The Labor Day holiday weekend is upon us and that usually means a few things: Summer is coming to an end, our kids will be back in school (if they haven’t already), and the next shopping season is here! Labor Day marks a symbolic end to the summer, so many retailers and department stores are clearing out their summer inventory and stocking up for the Fall season. According to articles from About.com, Yahoo! Finance and LifeHacker, there’s always an optimal time to buy anything. Here are some suggested items that are best bought in these coming months:

September: appliances, computers and laptops, grills, lawn mowers, party supplies, school supplies

October: cookware, jeans, toys and games

November: aluminum foil and plastic wrap (strange, but true), HDTV and home theater items, wedding dresses

December: gift cards, tools, winter clothes and coats

And remember, if you don’t want to buy these items new you can also find these items on Listia! Check out our Clothing, Shoes & Accessories category for jeans, our Toys and Hobbies category, and laptop computers can be found in our Computer & Networking category.

As mentioned in our earlier blog about going green and reusing, consider donating your unwanted items or better yet, list them on Listia!

What items would you like to see more of on Listia?

We’re excited to roll out our latest feature allowing Sellers to update their auction listing. Starting today, Sellers can add updates to their listing after bids have been placed. (This is only allowed if the information added is an improvement or clarification of the current information provided). Images and notes can be added to a listing and shipping options can be upgraded up to 24 hours before an auction ends. To update the listing, click the “Update” button on your auction page.

The page will show the original listing title, description and shipping information on the right. After entering the updated information, finish by clicking the “Submit” button. This feature eliminates the need to reserve space in the comment section. Instead, updates are displayed and documented on the auction page.

This feature does not allow Sellers to:

• Change any information in the original description
• Change or edit Title
• Increase Shipping Fee
• Remove images

Bidders are responsible for carefully reading a listing before placing a bid. Updates that contradict the original description and do not improve the listing are subject for removal.

We hope this feature will be helpful to all…and remember, we have lots more in store as we continue improving Listia for everyone. Thanks!

Trading, sharing and renting almost any item or service has never been easier. With just a few clicks of a mouse, anyone can set up a rideshare, rent out their bedroom or swap away belongings they don’t want.

The increasing popularity of Listia and other collaborative consumption sites is exciting, but as these markets grow so do reports of fraud and bad behavior from users. At Listia we continously challenge ourselves to examine and reinforce our commitment to protect our users. We’re extremely fortunate to have a very honest and supportive community of traders, but still stand by our promise to safeguard listings with our Listia Assurance. Here’s a recap of our protection policy:

Buyers get a FULL REFUND of credits:

1. If an item won on Listia is not received or significantly not as described in the listing
2. If a seller changes the listing terms (as outlined in the description) after it ends, and the buyer disagrees

Sellers can KEEP ALL credits:

1. If a winner does not pay shipping, is non-responsive, or otherwise experiences buyer’s remorse
2. If a winner claims they did not receive anitem, but the seller has provided a valid tracking number

How it Works: 

1. Contact the seller or buyer if you have an issue and try to resolve it
2. If that doesn’t work, just file a dispute from your listing page
3. We work with both parties and make a decision based on the guidelines above

What’s Not Covered?

Listia Assurance does not cover shipping charges or other arrangements and trades made outside of Listia. The best way to recover shipping charges is to use a trusted payment processor such as PayPal and avoid sending cash or checks in the mail. For complete details, please view our rules page.

Need Help with a Trade? Click Here

We’re excited to introduce our latest team member, Ngan! He’s joining our growing engineering team and will help us bring new features and improvements to our evolving site.

Like any new member of Listia, we asked him to share 5 random facts with us:

1. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area
2. His favorite movies are: Dumb and Dumber, Shawshank Redemption, and Inception
3. He is a proud owner of a miniature dachshund named Waffles
4. He is fluent in English, Vietnamese, and a good amount of Spanish
5. His life long dream is to become a race car driver and a teacher

If you’re interested in job opportunities with us, visit more details here: www.listia.com/jobs

Join us in welcoming Ngan to his first day at Listia!

Today we turn 2! It’s been an amazing 2 years and we’ve grown so much as a company and community. We want to give a huge THANK YOU to our entire community for helping us build Listia into what you see today. 

To celebrate our birthday, we have a few special treats for everyone who logs in on August 5th:

1. Get 100 bonus credits when you List an Auction (today only!)
2. Log in to our website and get a special badge (today only!)
3. Remember to check out our great rewards auctions and raffles – including a laptop, digital camera, Kindle, Dyson & more!

We have a lot of new features and improvements in the pipeline and we’re really excited for another great year!

– The Listia Team

Be sure to become a fan!

Happy parents and begrudging students will be hearing school bells again, some as early as next week. As kids are preparing mentally to go back to school, parents are preparing their wallets for some potentially expensive shopping.

 The Wall Street Journal reports an average spending of $604 per child on school materials, which seems outrageous for us Listia shoppers used to getting things for free. To help keep your costs well below the WSJ statistic, we’ve put together seven money-saving tips for your back to school shopping:

1. CHECKLIST: Work with your student(s) to make a list of all supplies, clothes, and electronics they need. Here are sample lists to get you started: Grades K-3, Grades 4-10
   
2. WANTS & NEEDS: Have your kids separate their checklists into WANTS and NEEDS. Tackle the must-haves first and set a budget for the wishlist items.
3. TAKE INVENTORY: Scour your closets, cabinets and drawers for back to school treasures. Use your checklist to note items you already have, including any surplus.
4. TRADE: Try to trade your unwanted or extra supplies for things you need. Host a neighborhood swap, or post your items on Listia (check out supplies up for grabs here).
5. DO YOUR HOMEWORK: Before hitting the stores, check for deals in your Sunday circulars and sites like Coupons.com, Coupon Cabin, CouponMom, and RetailMeNot.
6. PRICE MATCH: Save time by shopping a store that price matches like Walmart, Target, BestBuy or Staples (click to see their policies).
7. SHOP TAX FREE: Take advantage of Tax Free shopping, if available in your state. Most Tax Free holidays are happening this weekend. For details, check out: http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/sales_holiday.html and http://singleparents.about.com/od/cuttingcosts/qt/TaxFreeHoliday.htm
   
   Participating states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia

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What else does your family do for Back to School savings?

It’s an exciting feeling to win an item you’ve been bidding on and wanting to get, but what happens next? Below are some helpful post-auction tips for both buyers and sellers:

BUYERS:

Provide A Shipping Address: Once an auction ends, a buyer will need to provide the seller with their stored Listia verified address and payment (if applicable) within 7 days. Make sure you take the time to double check your address. If a stored address is incomplete (e.g. missing zip code, street number, etc), you can visit the Shipping Address page to correct it.
If the item is for “local pick-up” only, both parties can agree to meet at a local public place to exchangethe item.

Check for Payment Method: Most listings offer Free Shipping, however if a seller does not offer free shipping, they have one of two shipping payment options:

1. Exact Rate – Fees may vary depending on the location between buyer and seller
2. Flat Rate – The fee is the same regardless of where the buyer is located (domestic addresses only)

For the actual payment, we ask that you use PayPal. PayPal is an easy, safe way to pay for shipping, but remember not to use the “gift” option. (You can contact PayPal to recover shipping money in case there is a problem, but not if you choose the “gift” or “personal payment” option). Once an auction ends, the seller can provide their PayPal email to the buyer or they can send a PayPal invoice to the buyer.
Avoid other payment methods such as sending cash, checks, money orders and never send wire transfers. These types of payments are extremely hard to recover in case there is a dispute, and Listia is unable to help recover shipping money. If you do send payment by mail, make sure you have evidence of payment.

Provide Feedback: Providing feedback is a great way of showing how the transaction went. A buyer will be prompted to leave a feedback after clicking the “Got It” button (meaning you’ve received the item)

SELLERS:

Check The Buyer’s Address: The only way of receiving an address from the buyer is through the shipping address section on the top of the post-auction page (addresses in the email message section are not allowed and not Listia verified). If the buyer provides an address in the email message logs, we ask that you inform them to use the provided address form on the auction page. If an address is stored correctly but looks incomplete (e.g. missing zip code, street number, etc), double check with the buyer first before shipping.

Provide Proper Payment for Shipping: Whether or not free shipping is offered, make sure you put enough postage on the package. If you are offering free shipping and the amount isn’t enough to cover the cost of the item being shipped, the item may not be delivered to the buyer and can be returned to you.

Securely Package Item(s): A seller is fully responsible for securely packaging and shipping the item to ensure against damage or loss from normal shipping practices. A common mistake is placing small items in a regular white letter envelope. If the item is fragile or delicate, such as jewelry, avoid placing it in an envelope which can be harmed or damaged during delivery. Envelopes may only be used if the item inside is flexible and can be sent through a sorting machine.  Be sure to package your item safely and accordingly, to prevent any damages or loss.

Provide Delivery Confirmation: The best way to track a shipped item is by providing a delivery confirmation/tracking number. USPS provides these for a small fee (roughly $0.80; fee may vary in locations), but they are extremely helpful for both parties once an item is shipped. Providing a post office receipt of payment is not sufficient evidence of where the item is, so whenever possible, please use delivery confirmation.

As a reminder, all users on Listia are both a buyer and seller, so we all share these responsibilities and tips. Check out our Rules page for additional information. What helpful tips would you also offer? Let us know by leaving a comment!