Red Barn Door

I love how the color of this door picked up the tones of the flowers!  This my contribution to Ruby Tuesday and My World.

Instruction on how to use Stamps.com for Ebay sellers

Seller Tip #12

I blogged in one of my previous posts about Stamps.com introducing a free Shipping Program for eBay Sellers.  Stamps.com normally charges $19.99 monthly subscription fee, but Ebay sellers now can use Stamps.com without paying any monthly fee.

I began using Stamps.com a few weeks ago, and found that their documentation for Ebay sellers is, lets put it politely,  is insufficient.  Ebay sellers are not charged a monthly fee ONLY for items that were sold on Ebay.  If item information is entered manually, Stamps.com begins charging a monthly fee.  So it is very important to know how to get your Ebay items into Stamps.com.  I could not find documentation on how to do it and e-mail support could not help me because the feature was so new.

I figured out how to do this by poking around for a long time. This post contains detailed instructions to save you time.                      

1. After stamps.com software is installed locally on your computer, you will be prompted to create an Ebay profile.

2. Once you created the profile you need to import Ebay items into Stamps.com. This process is hidden under the option called "batch", which I circled on red in image on the left.

3. Once you hit "batch", you see the screen on the right. You need to select "Manage" (I circled in in red on the image on the right) and then select "Ebay profile".

4. After than you need to select "Refresh" (I circled in in red on the image on the right) and then select the span of days for the sold items you wan to import into Stamps.com software.

5. Once you imported the items, you will see something like the image you see on the left. You need to edit each item to add the weight. For international items you also need to fill out the customs form.  The mailing address is obtained from Ebay and does not need to entered manually.  When the information is correctly filled out you will see a green check next to the item and then item is ready to ship.

6.  In order to ship the item, you need to add money to your account balance.  The minimum amount is $10.  If you decide to cancel your account while you have a balance, your money will be refunded to you via a check in the mail.  There is one gotcha.  If the balance is below $1, it is not refunded.  To get all your money out, you can add another $10 and then cancel the account.  Then they will send you a check for $10 plus change.

Like PayPal shipping Stamps.com provides hidden postage and free (on Priority Mail) or discounted (19 cents vs 80 cents retail) electronic delivery confirmation for First Class Parcel and Media Mail.

Stamps.com offers some services that PayPal Shipping does not.  For example, they have an option to use First Class Mail International mail which is significantly cheaper than International Priority and Internaltion Express, which are the only two option available for international shipments from PayPal.  They also provide an option for Priority Mail Flat Rate which is not an option in PayPal shipping.  Another small perk is that Stamps.com offers 10% off package insurance.  For international shipping Stamps.com also displays items prohibited to be shipped to that specific country as part of the customs form, which can be a nice reminder.   

Sing up and a receive a promotional package when you start from this link and  use promo code PCDQ-RCZ8.     

 This is a weekly feature called "Seller Tips". I have been selling my artwork on line since 1999. I have learned a lot about successful selling and like sharing my knowledge. I even won Ebay's Community Hall of Fame Award in 2004 for my efforts. I decided to bring that knowledge and experience to my blog.

To see all Seller Tips click here

A field of golden sunflowers

Today I am participating in Mellow Yellow Monday which celebrates golden color as the world is always better with a splash of yellow.   Nothing is more yellow than the yellow sunflowers!

Custom portrait of Poodle Chester

Poodles make wonderful subjects, their faces are so expressive.

This lovely grey poodle is called Chester. On the left is the original photo, on the right the final fiber custom portrait ACEO. My art work may look like a painting, but it is made entire out of fiber: fabric and thread. I start with a drawing, but then use fabric as thread as my color palette. This unique form of art allows me to combine two of my lives passions drawing and quilting. 

Lines on the beach

I took this picture of the gull in Datona Beach, Florida at sunset.  I liked how the shadows from the setting sun created the horizontal lines, and the wet sand created a perfect mirror for the bird.

This is my contribution to the camera critters, photo hunt for birds  and shadows

Everything spring Boston has a large flower show.  I love going there to take photos of the flowers.  This was one of the beautiful displays in the flower show, I am particulaly pleased with the shading of the background I achieved, using a flash with a directional cover. This is my contribution to flowers meme.

This photo was taking from a ferry that goes between different islands in Boston Harbor.  In the foreground is a sail boat that takes people on cruises of Boston Harbor, and in the background you see the Boston skyline.  This is my contribution to Scenic Sunday.

Heavenly Sunset

I caught this reflection in a window of a church in Dennis, Massachussets.  Dennis is a popular seaside resort town. It spans the width of Cape Cod, with Cape Cod Bay to the north, Brewster to the northeast, Harwich to the southeast, Nantucket Sound to the south, and Yarmouth to the west. Dennis is very picturesque, and has warm water beaches along the southern Nantucket Sound.

I thought this photo was a perfect contribution to sunset challenge and Friday reflections

Lion in the back yard

This magnificent Lion was a stone stature in one of my customer's back yard. It was stolen by some pranksters, and the wall hanging I've made is a reminder of the Lion the family misses. The photo of the Lion is on the left, and the Lion wall hanging is on the right.

Flower Bridge

This is Flower Bridge in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.  The old trolley bridge over the Deerfield River that connects the towns of Shelburne Falls and Buckland has been turned into lovely flower garden and path.  This floral masterpiece that has been the village's centerpiece since the bridge was abandoned by the trolley line in 1928.  The town brags that the bridge is "the only one of its kind in the world."
More than 20,000 people come to visit the blooms each year. And a large team of gardeners ensures that from the time the tulips pop up in April until the mums mark the end of fall flowering season that something spectacular is always in bloom.  This photo I took of the Flower Bridge is my contribution Skywatch  Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

Red Barn

Massachusetts has a lot of red barns.  I was happy to see this one with a nice wooden fence in the foreground to make a nice composition.  This is my contribution to Ruby Monday and My World.

Wedding Portrait

I enjoy doing custom portraits because it allows me to collaborate with my customers on something they really care about. This is a wedding portrait I've made from a photo and a wedding monogram. This portrait was given to the happy couple as a wedding gift. On the left you see the original reference photo and the wedding monogram, on the right is the resulting wall hanging.