Thursday, February 2, 2012

Unveiling My New Look!

So exciting! This is a day of new beginnings for me:
  • Changed my store name from Ellie's Shoes 'n' More to Ellie's Alcove, because Ellie's Closet was already taken :(
  • Changed my store logo to match my new store name
  • Changed my Facebook fan page logo and name
  • Registered a new domain name (for my eBay store AND my blog) on godaddy.com (*affiliate link)
  • Changed the URL forwarding information on all my godaddy domain names
  • Changed my eBay Underground forum signatures
  • Ordered new business cards with my new store name and logo

I'm very excited about this change. It was time for the old logo and colors to go. I got 1500 of these business cards for only $25, including shipping!

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I've had hardly any sales today. In a way, I'm glad for that, because I was able to get all of these little things taken care of. I have several other things to finish up today too, like, ahem, editing my pictures. I know, I know. I promised. I'm almost done with them. In fact, I think I'll just pause this post and go do that so I can show you some of my favorite Goodwill finds from Tuesday.

I have to laugh, because literally 15 seconds after typing that I've hardly had any sales, I sold 2 pairs of shoes!

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I got my 1099 from Paypal today finally. Yikes. I've never been as grateful for deductions as I am today. I'm going to be scouring my record books for every last little penny that I can possibly deduct. It is SO important to keep track of every penny, because they all add up. The thought of having to pay taxes on that amount is enough to make me sick to my stomach. I think I can reduce that amount by about two-thirds, so that will help. Fortunately, we always get back a pretty sizeable refund every year, so I don't think we'll end up owing any taxes this year. At least I hope not, because I didn't set aside any money for that. That's something I'll definitely need to do differently this year, just in case.

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Finally got my pictures edited. Here's just a few of my favorites.

This Ralph Lauren knit top should sell pretty quickly.



I bought 4 long denim skirts last week and have sold 3 of them already. I picked this one up the other day, hoping it will sell just as quickly as the other 3 did.


This is a great candidate for an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest. It has a hole in the armpit, but it's a size 3X. I'm hoping the size will make the hole irrelevant.



And these were actually from a couple weeks ago, but they've finally made it into my basket to get listed this weekend. They match one of my mom's Pyrex patterns. I offered them to her, but she declined. I have never actually found any refrigerator dishes before. They're very cute. I think they're only a half-pint. I haven't really researched yet to see how they do...



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I should get to bed. I almost missed the mail lady again today. I need to start going to bed earlier so I can get up in time to get my packages ready. Or I could just plan ahead and get my sales packaged up the night before, but that would be too easy...

6 comments:

  1. I don't mean to sound stupid.. but you changed the name of your store. So you can do that.. what happens to all your feedback do you start over at zero?
    I am under the impression that for the best IMpression your store name and your user id need to mostly match.. looks more professional.
    So for instance your userid is shoelover and the name of your store changes can you change your userid without losing your feedback?
    Kinda confused.
    Asking because I signed up with ebay about 10 yrs ago with an off the cuff id fast forward to now---now to match my store do I need to change it?(Don't wanna and you CAN'T make me if I am gonna lose my feedback--I have enough trouble getting people to do feedback already***LOL)

    I love your new logo and your new name. I was thinking just last week-she's not all about shoes anymore. LOL and then here you go changing it all up!LOL

    And wow-1500 cards. I got 250 cards and feel like its so many.:)

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  2. Oh wow! You have been busy! It's nice to start fresh now and then, it looks great! Good luck with the tax thing. I am working on mine this weekend, I'm NOT excited about it!

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  3. Um I thought I posted here this morning a big long thing about user ids and changing names hmmm.
    Not sure what happened there.
    Good luck with your new name and logo Jessica

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  4. Nancy - I found your earlier comment in my spam folder for some reason.

    Changing the name of your store doesn't reset your feedback number. Neither does changing your user name. I didn't want to change my user name because it's my daughter's name and I registered on eBay shortly after she was born. It's meaningful to me and she's proud to be "part-owner" of the business :) But in my case, I think my user name is close enough to my store name that I still have that common thread.

    Moving on from shoes is kind of bittersweet to me. I still have a real passion for buying and selling shoes, but without road trips, I just don't have access to many shoes. I'm lucky to find a pair or two a week, whereas I can find a whole shopping cart full of NWT clothes in a week. I'm not turning my back on shoes. When I do go on road trips (one planned in two weeks, in fact!), I will buy as many shoes as I can find. But when I'm not road-tripping, I need a back-up.

    I'm happy with the change. I never did like the "and more" part of Ellie's Shoes 'n' More, because it didn't sound very professional. Ellie's Alcove encompasses so much more than just shoes.

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  5. I DO want to change my username because its just a thing I thought up 10 years ago because I wanted to buy something on ebay and wasn't registered.
    Didn't sell then and didn't matter until now. With a store, its so important to try to give out the impression that you know what you are doing(me- just faking it till I make it:-but my CUSTOMERS don't have to know that)
    My feed back is better *for me* than at first but so many don't leave feedback... GRRR so frustrating!
    I am new to all this. Shoes are pretty abundant around here. But they go for $4 a pair-some even higher if GW knows its a good brand. Clothes go for $1 each at one thrift. NEVER find NWT here. Sometimes at yard sales never at thrifts. You are very blessed to be able to get NWT at your Goodwill. I am reading ebug and trying to read blogs but there is only so much time in a day and I have to list too.
    After you posted about the Goodwill being better than you thought, I went to a thrift store not GW and their clothes are $1 each. I spent some time going through clothes. I had a half a buggy full but took time to closely scan the clothes before purchase and about half had issues. I found a fab vintage western shirt but it had some kind of funky(moldy) stuff in the pockets and I noticed it on second go around. Didn't know if I could get it out. Passed on it. But the point of all that was I took time to search out the clothes and did end up finding some. I didn't even go through 3 racks because I was tired had worked all day and ready to go home.I wouldn't have thought about that had I not read your blog about branching out.:)Thanks for that.

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