Can you believe eBay has been around for over 20 years? It’s a huge marketplace, providing sellers with access to a worldwide audience of customers. EBay allows small companies and sole traders to set up shop alongside high street brands and compete more evenly.

Of course, the bigger shops still have some advantages – with bigger buying power and larger sources of stock, there’s more room for them to reduce prices. But it’s not all about the price – so here’s our top tips for growing your own eBay business.

1. Clear, branded eBay descriptions.

As with most everything online, you only have seconds to grab the attention of your customer. After spending hours combing through the search pages of eBay to find ‘Rattan Garden Furniture’ or a ‘Vintage Child’s Toy Kitchen’, there’s nothing more off putting than a poorly written listing.

Create your own shop logo, and make sure it’s visible at the top of each description. It gives your shop a more professional and reassuring feel. Make sure every description is concise, but contains key details – the technical specifications and colour, dimensions and cleaning instructions.

If you have all of the details to hand, a buyer will feel more confident in knowing what to expect, and will be happy to pay a little more for that certainty.

2. Fair postage and policies

Buying from eBay can feel a little daunting to the uninitiated, as it’s not always clear whether the seller is an established retailer. Of course, this benefits us as sole traders, as there’s no immediate advantage to being a high street brand on eBay – as long as we have clear policies in place.

Make sure your postage is fair – it’s easy to be found out if you are inflating courier charges or trying to profit on a stamp, and it will be noted in your subsequent feedback.

Have policies in place that outline whether you’ll accept returns on faulty items. Nothing reassures a buyer than knowing there’s an easy solution to potential problems.

Finally, take advantage of the About page to give some background to your business and location.

3. Speedy communications

By providing clear and detailed item descriptions, you’ll cut out a lot of repetitive questions from potential customers. However, you’ll still get some queries before a sale, as well as customers contacting you in relation to delivery issues and so on.

Make sure you respond to every question clearly and quickly. Waiting days for an answer to a problem will just aggravate the situation, while potential sales will be lost as shoppers go on to the next seller.

When a sale is made, providing swift confirmation followed by emails to acknowledge postage and delivery will also build confidence in your brand.

4. Organisation

Organisation is the key to running any successful business. While your eBay shop may start off as a hobby, as it grows it will take more and more of your time. To keep both your reliability – and your own sanity – it’s important to develop a process.

Firstly, if you can, keep to office hours. Then when you ‘finish work’ for the day, you can turn off your computer and relax, while your online shop just keeps on selling.

Secondly, develop a routine. Spend the morning answering queries from customers and organising new stock. Next focus on printing off new sales up to your cut off time. Then allow time to package and address them all, in time for collection by your courier, or for you to skip off to the post office.

5. Expand and grow

As your sales increase, routine becomes more important. Most eBayers start off at home. The constant swapping of the dining table from family use to functional production line will soon lose its appeal though.

As boxes of stock start to take over the available space in the home, consider expanding your operations to a storage unit. There are a number of advantages.

You’ll have a clear divide between home life and work life. You can set up an office space inside your unit, with a desk for your computer. This will allow you to focus without distractions during office hours. Many self storage units can be equipped with heating, power and Wi-Fi.

Your storage unit can also be fitted with racking, keeping boxes of stock organised and easy to hand. The tools you need for packaging, weighing and labelling items can stay out where they are needed.

A self-storage unit also has benefits over traditional shop premises. There is no separate business rates or council tax. You pay one rental fee – and only on the size of the unit you need. Then, as business booms, it’s easy to move into larger units or rent a second one – with more stock allowing you to match high street prices.

Finally, storage companies often offer other business perks. Cookes has a kitchen, bathroom and meeting space on site for your use – removing practical concerns from working on site all day. And we’ll accept deliveries, so you can forget hanging about waiting for stock to arrive, and spend your time elsewhere.

If you’re thinking of starting, or expanding, your eBay business, then get in touch. We’re here to help.

 

Sharing a house with another person can be exciting, but leaves plenty of room for tension as well. Whether you’re leaving home for the first time, sharing with friends or moving in with a partner, there’s a few tips to making sure your new home doesn’t turn into a nightmare.

Sharing money

Money is always a source of arguments, even between long term couples. It’s important to work out, probably even before you move in, how you will share the bills and shopping. You might choose to keep separate food cupboards, or to create a kitty for essentials such as bread, teabags and washing up liquid.

Keep track of any furniture or decorations you buy for the house as well, so that if you do move out you know who owns what.

Sharing space

Even if you have your own bedrooms, you and your new housemate will be sharing living space, so start by making each room into a place you both enjoy.

Enjoy picking out pieces of furniture together and discuss where you’ll put them. You may have pieces from home, and you will most likely end up with duplicates of some things, such as pots and pans and other kitchen utensils. If you do, consider putting them in storage until you move into your next home and need them.

Sharing jobs

No one likes clearing out the bins or cleaning the bathroom, but if these jobs don’t get done regularly and equally, tensions will rise. So it’s worth making a rota from the very beginning for the worst jobs and make sure you do your share.

Sharing things

Eating each other’s food isn’t the only way to cause friction. Helping yourself to shampoo, clothes or other personal items will just irritate your housemate. Remember as well that the furniture might belong to one of the others, even though it’s for everyone to use. So take care of it, just as you would your own.

Sharing issues

No matter how well you plan or what good friends you are, there will be times when you get irritated. It’s important to discuss issues and be open with each other.

Spend time together to build strong bonds and – importantly – to have fun. Why not make it a habit to watch a favourite soap, share a meal or have a film night with popcorn once a week. That helps keep communication open and build shared bonds.

House sharing can be great fun, and create friends for life. It’s all about showing each other some respect, and getting through each issue together.

 

 

 

As the children head off back to school, it does start to feel like summer is over. The official end of summer isn’t actually until 22 September – which means there’s still time to enjoy the last bit of sunshine, and start getting your garden ready for autumn.

 

Enjoy the summer harvest

All of your hard work through the spring and summer is now showing the benefits. If you had fruit and vegetable beds growing, you’ll be enjoying the harvest. If it’s not quite ready, check your netting is secure. The birds will be getting hungrier about now.

It’s time to get jamming and pickling – storing your harvest for the future. You can also freeze fruit, so make sure there is space in your freezer.

Make sure you dig up any potatoes, the slugs are out about in force. You can leave them out in the last of the summer sunshine to dry for a few hours, before storing in a dry, dark place to keep you going through the next few months. Remember that they need air or they’ll go mouldy.

Hanging baskets and container plants are still flowering and looking beautiful. Keep up the feeding and they will last until the frosts begin.

Autumn garden tips 

The first thing that happens in autumn is, of course, leaves start to fall from the trees. Make sure you put netting over ponds, ready to catch them all. It saves a lot of time and cleaning later. You’ll also need somewhere to put all those leaves, so make a space for new compost piles if you can.

Summer’s plants are beginning to die back, so you can start clearing them out, particularly if you have a greenhouse. This means you’ll have the space to get some new plants in over the autumn.

Remove weeds and the dead crops – a little time tidying up your beds and vegetable patch now will save you time nest year, when the ground may still be firmer.

Thinking ahead to spring

The ground is still soft and warm enough to start thinking about next spring. Now is the time to be planting your spring bulbs – daffodils, crocus, hyacinths and so on.

It’s also the best time to be planting new trees and shrubs. The increased rainfall will help them settle in, ready to burst into new growth next year.

New lawns will grow well right now, so putting down seed, aerating your lawn and giving it some food will help improve any poor patches.

Storing your garden furniture

As well as preparing the garden, it’s time to care for your tables and chairs. By the end of September the weather will be poorer, and the temperatures much lower. One of the last jobs of the month is to give everything a good clean, and put it away for the winter.

Give your shed or garage a good clear out, and make a space between the bikes and wheelbarrow. If you don’t have the room, consider putting your furniture in self-storage for the 6 months until you need it again. It’s dry and out of the way, leaving you more room at home for your spring potting.

If you need a little more space in your garden, talk to us about self storage. With daily access if you need it, a storage unit is the perfect second shed, a place to keep all your seasonal gear until next year. Call now on 0121 285 5197. 

Have you ever wondered how secure your home is? With rising concerns over burglaries, homeowners need to be a little more savvy in taking care these days. The police say that homes with no security measures are five times more likely to be targeted than those with some simple security in place security.

At Cookes we take security very seriously – each locker is individually alarmed, with PIN code entry on the entrance and 24 hour CCTV. However, we know that keeping your home secure without feeling you are under lock and key, can be a little more involved.

The point, it seems, is not to make your home a Fortress of Impenetrability, but to make of a Domicile of Difficulty – that is to say, make it look like so much hard work to get in, that the thieves go for an easier target.

Home Security From the outside

Go outside, and look at your home compared to others on the street.

• Have you got ladders lying in the grass or tools in view? Valuable tools can attract a thief to your house, while leaving hammers, ladders and other items around may be providing easy access to an opportunist thief.
• While you are out, even in the garden, have you left doors and windows open? Or, is the shed or garage visible and open from the road – particularly of note if your garage has a connecting (hopefully locked) door into your home?
• Do you have a visible alarm box? Even a dummy box can act as a deterrent, so consider placing one high up on your home.
• Install security lighting and movement sensors on the outside of the house.
• Have you got secure fencing and a locked gate? Everything that slows a thief down in getting into and away from your home will encourage them to move elsewhere.

Home Security From the inside

An unoccupied home is more appealing than one where confrontation could happen. So, make your home look occupied, even when you are out.

• Put some lamps and a radio on timers inside. That way, even while you are out the lights and noise are on at home.
• Close your curtains. Nothing says empty house more than open curtains throughout the night.
• Check your doors and windows. Are they all locked securely?
• Thieves have been known to access homes using the door key, by hooking it through a letterbox. Make sure you don’t leave keys in the door or within easy reach.
• Better yet, keep all keys out of sight. Thieves may not be after the contents of your home – not if you have an expensive car sitting on the driveway. Most homeowners place keys in a drawer or on a hook nearest the door – so make it harder for thieves by moving things about.

While you are in, and when you go out

Sadly, you can’t always prevent a very determined thief. However, you can do more to ensure that there is nothing inviting them to your home. We also recommend that you keep valuables locked away in a hidden home safe.

Please don’t advertise that you are away on social media. Telling everyone you are away for a week not only makes your home vulnerable, it could invalidate your home insurance.

However, do tell your neighbours. They can watch over your home, and collect any parcels left out on the doorstep, making it clear that the house is under a watchful eye.

If you plan to leave your home unattended for any length of time, such as going abroad, you might want to consider putting anything valuable into storage. Cookes Storage Service can provide secure storage.

Click Here to Get a Quote.

If you plan to start the year with a fresh outlook, one great way to begin is to remove some of the clutter from your life. Our homes, workplace, and lives in general are filled with excesses of goods that we could honestly do without – and may be adding to the stress in our lives.

We know that the busier our lives, and the more we try to fit in, the more stressed and anxious we feel. The same applies to the space we live in. If you are surrounded by clutter, with overflowing wardrobes, piles of toys or bursting cupboards, your home is likely to be over stimulating, rather than the place of restful tranquillity you can escape to at the end of the day.

Here are some top tips to decluttering your home – and restoring some calm and control in your life.

Clear your wardrobes

We all keep items of clothing because we love them, or they were expensive, or they hold special memories – even when they no longer fit. You may be planning on a new year diet and aim to get into your designer jeans once more, but now is the time to be honest. Ask yourself, have you worn it in the last year? If not, it’s time to put it aside.

Go through your cupboards

Cupboards and drawers are a great place to dump things throughout the year that have no obvious home. Everyone has a drawer in the kitchen full of screws, keys, and ‘might be useful’ items. Speaking of kitchens, what about the spiralizer, the egg cooker or the doughnut maker. There’s a variety of must-have gadgets we buy but rarely use. Now’s the time to have a sort out and make some room.

An ornament free zone

Whether it’s candles, collectibles or home-made art, every surface in your office or lounge probably holds some sort of dust-collecting ornament that you rarely look at and likely don’t need. Be brutal – is it a special piece, or is it adding to your distraction and stress?

The difference between unnecessary and unwanted

Sometimes it’s hard to see past the piles. You don’t need to throw away special memories or give all of your children’s favourite toys to charity. The aim is to declutter your home, not break your heart.

Put everything you feel you may want to keep into storage and see how often you need to go and get it. It’s a great solution for those designer jeans – if you are going to stick to your diet, you don’t want to bin your entire wardrobe, only to replace it later when you succeed. But you also don’t want piles of too tight clothing taking up space and nagging you every day. Move everything into self storage and it’s there when you need it, without taking over your bedroom.

The same principle applies to your kitchen gadgets. Self storage companies allow you to rent as much or as little space as you require, and to visit your unit whenever you want to get something out. That means your doughnut maker is on hand when you are feeling adventurous, but out of sight while you work on your new year diet.

As the clutter leaves, your home will start to feel like a restful haven, somewhere to relax and enjoy yourself again. With the new year ahead, there’s no better time to get started.

Business Self Storage

December has arrived, and most businesses are gearing up for the busiest few weeks of the year. The 5 weeks of the festive season can account for up to half a year’s revenue for many small retailers. With every retailer – on and offline – in competition for consumers, it’s vital that business owners have prepared in advance.

Small businesses in particular have to juggle a variety of factors over the festive season that can impact on their ability to meet customer needs – staff holidays and sickness, cash flow and holiday pay, delivery demands and increases in theft. And there’s still the Christmas party to organise.

One aspect that’s vital to your sales this December is having enough of every product in place, particularly popular items that make up a large part of your profits. With online shopping, next day deliveries and plenty of options, consumers are not likely to hang around long if you hang up the ‘out of stock’ sign.

The issue many small businesses face is a lack of space. Whether you have a physical shop or sell entirely online, all the additional stock has to be put somewhere while you wait for the orders to flood in.

Stacking haphazardly in corridors and backrooms will likely result in items being damaged or lost, while the time taken to hunt down each order for wrapping and stamping all adds to delays in sending items out and meeting customer demands.

The advantages of offsite business storage

There’s an easy solution to toppling box piles though, and that’s taking advantage of short term business self-storage units. Off-site storage has a lot of benefits for smaller businesses – in fact more and more retailers are using them on a regular basis, or running their business from their storage site entirely.

Here’s why inventory storage could be the solution – and bring you a big increase in profits this Christmas.

1. Rental agreements are on a short term or monthly basis – no year-long contracts and huge overheads here.
2. The size of the unit you take is also flexible, so you don’t need to pay for a mass of empty space – just take the unit that meets your needs.
3. Indoor off-site storage is dry and clean. There’s no need to worry about stock getting dirty or damaged. An indoor business storage facility is often temperature controlled as well – so even food and drink can be stored safely.
4. With CCTV and often PIN access controls in place, your stock is safe and secure. Some stock storage facilities even offer a reception service, accepting deliveries so that you don’t need to worry about time spent waiting while you could be out working.
5. If your business is already overflowing with boxes, crates and festive chaos, but you don’t have time to move it all, then the right self-storage providers can even solve that problem. Cookes Storage in Sutton Coldfield will even come and collect your goods for you – so that all you need to do is make sales and see your profits soar.
6. Once you’ve organised your stock in your unit, you’ll be able to locate individual items with ease and get everything packed and ready for shipping in no time at all – meaning you can pack and shift more in one day and meet more customer demands.

Finally, once the festive season is over you’ll be able to see at a glance what, if any, stock is left over and get it all marked down in time for the January sales before leaving your temporary business premises – until the next seasons demand begin.