Many eBay sellers listed in the upcoming redesigned Consignment Pal Business Directory will be attending the eBay Live! Conference in Chicago in June.  Yesterday, I started discussing airline and hotel options with my husband. For eBay Live! Conferences, he knows that a second suitcase usually houses my freebies from the Expo and autographed books.

Well guess what? He just emailed me Scott McCartney’s Wall Street Journal excess baggage article. Starting May 5, a second checked bag on United Airlines will cost $50 each way! With United’s hub in Chicago, thousands of eBay buyers and eBay sellers flying in for the eBay Live! Conference may be affected. US Airways and Virgin Atlantic will also only allow one free checked bag while most airlines will allow two free checked bags.

After recovering from my initial shock at the airline industry’s aggressive “pay-per-use” baggage charges, I died laughing at Scott’s concluding sentence: “United, however, says it won’t refund baggage fees even if it loses your bag.”

I wonder if your credit card company would allow a chargeback for service not received in a timely manner?

To find out how many bags your airline will allow, read “Baggage Becomes A Big-Ticket Item” in The Wall Street Journal at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120519352406325701.html?mod=yahoo_buzz.

Tips

Coupons and Promos
Utilize advertising coupons and promotional discounts on your website and in your advertising flyers. Code the coupons so you know which advertising campaign has the best return for your money.

Chat Boards
When you have a consignment question, who do you ask? Many consignment sellers frequent the AuctionBytes Forum or eBay Trading Assistants Discussion Board to learn and to help others. Note: Trading Assistants are the name eBay uses for their eBay consignment sellers.

Fundraising
Help your community while increasing your customer base. Reporters love big charity events. In some states, a fundraising license is required if you receive a fee. For eBay sales, the eBay Safe Trading Manual says: “If you sell items on eBay and a portion of the proceeds goes to charity, but you receive a fee for the sale, you must be a licensed professional fundraiser.”