, and poorly performing cookware.

Below is a screenshot of the actual listing on eBay after the bidding was over.



After the seller froze the sandwich and carefully packed it with dry ice, the package was shipped to it winning bidder. As I write this, the buyer has not provided any feedback. I can’t help but wonder if it ended up as lunch anyway!

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“Kabbage provides funding just for online sellers. We recognize that online merchants have a more difficult time obtaining the funding they need to grow their businesses and we built a solution to meet their needs. These merchants demand the attention of a financial services partner that understands the unique challenges and opportunities facing online sellers.”

The funding is similar to a cash advance on a credit card. This is not a loan. When you first sign up for Kabbage, you will provide them with the following information:
eBay account login
Amazon account login
Paypal login
SSN or EIN
Bank account routing number and account numbers

You can also provide your Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin profiles so Kabbage can see if you are active on social networks. Also, you can show Kabbage your UPS account so they can see how often you ship through UPS, to further validate your online business.

Kabbage will access your eBay, Amazon, and Paypal accounts with a third-party token – the same way you authorize any other third party service such as Seller Sourcebook, Auctiva, FBA Scout, FBA Power, Ink Frog, etc., to access your accounts. Then, the algorithm is run and Kabbage calculates the amount of your first advance and your rate. You may take the distribution of your funding any way you like – one lump sum, a portion at a time, or not at all until you are ready. You can play around with the numbers to see what your monthly payments will be. Once you select your distribution amount, the funds are deposited into your Paypal account in just a few minutes.

Also, once you make your first payment, and you continue to list products for sale, Kabbage may increase your funding amount. Each time you make a payment, Kabbage may increase your advance limit. Mine is now 5 times the initial amount granted when I first signed up.

Kabbage is an easy way to take your online business to the next level if cash flow is an issue.

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Goodwill Goes Upscale in Florida

eBay Seller Pam Greenman recently shared shared this information:

The Ponte Verda, Florida area has a new Goodwill store but it is not a typical one. Two Goodwill executives have opened Bluetique, a Goodwill retail location for higher end items. The store has a department store feel that Goodwill stores usually do not have. Amber Russo, vice president of retail sales for Goodwill, and Amy Koebrick, the Marketing Manager for Goodwill’s Northeast Florida region, modeled the project after a similar store in Rochester, NY.

The store is designed to look like a regular department store from the layout to the displays. Its design rivals a Stein Mart or Marshalls. The store’s inventory is about 75% items that have been donated through a local Goodwill donation center while the other items are from brand new items from closeout stores. The donated items are being pulled from the nearby Ponte Verda Goodwill donation center and that location has been setting aside about 600 items a day for this Bluetique location.

The store layout and higher end items are not the only differences in this store. Unlike a typical Goodwill, the pricing structure is not a set one. Instead of finding a one-size-fits-all price for items, there is no price ceiling for items at the Bluetique. An item is priced to reflect more of its market value. Even with the slightly higher prices, the items will still be priced at 50-90% off retail.

With the difference in pricing, is the Bluetique a good source for resale items like its Goodwill predecessors? Yes it is. Right after the store opened in November 2011, its inventory included a Chanel handbag that was priced at $799. At that time a similar bag was selling on eBay for $1325.

As with other Goodwill stores, the money collected goes into the Goodwill’s GCF job training program.

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Amazon FBA Scouting Tips - Things I've Learned Along the Way

Scouting locally for FBA inventory can seem overwhelming at first, and rightly so. Large stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R US, Walgreens, and TJ Maxx have thousands of items. How do you know where to start? Your comfort level will grow as you become more experienced. Here are a few tips for learning what types of products to scan and consider for FBA.

Here are a few things I learned about how to scout for toys this past holiday season:

Go to Kmart, not just Walmart, Target, and Toys R Us. Kmart stores are dwindling – there aren’t as many as there used to be. You can often find products that are Kmart exclusives or other products not found in Walmart and Target. And many of your competitors won’t even have access to a Kmart.

Try some items priced $50 or higher. The more expensive an item is, the fewer competitors you will have. According to an informal survey on my Facebook group, 75% of the FBA sellers asked won’t pay more than $10 per item when buying inventory. So if you have the cash flow, and you are not terribly risk averse, try some high dollar products and see what happens. You may see a nice profit and a fast turnaround due to lack of competitors.

Scan items that have fewer quantities on the shelf. For example, maybe there is only 1 purple mermaid Barbie, but 7 yellow ones. This tells you that the purple one is more popular than the yellow, since shoppers may have purchased almost all of them. Or, maybe the store didn’t get as many of the purple because they are in shorter supply. If there is only 1 or two of a variation of a particular item left, this is a clue that the item may be a good seller. Over the 2011 holiday selling season, the pink Fijit sold for about $20 more than any other color. Also, the Pink Leapfrog Leap Pad sold for more than other colors, because not as many pink ones were produced. Look for things in short supply.

Listen to the shoppers around you. Listen to what the kids are asking their parents to buy. If you feel comfortable and it is appropriate, ask a question or two. For example, I was scanning a toy that has about 25 variations. A mom and her 5 year old came to that section and the child wanted a particular one. I asked the mom, “Do you know about this toy? Why is that particular one so popular?” The child actually answered, and said, “Because he is the hero and always saves everyone else.” And guess what. It was an $8 toy. The one the child wanted, that was out of stock, had a 5% ranking and sold for over $30. Listen to what is going on around you!

These are just a few of the things I learned over the holiday selling season. For a list of 16 FBA Toy Selling Tips based on my scouting adventures (and mistakes!), visit Online Selling Coach where a 1 month membership is only $14.95.

To learn more about selling on Amazon FBA, check out Kim Tarrant's and my book, Amazon Recipe for Success. Now is the time to start learning about Amazon FBA!

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Amazon Plans New Fulfillment Centers for 2012

Image Courtesy of Google.com

With the growth of the sales of the Kindle Fire and with the increasing number of sellers using FBA, Amazon will add new fulfillment centers to reach more customers in a more efficient manner. The centers are planned for locations within Virginia, Tennessee and other states. With two new centers planned for Chesterfield and Dunwiddie counties, Virgina, the new centers are projected to bring approximately 1,350 jobs to that one state alone.

The growth is not focused on only US locations. Later this year, Amazon plans to open its first fulfillment center in Mumbai, India. In addition to the India location, Amazon will also add fulfillment centers in Nanning, China and in the cities of Koblenz and Pforzheim, Germany.

If you have ever wondered what the workings of an Amazon fulfillment center looks like, here is a YouTube video that will give you a peek:




The following are just a few of the new Amazon.com US fulfillment centers set to open in 2012:

• West Middletown, Delaware
• Spartanburg County, South Carolina
• Chattanooga, Tennessee (Opened 2/2/12)
• Lebanon, Tennessee
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
• Dinwiddie, Virginia
• Meadowville, Virginia

What does this mean for the FBA seller? You may encounter additional shipping locations to forward your inventory. You may experience stock movement as inventory is transferred to other locations. While it may be a slight inconvenience to split your inventory, it is still a very efficient process. When you consider the time saved in shipping each item individually and warehousing your inventory, Amazon FBA is still a great alternative. Also, the additional centers shows the growth of Amazon.com. As the company reaches more consumers, so will your products.

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Got the USPS Rate Increase Blues?

If you are still learning to adjust to the recent US Postal Service rate changes, a new guide has been released that may help you figure it all out. Stamps.com is offering a free guide to the pricing change. The “Ultimate Guide to the 2012 USPS Postage Rate Increase” is now available online to help.

The guide takes you through all the various rate increases by level of service. From Express Mail to Priority Mail to First Class Mail, the guide has lots of information about new product offerings and details about the new pricing. The details for each price and service even includes pros and cons to help you decide which USPS mailing service would be best for your package.

To grab your copy of the guide, please click here.

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