The last couple of days have been rather exciting to say the least. After having my main eBay distribution account shut down (read the post before this for more info) I finally got my little secret finished. Good timing no doubt. I may need the funding to supplement what I am loosing through eBay.

I have looked to Kickstarter, a crowd funding site that allows creative people to raise money for ideas, to help raise some cash to get necessary equipment in my shop fixed or replaced.

For the first time ever, I am offering easy to build, do it yourself plans and kits for 5 of my most successful home business printing machines. In exchange for whatever pledge amount, you can receive rewards from me. Some of those rewards include Google Sketchup models, full color PDF how to plans, pre-cut pre-drilled kit or a completely assembled machine.

You can pick and choose what you want. You have a choice of:

- EZ Press Heat Transfer Press (the flagship product that started Home Business Printing 8 years ago.

- EZ Screen Printer. Single color screen printer

- EZ Flash Dryer Tabletop

- EZ All-in-One Screen Printer/Dryer Combo

- NEW! EZ Flash Dryer Standup

Here is a link to my campaign: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joewhiteside/diy-t-shirt-heat-press-and-screen-printer-using-a?ref=email

And the video is below. Poor quality video but I had to go with what I had.

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With this post I’m taking a bit of a turn in a direction that doesn’t really have anything to do with printing at home but it does have everything to do with Home Business Printing. Bare with me as I explain my point of view. This may come off as a rant, and it probably is, but it’s the best way I could think of to get it off of my chest and let others know about it as well.

Well, in case you didn’t know eBay started back in the mid-nineties as an online auction where average, everyday people could sell there collectibles and other possessions. EBay quickly became a way for people to make money from selling new and used items. A lot of businesses were born and Home business Printing is one of them.

Back in 2004 I started selling my hand crafted heat press machines on eBay. The market loved it and it was an instant hit. That was back in the “glory days” of eBay. I was a Gold level Powerseller with outstanding feedback ratings. For almost six years I was making money hand over fist and the large majority of it was coming from eBay.

Well as I said, those were the glory days of eBay. When Meg Witman was CEO things were great. But Witman stepped down in 2008 and this John Donahue guy takes her place. Well he comes in guns blazin! Damn near changes the whole marketplace of eBay in a brutal fashion.

Through a completely revamped set of rules and seller requirements and sharp increases to it’s fee structure, it has almost eliminated the small guy in business for himself. The changes were clearly beneficial to larger businesses who weren’t even a part of eBay in their early years, where the market was dominated by small time sellers who propelled eBay to the online giant it is now. eBay turned their backs on the group of people that they should be the most gracious to. By making rules to favor big business they have essentially put thousands of small businesses out of business. It almost happened to me.

Back in 2010 their rules where starting to take it’s toll on my business. There were now stricter requirements for being a Powerseller, feedback abuse from buyers because sellers were no longer able to leave negative feedback, the fee structure had increased and I was penalized if I didn’t run my business the way they wanted me to. For example, I was penalized for not offering free shipping on my products. WTF!! I can’t ship these things for free! Big businesses can because they have the volume. I don’t. All of this was happening during the worse part of the recession. They were killing me!

I could go into detail about how they essentially put me out of business but that would probably be a book. To make a long story short, I had one eBay account, using 2 Paypal accounts and they shut down both accounts requesting information. I submitted all required info and went through a circus of back and forth communication with the morons at Paypal, eBay’s sister company, to prove my identity and that I owned the 2 accounts I was using. They made it seem as if I was a fraudster and their best interest was to protect me. B.S.!!!

They had froze both of my accounts which was my business operating capital. My business could not survive without this cash. My products were still selling and I didn’t have the money to ship because Paypal had my accounts froze! So what do you think happened? My eBay business suffered. I simply couldn’t ship there product because Paypal was taking their sweet ole time trying to tell me who I was.

It all ended by eBay suspending my account and Paypal holding my funds for 180 days! I was out of business! Well I found help from my father. He always loved helping me in the shop and he has always had my back. I got him to start his own eBay account and his own Paypal account and he could sell my machines on his eBay account. We had our agreement on how much he could profit from selling my machines and it was a deal. I still had other ways I was selling my products such as my blog and PPC advertising. It was nice to have another avenue to sell them on even though it wasn’t going to be as good as when I had my own eBay account.

My father’s business had to grow. And with the new eBay rules they had in place, growth takes a long time in a market crowed by giant sellers. They even put his listing near the back of the search results just because he didn’t have a lot of feedback making him like a minnow in an ocean of sharks.

eBay and Paypal are notorious for screwing people. Just do a Google search for anything regarding eBay or Paypal complaints. Paypal even froze a legit account that was providing non-profit gifts to kids last Christmas. They screwed me back in 2010 and now they are screwing both me and my father. Well just eBay is now anyway. They shut down my father’s account saying it was linked to my account. No call, no email, no request for information, nothing! They suspended the account and cancelled all listing! Wow! Un-f*cking-believable!

Something must be done about this evil online monopoly of eBay and Paypal. Maybe we can stand up to them in protest like so many did opposing SOPA. I think both eBay and Paypal are ripe for competition smashing! The right companies with the basic principles of how eBay and Paypal work, but better customer satisfaction would kill this evil empire.

I’m so angry and frustrated with how my father and I have been treated. All I can think of is what should I do about it. Any suggestions? Feel free to comment and please tweet and retweet.

Joe

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I have sold Teflon sheets online for a number of years. My main sales channel has been through eBay. Well today I am working on adding a page to my blog where your can purchase directly from HBP and still get the same great prices. It wouldn’t hurt to mention that I have the absolute BEST prices on Teflon sheets found anywhere on the internet. Considering how big the internet is, that’s saying a lot. I’m offering a challenge also. If you find any other seller online with prices cheaper than Home Business Printing’s, I will lower my price to undercut theirs. As always, Teflon sheet purchases qualify for free first class shipping. Be on the lookout for the new page being added shortly.

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There is no doubt about it, in order to successfully run an online business you have to social network. It expands your reach exponentially, allows you to connect with your customers where they hang out online and you don’t have to always be selling anything. You can share tips, ideas or just conversate with your followers. This creates a better relationship between you and your followers. Plus, nobody likes to be constantly “sold” to.

I admit, I am not the most qualified to preach on the value of social networking. It can be time consuming and I tend to put it off when I should actually be engaging with you all. Hopefully that will change. I have implemented some minor features to streamline my social networking to make it less time consuming. I have just finished setting up all of my social networks that Home Business Printing is a part of with hopes of connecting with you to share all the good stuff that we have to offer.

So if you are reading this, please take the time to connect with me at the following social networks below. Hope to see you there and thanks for following.

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Here is a short video showing how the new EZ Screen Printer All-in-One works. This product has been tested by many and works great. The EZ All-in-One allows you to print single color shirts and cure them with it’s built in curing oven. This is the first single color screen printer that has it’s own drying oven. You seen it here first. Available now!

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I ran across this interesting product today called Inkodye. It is a photosensitive dye that develops in sunlight. Basically, you paint the dye onto a piece of fabric or wood and then place a negative image over top of it. Place the setup in direct sunlight for 5 minutes and then wash the item. The result will be a negative image printed onto your item of choice. Here is a link to a tutorial for this product (link). I do not sell Inkodye and have no affiliation with them whatsoever.

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I have some new and exciting things planned for the Home Business Printing Blog. New site layout, new info, and new products. I am especially excited about my new line of products that I am going to keep secret for right now. But I will give you a little hint… it has to do with how to do it yourself. That’s all you get guys and gals but please stay tuned. Make sure you sign up for my blog and be one of the first to know what we are up to.

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If you are doing any type of selling online you would most certainly benefit from having a blog as well. One of the main hurdles to keeping up a blog is content creation.

Here is a quick little audio I did describing my method for creating blog content fast and easy. These are the 5 steps mentioned in the audio:

1. Pick a specific topic in your niche to blog about.
2. Make a list of 7 tips on the above topic.
3. Write a 35-50 word description of each tip.
4. Create a new blog for each of the seven tips.
5. List your top 3 F.A.Q.’s and write a blog about each of them.

Click the play button.

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I made this video a few months ago showing a quick demo of how easy it is to heat press a t-shirt using the E-Z Press heat transfer machine. Well here it is. Enjoy!

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It’s that time of the year again. Trade show season! I love it!

There are so many benefits to attending trade shows. I would say the most important would be the business connections you get. I could not begin to tell you how much money I have made just from attending a trade show. Meeting new suppliers, finding new products to sell or even pitching my own products to the vendors. There is definitely money to be made just from attending a trade show in the industry you’re in.

Well tomorrow I will be attending the NBM Show in Charlotte, NC. The NBM (i forgot what it stands for and I don’t feel like Googling it) is a combination of three shows in one.

1. Sign Business and Digital Graphics Show

2. The Printwear Show

3. The Awards and Engraving show

There will be a ton of info there concerning printing shirts and promo items not to mention the other two shows that will have equally great info.

I hope to come back with a few ideas for you, my readers. I will also be secretly approaching businesses to get them to distribute one of my top selling products.

Of course I will keep you posted if I find any good stuff to share with you.

Talk with you later

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