Today's Small Business Saturday!

Small Business Saturday isn't just about brick-and-mortar stores.  Many micro businesses get their start by establishing an online presence first.

You can support small businesses Saturday without leaving your living room.  It's also a great way to find that unique, one-of-a-kind gift.

I'll be online supporting other small businesses and invite you to shop Wisdom Lane Antiques on Etsy here and eBay here.

Getting the right box to cut shipping costs

When I first started to buy goodies online, I never stopped to think about the box that it came in.  I would always just tear it up just to get at what I had bought.  But when I started to sell online, I started to look at boxes differently.

One place that offers a wide variety of boxes is the Post Office, and places like Walmart goes through quite a few of them on a daily basis.  More often than not, places like this will let you have these boxes.  One bit of advice that I keep in mind is to stay away from boxes that had food in it. I do this because the smell of the food that was in the box could potentially be there still and attract bugs to the box.

But what happens if you have a box that you want to use that has a ton of writing on the outside?  This is actually very simple, and all it takes is some mailing tape and a pair of scissors.

The first step is to cut the top and the bottom loose, like this:

 

Every box has a seam on the side where it was assembled.  The box can be unassembled at this seam, and the box will look something like this:

 

Once the box has been unassembled, you need to flip the box over and tape the box together at the seam again which can be seen here:

 

 

After doing that, the next step is to tape the bottom of the box back together:

 

 

Now that all of that is done, the easy part is next.  All that you have to do is to fill the box and tape it shut.  Make sure that you print out the correct postage for the brand new box that you just created and send it off.

 

What kinds of ideas do you use to help you and your customers save money?

Searching The World Wide Web

With a book out on the market on just about any antiques and collectibles area that you could imagine, it would be a safe bet that you could find any item fairly fast, right?

 

Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.  The internet can be a great resource for information on the item that you’re looking for, like a head vase for example.

When I look for something, I start with a fairly broad search by typing in “head vase”.  If that doesn’t get me what I need, this is when I start typing in specifics.  If the piece has a stamp or a sticker with the makers name on it, I use that.

With you narrowing down the search, you get to the point where you can find the item you have pretty quickly.  It could get to the point where you can find several listings of the same item as yours so that you have a great price range.