This article is a continuation of our multi part series about private investigators, picking up where we left off.

If you’re thinking about becoming a private investigator you may want to know what you’re getting yourself into. The working conditions are not always easy or pleasant. The hard truth is, private investigators and detectives can and do work very irregular and long hours because of the need to stake out a person’s residence, if they’re following someone. The same goes if they’re conducting interviews, not everyone they need to speak with works the same hours and are therefore not home at the same time. Many times a detective will need to speak with someone at their place of employment. If they’re working the graveyard shift at a hospital that means the investigator is up some very late hours. Don’t plan on getting a lot of sleep while an investigation is ongoing.

This doesn’t mean that an investigator doesn’t spend some time in the office. Quite often the work he needs to do involves doing computer searches and making phone calls to the person or company that hired him or even to people he needs to interview. Investigators who own their own agencies and have other investigators working for them may spend most of their time in the office and have very normal business hours. Of course owning your own agency is not something most investigators start off by doing. That is something that usually takes many years to work up to unless they just happen to have a lot of money to begin with.

When an investigator is away from the office, the environment he or she works in can range anywhere from a four star hotel suite to the back of an alley or a seedy bar. They may meet with respected businessmen who earn billions of dollars a year or a prostitute working the local street corner. A private detective sees every walk of life and every place imaginable, and some not so imaginable. Sometimes they will have to mix in public and be in plain view and others, they will be totally alone when observing their suspect. Sometimes the work is very safe and at other times they are literally taking their life in their hands.

Some of the work does involve confrontation with a suspect. That is why many private detectives also have a license to carry a gun. All too often they are forced to use violence to subdue a violent suspect. This makes a detective’s job extremely stressful at times, especially when being assigned to be a bodyguard for some famous celebrity who has received death threats. An investigator must be constantly on the watch for any potential threat to his client.

Not all the work a detective does is stressful or dangerous. Sometimes assignments are as simple as just following some lady’s husband to see if he’s meeting with the local town bimbo. Once the suspect is spotted in the meet and photos are taken, which is usually the procedure in cases like this, the investigator simply returns to his client, photos in hand and his job is done.

Yes, being a private investigator is far from boring. Just make sure you’re prepared for anything.

In our next article we’ll go over training required to be a private investigator.

——————————————————-
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Private Investigators
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If you’ve ever thought about a living trust, it’s probably because you hate the idea of going through probate. Living trusts have been heavily marketed on that basis over the past several years and, yes, living trusts certainly do avoid probate. But, there’s a whole lot more to living trusts than just that. In fact, avoiding probate is not even oneof the top three reasons for a living trust. In my opinion, it’s #4. To set the record straight, here are the top 6 reasons why you should have a living trust.

Reason #1: Protecting Property for Certain Beneficiaries. This is seldom mentioned as a reason for a living trust, but it’s probably one of the most important reasons. When most of us think about estate planning, we think about giving our property to our husband or wife, our children, and other loved ones after we die. However, sometimes our intended beneficiaries just aren’t able to handle an inheritance. Minor children are the usual suspects here. Many states don’t even allow minor children to own property because they’re just too young. Instead, the state appoints a guardian to hold the property until they reach majority age (usually age 18). Even then, parents cringe at the thought of an 18-year old getting any amount of money. The first thing they might do is quit school, buy an expensive car, and head to Cancun.But, minor children aren’t the only ones who squander money. Most experts agree that no one under the age of 25 should be given an inheritance outright because they need time to finish school and start a career. Of course, there are many people over the age of 25 that shouldn’t have money either. Some are spendthrifts at heart, others are in not-so-good marriages, still others are going through bankruptcy. Then there are those who are just too frail and incapacitated to manage property on their own. Giving any amount of property to any of these people is never a good idea.

That’s when a trust becomes a vital part of your estate planning. A trust allows you to have your cake and eat it too. Let’s take a look at a typical example and see how it works. Let’s say that you have a 20-year old son who is a junior in college. If you and your wife both die, you want your son to get all your property, including the equity in your home, your life insurance, retirement plans, etc. If you reduce all your property to cash, it could easily amount to $500,000 or more. But, having your executor write a check to your son for $500,000 is probably not a good idea. Instead, it would be far better to create a trust for your son with someone else, say a friend, family relative, attorney, or your local bank, as trustee. The trustee would hold the money and invest it for your son’s benefit until he reached a more mature age, say age 25. In the meantime, your trustee would use the money to pay for your son’s schooling, his general living expenses, and any other expenses you might specify in the trust instrument - including a down payment on a home or a new business. When your son reaches the specified age, the trust would end and your son would be given a check for the full value of the trust at that time.

Revocable living trusts have been used to protect property for hundreds of years, and it is probably one of the most important reasons for a revocable living trust today. If you have any beneficiaries who are in this position, then a revocable living is a necessary component of your overall estate planning.

Reason #2: Reducing or Eliminating Estate Taxes. Many people say that a revocable living trust doesn’t save estate taxes. Technically, they’re right. There are no provisions in the federal tax laws that exempt revocable living trusts from estate taxes. However, living trusts are often used by individuals and families to take advantage of certain deductions and credits allowed under the tax laws. That sounds like double talk, but let me explain. For individuals dying this year, up to $1,500,000 is exempt from federal estate taxes. This exemption is referred to as a “unified credit.” Besides the unified credit, no estate tax is levied on any property passing to a surviving spouse. This “marital deduction” is unlimited, so you could transfer any amount of money to your spouse without paying estate taxes.

Here’s what typically happens when a husband and wife have simple wills. Let’s assume that each of you has a $1,000,000 estate. Let’s also assume that you die first and that your will leaves all your property to your wife. Your estate pays no estate taxes because of the marital deduction. Upon your wife’s subsequent death, her property (then $2,000,000) is left to your children. Your wife’s estate would then have to pay an estate tax of roughly $235.000, since your wife’s unified credit covers only the first $1,500,000 of her property. The remainder is taxed at graduated rates reaching 47%.

You can eliminate this $235,000 estate tax very easily with a revocable living trust. Let’s assume, for example, that you only give your wife $500,000 and that the other $500,000 is put into your revocable living trust. Your estate still doesn’t pay an estate tax because the property given to your wife is exempt under the marital deduction and the property given to your trust is exempt under your unified credit. Now, however, your wife’s estate is only worth $1,500,000 (her original $1,000,000 plus the $500,000 you gave her). Upon her death, no estate taxes will be paid by her estate because the entire $1,500,000 is covered by her unified credit. The $500,000 in your revocable living trust is not taxed in your wife’s estate because she didn’t own it, even though she was the preferred beneficiary and could receive distributions if she needed some money.

This very simple but highly effective technique - made possible by the use of a revocable living trust - would eliminate roughly $235,000 in federal estate taxes in the above example. For this reason, any married couple with a combined estate in excess of the unified credit (currently $1,500,000) should consider a revocable living trust to take advantage of this tax-saving technique.

Reason #3: Managing Property upon Incapacity. One of the major concerns that many of us have today is not about dying - it’s about living too long! We see it all around us - we worry about our parents living in their own home. We worry about their bills being paid and whether someone will walk off with their money. In many cases, we are powerless to help them because all of their property is in their own name. Unfortunately, without doing some prior planning, the only option we have is to file an application with the probate court to have a guardian appointed for them. That’s a gut wrenching experience because all their personal and financial affairs will have to be paraded before total strangers, and they will be forced to suffer the indignity and humiliation of being declared incompetent.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Many people try to avoid that result by putting certain properties (particularly checking and savings accounts) in joint name with a son or daughter. That enables the son or daughter to pay their bills, but it doesn’t provide a lot of help with other financial matters. It also creates more problems when the parent dies because those accounts pass automatically to the son or daughter and leaves the other children out in the cold.

A better solution is a durable power of attorney. A durable power of attorney allows you to designate the people you want to help you with your financial affairs. However, as good as a durable power of attorney is - and I’m a firm believer that everyone over the age of 50 ought to have one - it does have some shortcomings. First, your attorney-in-fact may find some financial institutions difficult to work with. Second, it may not give your attorney-in-fact all the powers needed to manage your affairs. For instance, if you were making gifts to family members on a regular basis, your attorney-in-fact would not be able to continue making those gifts unless that was specifically stated in the document.

A much better solution is a revocable living trust. A revocable living trust allows your successor trustee to take over whenever you resign or become incapacitated. There is generally no interruption in the management of your property, and there is no court supervision. Revocable living trusts also enjoy a greater level of acceptance throughout the legal and financial community, and almost all states provide a broad range of statutory powers regarding the management of trust property. While it is true that a living trust isn’t effective unless your property is in the trust, a durable power of attorney will enable your attorney-in-fact to transfer property into your trust if you can’t do it on your own.

Reason #4: Avoiding Probate. It is true that property in your revocable living trust will not go through probate when you die. That’s because the trust instrument spells out who get’s the property. It’s a lot like life insurance, annuities, 401(k) plans, IRAs, and company retirement plans - those properties do not go through probate because they each have a designated beneficiary. Jointly-owned property, with rights of survivorship, doesn’t go through probate, either. It passes automatically to the surviving joint owner.

That does not mean, however, that your successor trustee is free to distribute the trust property immediately. It’s not as simple as that. Just because your property is in trust doesn’t mean that your outstanding debts don’t have to be paid. Likewise, the federal government still wants to collect its estate taxes; your state government still wants to collect its inheritance taxes; and the probate court still wants some fees even though most of your property may avoid probate. There probably will be trustee’s fees and attorney’s fees as well. In view of all these expenses, the successor trustee may be able to make some advanced distributions from the trust, but enough money has to be retained in the trust to pay all the debts and expenses.

Still, a reasonably efficient successor trustee will be able to determine fairly quickly just how much the potential debts and expenses will be, and he or she will then be able to make advanced distributions accordingly. In the final analysis, most revocable living trusts are able to distribute property more quickly and with much less cost than is possible through probate.

Does that mean that everyone should avoid probate? I don’t think so. Some people suggest a threshold limit of $100,000, exclusive of real estate, in order to justify the expense of a revocable living trust. I think the cutoff should be much lower than that. Most states have a simplified probate for estates valued at less than $20,000. If you’re in that situtation, then a simplified probate is probably right for you. However, if your probate estate is valued at more than $20,000, then you really need to look closely at a revocable living trust, especially if any of the other reasons for a revocable living trust apply to you. After all, it doesn’t take much to make up for the few dollars it takes to establish a revocable living trust.

Reason #5: Avoiding a Will Contest. It is true that a will is far more likely to be contested than a revocable living trust. That’s because a will goes into effect only when a person dies, whereas a revocable living trust goes into effect as soon as the trust instrument is signed and generally lasts for some time after the owner’s death. If you’re going to contest a will, all you have to do is prove that the testator was either incompetent or under undue influence at the precise moment the will was signed. To contest a revocable living trust, you have to prove that the grantor was incompetent or under undue influence not only when the trust instrument was signed, but also when each property was transferred to the trust, when each investment decision was made, and when each and every distribution was made to the owner or anyone else. That is virtually impossible to do.

Moreover, it costs nothing to contest a will. All a disgruntled family member has to do is object when the will is presented for probate, then hire an attorney on a contingency fee basis, and wait for the final outcome. A disgruntled family member has nothing to lose. On the other hand, contesting a revocable living trust generally involves a substantial commitment of time and money. Whereas a will contest is heard in probate court, a revocable living trust contest is heard in civil court where there are substantial filing fees and formal procedures that have to be followed.

Still, some people argue that will contests are seldom successful, so why bother with a revocable living trust? The answer is threefold: First, a will contest puts a screeching halt on the settlement of an estate. Most will contests take a minimum of two or more years to complete and, during that period, no distributions will be made to anyone. Second, defending a will contest involves lots of attorney time that results in large attorneys’ fees. Even unsuccessful will contests end up costing $50,000 or more in attorney’s fees. Third, many will contests are settled before they ever get to court. In that case, the estate will be further diminished by the amount of the settlement. In the final analysis, will contests are time consuming and expensive. The best way to avoid them is through a revocable living trust.

Reason #6: Privacy. Most of us naturally dislike the concept of probate because it is a public process. Theoretically, anyone can go into probate court when a person dies and look at the estate file. You can read the will, you can find out who the relatives and beneficiaries are, you can look at the claims of creditors and the list of assets, and you can find the phone numbers and addresses of estate beneficiaries. Unscrupulous sales people often go through estate files to locate grieving heirs to prey on. Disgruntled heirs, even friends and neighbors, often like to poke their noses into an estate file to see what’s there.

Revocable living trusts can prevent all of that. Revocable living trusts are private; they don’t get filed with the probate court, and no one gets to look at them unless the grantor or the trustee allows it. Some people put a high value on privacy - some people don’t. In my experience, most individuals know whether they will have a problem with a family member or some other person regarding their estate. In those cases, privacy becomes a very important concern and one that should properly be address with a revocable living trust.

These, then, are the top 6 reasons why you should have a revocable living trust. If one or more of these reasons apply to you, then you should consult a professional to see whether a revocable living trust makes sense in your overall estate planning.

Attorney Michael P. Pancheri is the founder and CEO of the Living Trust Network. You may contact him by email at info@livingtrustnetwork.com. You may also contact him at the Living Trust Network’s web site at http://www.livingtrustnetwork.com

Copyright 2005. LivingTrustNetwork, LLC.

It is common for a worker to work all day long and then not suffer any problem until the next day when he cannot get out of bed. This type of claim is generally not compensable under Virginia Workers Comp Law.

First, if you lift 50 pound widgets all day long and feel no problem but wake up the next day with a back ache, you will not have a compensable claim under Virginia Law. The rationale is you cannot tie your back injury to a “specific incident.”

Second, on the other hand if you are lifting 50 pound widgets all day long and your back goes out while lifting the 99th widget, you may very well have a compensable claim. In this scenario, you can point to a “specific incident” that has caused your back injury. This is especially true if your doctor will agree the 99th wideget caused your back injury based on the history you gave to the doctor.

Third, this is why insurance companies will take recorded statements as soon as possible after an accident in order to lock in place what the injured worker’s version of the accident actually was.

Fourth, the worker may be able to save the day if the worker can point to a twinge, pull, sharp pain, etc. that occurred while lifting one of the objects. Of course, the doctor will have to agree this particular event was the cause of the back injury.

Fourth, Virginia has adopted two exceptions to this repetitive injury rule for carpal tunnel syndrome and hearing loss. If the worker can establish the carpal tunnel syndrome or hearing loss was caused by work and exclude other causes, then the worker may have a compensable claim.

This may be considered AN ADVERTISEMENT or Advertising Material under the Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyers in Virginia. This note is designed for general information only. The information presented at this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.

Gerald G. Lutkenhaus–has been doing workers compensation in Virginia for over 30 years. In the July 1999 issue of Richmond Magazine he was rated one of the Best Attorneys for Workers Compensation in Central Virginia. In 2003 he was giving the rating of AV by Martindale Hubbell.

You can get more information from http://www.virginiadisabilitylawyer.com or
http://www.geraldlutkenhaus.com

During the course of his celebrated career, Rush Limbaugh invented the term “adult beverages” to refer to alcoholic drinks so as not to offend mothers with young children listening to the show. But no insight was given on where to find the best dittohead adult beverages. That’s why I created The Dittohead’s Guide to Adult Beverages, a political humor book fans of the show will love.

Just try out these great recipes:

ENVIRONMENTALIST WACKO WHISKEY

Glass: Your Own Cupped Hands

Ingredients:

1 Part Triple Sec (as long as it wasn’t made in a wicked corporate factory)
2 Parts Whiskey (homemade by Sierra Club members in an earth-friendly distillery)
1 Part Grain Alcohol (flammable liquid used by the Earth Liberation Front to burn SUVs)
1 Frozen Pond (the result of any number of man-made environmental catastrophes)
1 Dolphin (the pinnacle of creation, according to environmentalist wackos)

Instructions: First, cut several ice cubes from the surface of a frozen pond (these should be abundant due to the smog effect blocking the sun’s rays in preparation for the coming ice age). Avoid using a freezer to produce your ice cubes, because freezers are a capitalist-concocted first cousin of man’s worst enemy - the air conditioner. Next, combine ingredients (along with your pond cubes) in your own cupped hands. Don’t you dare use a glass instead of your hands, because the process of making glass destroys Mother Earth.

Origin: This adult beverage is named in honor of environmentalist wackos, a fringe movement (not to be confused with serious and responsible ecology-minded people) that believes mankind is the greatest threat to nature, seeks to destroy private property, and longs to establish a socialist regime to impose their nuttiness on the rest of us.

Special Note: For years environmentalist wackos have told us that dolphins are superior to humans - despite the absence of dolphin highways, libraries, or institutions of higher learning. But for all their supposed brilliance, I challenge any environmentalist wacko to find a dolphin that can make an adult beverage as good as this one!

EL RUSHBO

Glass: A Highball Glass Emblazoned with the EIB Network Logo

Ingredients:

1 Part Rum (shares the first two letters of its name with Rush!)
2 Parts Blue Gatorade (consumed while playing a round of golf in honor of Rush)
2 Parts Sprite (in recognition of capitalist lemon-lime soda companies)
1 Prestigious Attila the Hun Chair (symbolic of complete radio industry dominance)
Talent on Loan From God (why liberals don’t stand a chance against El Rushbo)

Instructions: Utilizing talent on loan from God (assuming that, unlike most liberals, you acknowledge the existence of God), combine ingredients in a highball glass emblazoned with the EIB logo and top off with whipped cream (but please use the whipped cream in this adult beverage recipe the way Rush would use it and not in the manner in which Bill Clinton would use it). Enjoy from the comfortable confines of your own Attila the Hun chair, the undisputed seat of talk-radio industry power.

Origin: This dittohead adult beverage is affectionately named in honor of Rush Limbaugh - lover of mankind, protector of motherhood, supporter of fatherhood (in most instances), general all-around good guy, and a man designated by the US Department of Education as a bona fide “weapon of mass instruction.”

Special Note: This adult beverage is documented to almost always taste great, 96.712 percent of the time, just as El Rushbo is documented to be almost always right, 97.963 percent of the time!

Britt Gillette is author of The Dittohead’s Guide to Adult Beverages (Regnery 2005), a political humor book for fans of Rush Limbaugh.

We all have items in our closets and stuffed in drawers that we no longer have a use for. Some of us use our free time to manufacture craft items that we give to our friends and families for gifts, and still others of us buy candles and other items in bulk to sell to family and co workers for a little extra cash. Anyone with something that they no longer need or want to sell has options to help create a little more cash flow. EBay is an online community providing auction services for buyers and sellers of just about everything. The question remains, though, how to utilize this website in the best way to make the most money?

The first thing to consider is what you want to sell. Looking over your items, would it be better to sell them off one item at a time, or to sell a bulk lot at some discount from the individual cost of the items. Another thing to consider is if you want to use the buy it now option. This allows someone to pay a preset price for the item, if there have not been any other bids, and avoid the auction proceedings. If you have multiple items, do you want to spend the cost for multiple listings, or do a dutch auction, where there are multiple items that are sold for a set bid price? This allows multiple people to get the items from the same auction.

The next thing to look at is who is offering the same items that you are. Searching for items brings up a listing, and this allows you to see what type of descriptions and advertisements get the bids, and which ones do not work. This will allow you to make sure that your descriptions are written to make the most of the space available.

Looking into how many people are offering items similar to yours also helps when deciding how to market your items. Consideration needs to be made to starting bid range, how much the winning bids were, and how the items were offered. Looking into these things allows you to price your items low enough to get bids, but still high enough to prevent losing money.

Nicole Soltau
President and Founder
http://CreditUnionRate.com
The Leading Online Credit Union Directory

BPH, or benign prostate hyperplasia, is a standard medical phrase frequently used for an enlarged prostate gland. In simple terms this means the prostate gland, a mass which envelops the urethra and lies beneath the bladder, swells this can impair or even stop the stream of urine. As males age, their prostate swells and may result in several complaints such as micturition problems, reduced urinary stream, and also an impression of fullness in the bladder after passing urine. Frequent urination during the night and continual urinary tract infections can also be arise from prostatic engorgement. What Is BPH? Prostatic enlargement is considered one of the more common conditions of men over sixty. Annual examinations are highly recommended for all men in their fifties and beyond, even if no symptoms present, to aid in maintaining better prostate gland wellness. Seek medical intervention at once if blood appears in the urine or if unable to micturate.

Solutions for an enlarged prostate can include surgical procedures or drug therapy. However, surgical procedures may lead to further troubles for example impotence and inability to control micturition. High blood pressure drugs or medicines which reduce the abnormal prostate are frequently suggested to improve prostatic health, but medications often have undesirable repercussions so what are some less risky therapies?

Got an Enlarged Prostate Gland? A Holistic Way to Reach a Healthier Prostate: To encourage improved prostate gland function and also allay the problems connected with prostatic enlargement, a few holistic treatments will help. Swelling is greatly reduced by the remedy Afican pygeum, allowing a marked reduction of any more disagreeable symptoms. The treatment African Pygeum has been used extensively for a number of years by Europeans as a therapy for improved prostate gland health, it is derived from a plant indigenous to Africa.

A decrease of dietary fat may offer relief, so will excercising more, frequency of ejaculations may alleviate the pressure in the prostate gland, and trying to avoid sitting for a long time. Symptoms are frequently worsened by the use of antihistamines and decongestants bought over the counter, use these with care. Additional hints include not drinking within a couple of hours of going to bed to cut down on trips to the bathroom at night, and reducing alcohol and drinking less caffeinated beverages can reduce the symptoms experienced. Prostate Gland health can also respond to other supplements specifically saw palmetto, starflower oil capsules, selenium, and also lycopene, which can be extracted from tomatoes. Be sure to check with your medical care professional before commencing any holistic treatment of a swollen prostate gland.

There is no refuting the fact that the success of a firm is because of the work undertaken by the workers, yet one catastrophe can promptly wipe out your efforts and shrink the financial profits to dust. In order to evade such a case, you are advised to insure your company, whether it is a small company or a huge corporation. Though, please note that SMEs are considerably more likely to require business insurance cover in today’s world. This is chiefly since smaller company owners will have put their whole lives and pay into the business.

Some of the topics normally guarded by most business insurance covers entail: natural disasters, landslides, machine or apparatus stoppage that closes down the company, loss of income due to personnel disregard & legal action brought against the firm. Obtain public liability insurance for small business to help protect your business from legal litigation.

There are countless insurance businesses, which have policy covers that include protection for all important property and legal risks in one complete package. You can also get a separate cover. Such a policy cover is nicknamed as a business owners’ policy (BOP). Big firms might well obtain a business policy cover.

BOPs integrate building insurance for property and tools belonging to the firm. If there is any loss of earnings due to disruption of operation & commerce because of tragedies like avalanches, it can be insured under the Business Interruption Insurance policy.

There are specific liabilities, which cover the organisation’s legal accountability for the harm it might well inflict to others. It is the consequence your businesses failure to do the business operations. It can also be the actual injury or property damage caused due to defective goods, faulty fittings & errors in services offered.

Though, BOPs do not cover professional liability, motor cover, employees’ costs or health and disability insurance. Instead separate insurance policies are vital for professional services, commercial motor vehicles & employees. By and large, floods, earthquakes & terrorist attacks are not protected in the business cover. Always check before you purchase!

LV — Lubrication Oil Purifier Application LV series oil purifier are suitable especially for purifying and restoring hydraulic oil, machine oil, coolant oil and various other lubrication oil. The most breakdown of machinery which has lubrication oil system results from contaminated lubrication in which has water, gas, impurities etc. LV series can rapidly remove water, gas, particulate matters and impurities from lubrication oil and improve properties of lubricating oil so as to greatly extend lifetime of machinery which has lubrication system.

Product Catalogue Insulation Oil Series VFD Double-Stage High-Efficiency Vacuum Insulation Oil Purifier VFD-A Double-Stage Vacuum Insulation Oil Automation Purifier VFD-R Double-Stage Vacuum Insulation Oil Regeneration Purifier VFD-T Double-Stage Vacuum Insulation Oil Purifier with Tester Turbine Oil series TF Turbine Oil Purifier TF-A Turbine Oil Automation Purifier TF-R Turbine Oil Regeneration Purifier Lubrication Oil series LV Lubrication Oil Purifier LV-A Lubrication Oil Automation Purifier LV-R Lubrication Oil Regeneration Purifier Gas Engine Oil Regeneration System GER Series

Seedlings need to be hardened off. Hardening off plants means
introducing them gradually to the outdoor envirement. The best
method to harden plants is to move them outdoors on a mild day.
Hopefully on a mild and cloudy one. Leave the plants in partial
shade protected from wind. Allow them more and more direct light
and wind each day. Thus they will become accustomed to their new
home and better take direct sunlight. After a week the plants
should be ready to be transplanted. See other articles by Bill
at: http://seedlingsrus.com/Arborvitae.html
http://seedlingsrus.com/FreeFencing.html
http://seedlingsrus.com/Winter http://zone5trees.com/Hedges
http://zone5trees.com/PlantingInstructions.html
http://zone5trees.com/ProfitsGrowingTrees.html
http://seedlingsrus.com/GrowingRhodies.html

If you want to make the most money you can on eBay, then you need to know what sells. But how can you find that out?

The Manual Way.

If you’re just starting out, you might find it easier to simply go to your category, tick ‘Completed listings’ in the left-hand menu, and then click the ‘Show items’ button. Sort them by highest price first, and there you have it: the items that sell for the highest prices. In most categories this will change often, but it’s still useful to know - if you think you can get an item quickly for less than the kind of prices it is selling for, then go for it.

eBay’s search interface can be slow and hard to use, however, and you’re unlikely to discover everything you could learn this way. There’s more than one way to do things, though.

The Statistical Way.

If you’d prefer to do a little hardcore statistical analysis to determine what’s selling and what not, then don’t worry - you can do that too.

eBay make all their market data available to third-party developers through what’s called a ‘programming interface’ - this basically means that you have a wide choice of programs that can take market statistics from eBay and analyse them for you. Type ‘ebay analysis’ into a search engine for a long list.

In my opinion, some of the best eBay statistics tools out there are made by Andale (http://www.andale.com). Andale are one of the oldest and most established sellers of services for eBay. However, their solution is web-based, and you may prefer to buy a piece of software that you can install on your computer, such as AuctionIntelligence.

These automated programs will almost do everything for you, and come with help and tutorials. You should be aware, however, that eBay charge them for the data, which means that they will never give you their programs for free.

Keep Your Finger on Pulse.

If you want a quick, big-picture snapshot of what people are looking to buy on eBay, then go to http://pulse.ebay.com. This is a page where eBay list the top 10 most searched for words, and the top 5 largest eBay stores.

Looking at it, it’s easy to spot current trends. For example, right now all of the top stores are selling media items, either books or music. That suggests that these are good things to be selling, at least if you want to shift volume. Right now the word ‘ipod’ is at number 4, and ‘ipod mini’ is at number 6 - there are a heck of a lot of people out there looking for a cheap iPod or iPod mini. If you could find a good supplier for them then you could make a lot of money.

If you’re having trouble finding suppliers, though, don’t worry: there’s more than one way to get hold of things to sell on eBay. The next email will give you a few tips.

Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.