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I'm new to the whole blogging/selling online experience, so please bear with me. I thought that, since I've been selling on ebay via Auctiva for the past month, it was time to commit to sharing the experience via blogging.

In the beginning, when I first considered selling online, it was hard for me to start. I had always wanted to ever since I first bought my very own computer back in 2005, but I had also always been scared of the whole business side of things. I've had a nack for computers since high school, so that wasn't what frightened me. The main thing that held me back wasn't the quality of my products (which are now just things out of my house I need to get rid of), or how good I thought my customer service was (I have worked many jobs where good customer service is a must), but rather, what held me back from my selling potential was the fear of the whole shipping process.

Looking back, it doesn't seem that big a deal, but to me it was. I was afraid of losing money in the shipping due to not knowing how the postal system works. All the figuring of the correct dimensions, weight, packaging materials, which post service to use (USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.), and all the other bells and whistles that seem to accompany the online seller business really turned me off. I wanted to sell, after all, not become an all-out full-blown business.

Finally, with the coming of the new year in 2008, I decided it was time to "get off my duff and sell some stuff!" I was determined to sell at least one thing. Hopefully a small "one thing". As fate would have it, my dad had an item he wanted me to sell, a vintage tube amplifier. It was quite bigger than what I wanted to sell for my first item, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

I found a local postal service company called "Goin' Postal" and decided to give them a try. I had heard some really good positive feedback about them and thought it couldn't hurt. They have the option of multiple postal services as well as they were extremely helpful in helping me understand the process of shipping packages. The owner is very friendly and he even tries to give me discounts on packaging wherever possible. Needless to say, it truly wasn't that big a deal.

Around the same time, I found a great online seller's aid called Auctiva.com. It's a TOTALLY FREE online selling tool that comes complete with listing templates, your own online store, unlimited image hosting, hundreds of free auction templates to give your auction that professional look and feel, and much, much more. Auctiva has literally been a life saver in the world of online selling for me. I wouldn't sell online without it!

That amp was my first online sell and it propelled me forward and motivated me to continue looking for new products to sell. As of this writing, I've finished creating two new listings via Auctiva and have sold a total of 3 items on ebay, with more soon on the way.

If I were to give any new/wanna-be sellers out there it would be these age old words of genius: "Just Do It!" If you put in the time and effort and really care about what you're doing; feel passionate about it, it will pay off. And just knowing you've accomplished something you thought you never could will give you that boost of confidence and motivation to do other things you've always wanted to do but were always afraid of. It's worth a try at least; it may be worth it in cold, hard ca$h!

Learn more about this author, Eric (Sword) Beaty.
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