Postal Scales?

My postal scale died awhile ago.

I decided to save the money–my husband was between jobs!

Well, I’m TIRED of running to the post office to weigh packages and coming home to print labels and running to the post office again.

I never go out of my way, but it’s a step I just don’t need!

I am ready to get a new scale and wondering which scale do you have?

Do you love it or hate it?

Online Selling Tip of the Week

Help buyers easily find your items by maximizing your eBay Store categories.

Keep your store organized and use as many categories as you can come up with.  Categories are free, so you might as well use them.  Look at your inventory and decide if there’s another category that you can come up with that will maximize the exposure that customers have to your items.

For instance, if you sell a lot of clothes, you can break the categories down to brand names (Gymboree, Hanna Andersson, Nike, CAbi, White House Black Market, etc)  Jeans, Athletic clothes, Sweaters, (and any other types of items that you carry in your store. )

Specific categories will help buyers find your items a lot easier than generic category names.

Online Selling Tip of the Week

Keep up with your shipping as items are paid for over the weekend so you’re not bombarded on Monday morning.

There’s nothing worse than a hectic Monday morning, right?  Who really likes Mondays anyway?

When I first became self-employed, I figured, “oh well, I’ll do it on Monday morning.”  I soon learned that I could leave my weekend shipping till Monday morning, but it wasn’t any fun spending the whole morning shipping, when what I really wanted to to was be listing.

I started shipping items that were paid for on Friday afternoon, again at some point on Saturday, and again at some point on Sunday afternoon or evening.  That way, I just have to package up a few items each day and when Monday morning rolls around, I usually have a few more that have to be packaged up and shipped out, but it’s not 12 or 15 items to package and ship all at once.

Staying on top of shipping over the weekends has helped me reclaim and enjoy my Monday mornings once again.

Online Selling Tip of The Week

Support the eBay economy and purchase your shipping supplies from a fellow eBayer.

You can find deals on poly-mailers, packaging tape, shipping labels, bubble wrap and more.

The best part is you’ll save time and money by having your supplies come straight to your front door.  That means more time to work on listing and shipping, and ultimately, more time for your family.

Working at Home with Children

Many women who work at home do so not only for the convenience, but also so they have more time to be with their children.

In this age of technology, there are so many different types of work moms can do from home.  Whether it’s teaching an instrument or voice lessons, sewing or tailoring for clients, proofreading and editing, software development, selling online, we’re blessed to have the option to make a decent living while spending time at home.

Depending on the ages of your children, working at home can present several challenges.

If your children are infants, toddlers or preschool age, most likely, they’ll have lots of needs you’ll have to take care of during the day.

Working at home with infants and toddlers can be great because you can get a lot of work accomplished during nap time.  There may be days where no matter what you try, the nap just doesn’t happen.  I remember when my daughter was a baby, I’d put her in the swing while I took pictures of items and then I’d hold her on my lap while I listed.  It took me longer to get listings done in those days, but  being able to hold her and work at the same time was priceless.

When she was 3, I started working full time from home.  That was a little bit of a challenge because she can be very needy.  As soon as you think you’ve got snack covered, she runs out of her drink, or her show ends and she doesn’t like watching the next one to come on.  I found that if I spent time with her in the mornings, and had lunch together, then in the afternoon, I could work during nap time.  When she woke up, I’d have her snack and a DVD ready for her and I could work until dinner time.

She’s learned over the years that if she lets mom work, then when I’m done, we can spend time together. That can be going for a walk, going to the park, going out to lunch, or just watching a DVD together.  I’ve also taught her to be independent.  These days, she’s a pro at getting a snack, a drink, and picking out a DVD.

I also give her little tasks to do for me so that she can earn some money.  Like setting out the packages for the Mail carrier, shredding, helping me put away items that are listed, putting labels on packages, etc.

Sometimes, no matter how much you love your children, it’s nice to have some uninterrupted time to concentrate on your work.  This is where play dates and babysitters come in handy.  I’ve found that even if the play date is at our house, there are fewer interruptions because she’s busy playing with her friend.

I’ve never hired a babysitter so that I could spend more time working on listings, but I know moms who do just for one day a week.  If that’s what works for you, the by all means, schedule a babysitter.

If you have school age children, then working at home can be a little easier during the daytime while they’re at school.  I have a friend, who has three school age children, and she told me the other day that she ends up working from 10pm-midnight because she’s been messing around all day having fun and then has to get her work done at the last minute.  I guess if that’s what works for you, then go for it, but in my mind, I think I would take advantage of my children being at school at get my work done during the day.

I have another friend who works at home AND homeschools her children.  I have no idea how she does it, really, but she gets it all done.

One thing I’ve learned is this: Working at home isn’t for wimps.  It takes a lot of discipline, organization, and determination to make it work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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