OLA Tuesday Tidbit

Today's OLA Tuesday Tidbit
is all about WHAT'S SOLD!

Did you know that you can view completed auctions?

It's recently been revised
and now it's even easier to see what's
happening at OLA!

Go to the OLA Home Page.
Scroll down to the bottom right corner.
You'll see a vertical list of the
last 5 completed auctions...
to see more, just hit the MORE button!

And don't forget to check out
FLEAPIRATES PLUNDER!

My Tuesday Treasure:

ABBAZIA
800 Silver
Enamel Souvenir Spoon
Dated 1932

Only $7.50, plus shipping!

Click here to view the auction.

Calling Collectors!

Calling coin collectors!

Calling souvenir spoon collectors!

Calling silver collectors!

This week's OLA QUARTER ANTE EVENT
is in it's final moments!
You have until 4pm pst on Saturday Feb 21st
to snag some outstanding deals!

Bargains galore!

Here are FLEAPIRATES weekly specials,
still at below-market pricing!
(Click on the title to view the auction.)

Austria 1928 Silver 2 Schilling Schubert
This coin is from Austria,
Republik Oesterreich1928
~ Silver 2 Schilling ~
Featuring Franz Schubert.
In excellent condition!
I am not a coin dealer - this coin has NOT been graded.
Clean, with well-defined markings, and very little wear.
Looks like it was not widely circulated.

1932 Venezia 800 Silver Enamel Spoon
Beautiful enamel spoon, dated 1932, (engraved).
The handle of this spoon features a winged lion,
with the word VENEZIA.
The winged lion was the traditional symbol of the Apostles,
and eventually became the logo of the Venetian Republic.
The bowl of the spoon features the
Piazza of San Marco, (St. Mark's Square).S
t. Mark is Venice's patron saint.
This spoon is in excellent condition!

HURRY... there's still time to place your bid!

Devil's Lake Wisconsin Sterling Silver Souvenir Spoon

Devil's Lake Wisconsin
Sterling Silver Souvenir Spoon
with an engraved bowl.
The handle is a Native American Indian,
with copper colored highlighting on his body.

Priced at only $6.50!

Click HERE for details!

Available at Online Auction.com
Store FLEAPIRATES

OLA Tuesday Tidbit for 2/17/2009

Well, we had a bit of a melt down
on the OLA servers last Thursday!

Did any of you try to visit the homepage
& receive the Down For Maintenance message?
Grrrr....!

What did you do?
Me... I went to the OLA-Radio show,
which is now broadcasted on ustream.tv !

Thankfully, our dedicated staff had the site
back up & running before the night was through!

Our users, however, have had a few issues since the episode,
with auction information disappearing / reverting.
I have a fix... straight from Rowen, in OLA's Support Dept!

There are possibilites of edited information not retaining.
To avoid this, cancel the auction.
Then go to canceled folder & do a sell similar,
edit that page accordingly,
and then start it.

Rowen & I have also had discussions about
topics such as SEO and Keywords.
Here's an example of how to create a listing,
using the title/subtitle/description to your advantage!

The title & the first part of the sub title should match.
Tthen the description should start with the same wording.
Example:
Title: 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback

Subtitle: 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback
:351 Clevland engine with four bolt mains

Description: 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback
:351 Clevland engine with four bolt mains, plus after market
stereo system and factory original interior, in mint condition.

They all start the same,
though end differently,
so the search engines will index them together,
(as being all pertinent),
achieving a better index to add to your back link indexes.

All your blogs pertaining to individual listings
should match what is in the listing to get better indexing.

If any OLA members have questions about this,
or other OLA activities,
there are a host of people ready & waiting to help you!

Here are some help lines:

1-800-900-2828
This is the OLA telephone number,
and YES, you'll be able to talk to a live person!

http://www.onlineauction.com/chat/
This is a link to the OLA Chat Forum,
where you'll find many users who are knowledgeable
& willing to help on a variety of topics!
Like me!
(You can contact me anytime & I'll do what I can!)

BeverlyJ
This valued OLA member offers
live help via talkshoe!
Contact James, at BeverlyJ, to find out when the next
OLA Help Line will be available!
(Personalized help is available by special request.)
NOTE: Please sign up for a Talkshoe account
and not login as a guest.
Here is the link to the OLA Help Line:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/33401

Thank you, Rowen, for all the
"words of wisdom" for this week!

NOW FOR THE FLEAPIRATES
TUESDAY TREASURE!

Artesania Rinconada # 253F Baby Unicorn Figurine,
in yellow, a vintage find from Montevideo, Uruguay!
On Classic Auction format,
with a starting bid of only $18.99!
Isn't he cute???

New Quarter Ante Items!

The first round of
OLA QUARTER ANTE AUCTIONS
ends today at 4pm pst!

Both of my auctions are ending successfully...
thanks bidders!

So now begins a new week of great deals!

25 SELLERS PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK: (wow!)
1.) ANNIMAE

2.) BLBOKRAM
3.) CAPTDONNA
4.) CROCHENLADY
5.) CURIOCACHE
6.) CVMSO021
7.) DRAGGONTAGGER
8.) FLEAPIRATES
9.) GOLDI
10.) GRAMMYKAY
11.) JAHJESTERS
12.) JANESHOPE102289
13.) LOOKING4AGREATDEAL
14.) LUNATECHCHICK
15.) METZYMOM
16.) OUTDOORGIRL44
17.) RAGGY-LADY
18.) RAGS2RICHES4ME
19.) REDHEADEDGODDESS
20.) ROBINSGONESHOPN
21.) RODBUSTERSCUBADOG
22.) SOCKLADY
23.) THEFABRICSTASH
24.) THEROYALTREASURES
25.) TREASURESGOROUND

Click on any of the names to visit their stores!

OR

Go to http://www.onlineauction.com/
and put QA in the search box!

Here are my two new items for this week,
at starting bids of only .25 cents each!

Austria 1928
Silver 2 Schilling
Franz Schubert

1932 Venezia
800 Silver Enamel Spoon
St. Mark's Square

SEE YOU AT THE SALE!

Self Promotion for Small Sellers

Do you sell product online?
Your own website or a community venue?

If so, then I am guessing self promotion
is high on your list of "things to do"!

It doesn't matter where you sell...
the more effort you put into self promotion,
the better your chances are of being seen & getting sales.

So what do you do?

There are many opportunities to self promote!

I will list some of the ones that I have tried,
& I hope you'll join in by adding some that I didn't mention!
Or give me your thoughts on the ones talked about!

http://www.pingomatic.com/
I hope that because you're reading MY blog,
you already know how invaluable blogs are!
Search engine spiders love the updated content,
& tend to keep relevant content situated
at the top of their search engine results.
BUT... did you know you could "PING" your blog?
I didn't even know what that was!
Simply put, you can let the search engines
know that you've updated your blog by sending
them a "ping"... a reminder to check you out!
Read more about this at Wikepedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping_(blogging)
And thank you, Supergranny, for recommending them!

FREE SUBMISSION TO SEARCH ENGINES:
http://www.freewebsubmission.com/
http://www.ineedhits.com/
http://www.addpro.com/

LISTINGS & LINKS OF ONLINE SELLERS:
http://www.everyplaceisell.com/
http://www.sellersarena.com/
http://www.hotfrog.com/

OTHER PLACES TO TRY:
http://www.linkreferral.com/
Link referral is a place I am just learning about!
You place your store url, and participate in their
reviews of other seller's sites, and your rank grows.
http://www.oodle.com/
Oodle is a fantastic, fast growing website,
that allows you to list your individual items for sale,
and link to your store for completion of purchase!
Users are finding their items at
THE TOP of the search engine pages!
User-friendly and easy!
www.twitter.com
Another new venue for me...
basically a social networking site!
Allows you to stay in touch with friends,
family, colleagues, & buyers,
while promoting your items, your store or your blog!

Is anyone a facebook member?
I'd love to hear from you!
In the past, it seemed like facebook was a site
limited to the young.. not anymore!
Tell me how it works for you!

So, OLA members, that's your
Tuesday Tidbit!
Ragmop must be busy...
I didn't get any Words of Wisdom today!
LOL!

But be sure to check back next Tuesday,
because he's rarely out of things to say!
Just teasin' Ragmop... you're the best source of OLA info!

And now..
FLEAPIRATES
TUESDAY TREASURE!

Vintage 3 inch Kewpie Doll with Crocheted Outfit
Only $4.99!
Click the photo to visit the auction!

OLA Quarter Ante Event is "Live" Now!

AND WE'RE OFF.......!

The OLA Quarter Ante Event went "Live"
at 4pm PST today!

The bids are building,
and
the excitement is growing!

DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE
TO GRAB SOME GREAT DEALS!

Opening bids of just .25 cents!
One week only Classic Auctions!

Available from FLEAPIRATES :

Fenton Glass Made for Other Companies
1907 - 1980
Identification & Value Guide

Chicago Sun-Times July 13 1969
TOUCHDOWN ON THE MOON
Special Section

A Steal of a Deal ~ Quarter Ante Event!

The OnlineAuction.com, seller sponsored event,
Quarter Ante,
is set to debut on Saturday February 7, 2009, at 4pm PST!

DON'T MISS IT!
This is your chance to find incredible deals
at starting bids of only .25 cents!

The list of sellers is growing fast,
& the news is traveling far & wide!

Here are some of our participants:
(You may click on their name to preview their store!)

ANNIMAE
BLBOKRAM
CAPTDONNA
CURIOCACHE
DRAGGONTAGGER
FLEAPIRATES (that's me!)
GOLDI
JAHJESTERS
METZYMOM
RAGGY-LADY
RODBUSTERSCUBADOG
SUPERGRANNY
THEFABRICSTASH
THEROYALTREASURES

Keep checking back! This list is sure to grow!

WHY DO WE DO THIS?
To bring back the fun of classic auctions, for sure!

HOW CAN YOU FIND THE SALES?
After 4pm pst, on 2/7/09, using the OLA Search Box,
enter the letters QA, and voila! ... all the sales should pop up!

Search Auctions or Members

NOT A MEMBER YET?
No problem!
Just click on the Page Peel at the top right corner of my blog,
or click on the following banner...

Registration is fast & easy!

BASIC MEMBERSHIP - FREE!
This is the best option, if you just want to be a buyer!

VERIFIED BUYER
Only necessary if you want to buy high-priced items,
like automobiles or real estate!

VERIFIED SELLER - $8 per month
That's all it will cost to join our selling family
& offer as many items for sale as you'd like!
(We'd love to have you!)

FOUNDING MEMBERSHIP - $196 first year / $96 year thereafter
This is the best deal on the net! Store included.
Contact me if you'd like more details,
call OLA and talk to a REAL person - 800-900-2828,
or email: sales@onlineauction.com .

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Break Out Your Cameras!

In the online marketplace, a good photo is worth a thousand words!
Are your photos helping you to sell your items?

Today's OLA Tuesday Tidbit is all about photos...

You know, I heard on the OLA-Radio show last Thursday,
direct from Dave White, that he RARELY uses a flash when taking
pictures for auctions. Neither do I! Do you know why?
The flash tends to white-out your item!
Instead, try taking photos in a well-lit area, without a flash,
and lighten up your photo once it's on your computer... it really works!

I am a member at http://www.photobucket.com/.
Basic accounts there are free, you can host up to 1GB of multimedia,
(that's videos, slideshows & pics), and you'll have access to fun features,
like resizing, decorating, tweaking, & sharing with family & friends.

The Pro account, (which I opted for), only costs $11.85 for 3 months,
& includes all the above, + 10GB storage, so I will never exceed bandwidth.

The key here, for me, is that when I upload the pic from my computer,
I set photobucket to upload at 320 x 240, which allows me to use those
pics in the chat room, in my auctions, and in emails,
without ever having to worry about resizing them further.

For anyone who is not comfortable at Photobucket, I have
some great tips, directly from my buddy Rowen, at OLA:

Picture file size,(when uploading), must be less than (1) megabyte in size.
Pixel size should be limited 500 pixels x 500 pixels.
(This size always works.)

The member should become acquainted with their camera’s settings
and set the camera to take medium pictures.
This may take a little experimenting to find the optimum setting.

To resize existing photos you can download Irfanview from
http://www.irfanview.com/

Or you can resize your photo online @
http://www.photosize.com/

Personally I prefer the irfanview program,
as it allows me to work offline until I am ready to upload.

Here is the link to the OLA help page for picture tips.
http://www.onlineauction.com/?page=help:main&content=pic_tips

Remember, the larger the picture the slower the page load.
A slow page load may cost you a sale.

Rowen,
Let me just say that I've tried BOTH of his resizing suggestions,
and I found each of them to be fast & simple to use.
IRFANVIEW looks to have a lot of extras, which I will enjoy playing with!
Quick download, too!

And just one more thought about slow page loads...
two of my favorite features from Photobucket are the Slideshow & the Video.
After asking help from other OLA members, we determined that
the Slideshows load pretty fast on dial-up... not as fast as a pic,
but worth adding to the end of an auction.
(Thank you for being my testers, the*tiki*shak and aesthetics48!)

The video, however, loads VERY slowly for dial-up users.
Because of this, I revised any of my auctions that
included a video, to have just a LINK to photobucket.
That way, the buyer can decide for themself, if they want to view a video.
Helpful, if you have an item with movement or sound!

And another thank you, to TheRoyalTreasures,
for introducing me to the slideshow feature!

AND NOW...
FLEAPIRATES PLUNDER TUESDAY TREASURE!

This little gem is a vintage 800 silver pill box!
Circa early 1900's!
Click HERE to get the details of my newest auction!