eBay has become notorious for changing fees repeatedly over the last few years so much so that many of eBay sellers simply began jumping ship. I see some sellers have returned just for the traffic that eBay brings their business. eBay is the giant when it comes to online auctions and its more than just getting traffic to the site that makes it huge its being able to get those visitors here and converting them to buyers.

Giving credit where it is due is sometimes hard to do when a company leaves a bitter taste in your mouth with its continuous increasing of fees but I think it is time that they are given credit for something they are doing now that I think is a very valuable move on their part.

eBay has a project underway that allows users to opt in to participate in the new changes in the website development and it is being termed “Garden by eBay”.

What on Earth is Garden by eBay you might be muttering to yourself right now the same way I did when I saw the announcement which didn’t fully impress me much at the time, but now I have seen it in action. Kudos to the web developers at eBay or whomever is to thank for allowing us to take part in the new features.

At the Garden of eBay you can opt in as I said earlier to a few options and give feedback that goes directly to the individuals working on that project. Do you know what that means? Yes, they are really listening to your feedback unlike when you simply send them a suggestion and your one of thousands if not millions of emails going to the same dark hole of unread or unseen emails that never get a response.

Granted I am not sure they can contact all of us back or have too much interaction but knowing that your feedback is getting to the right department is a huge change by itself.

If you haven’t been to eBay lately just drop in and take a peek at the new look. It’s lighter and faster. Not that it ever really stopped me from using eBay but it had become cluttered somewhat.

Areas they are changing that you can opt in to during their testing include:

• Streamlined search
• New Homepage Concepts:

Concept 1 – Fast and Simple

Concept  2 – Simple and Engaging

Concept 3 – Rich and Robust

• eBay Simple Lister
• Diamond Ring Designer

Some of these probably aren’t for you to worry about but now is your chance to take part and speak your mind on their “improvements”. After they implement changes I always hear complaints about how terrible they are so be sure to go by, test them out, and report your feedback.

Read more about the announcement here.

You can visit Garden by eBay here.

If you are into sci-fi, weird or just techie type products then you need to checkout Think Geek “stuff for smart masses”. My husband being sort of a techie in a small way (He is a systems admin sr.) he of course drew my attention to this site around Christmas when it was time to get one of the guys at work a gift. It couldn’t be as easy as one of the girls that just made a wish list on Amazon. Nope, he wanted a USB Plasma Ball and I said, “he wants a what?” being the clueless wife of a tech guy.

I love science and everything about it and when this thing came in we had to check it out. Amazing little thing makes you want to touch it for no apparent reason. I felt like a kid again!

I just noticed that they have a clearance section. Today it has over 200 items marked on clearance so something for everyone just about. Rightfully so they have this little gem of an item featured. The Sun and Moon jars are closer to $35 but they sound very cool.

During the day you set them in the sunlight and they recharge and then when it gets dark they come on. I am not sure how much light they toss out but they come in Sun (yellow), Moon (blue) and Pink Moon (pinkish purple if you ask me).  They claim they can be left out in any weather so I would say a great look for your flower garden! Although I bet my hubby and the kids would want them in the house somewhere so they  could play with them. Making silly faces in the cool colorful light would be tons of fun as well.

We are currently working to install our “community” features which we hope to have completed very soon. Please feel free to email us at info@starrdiscount.com if you encounter any errors during this time. We will make a formal announcement when all of these changes are finalized however we want to extend our sincere apologies in advance for any disruption this may cause to our site.

I am a huge Coffee Cup Software fan and I think in the past I have done every free trial or used any free software they have available but I had no idea how large their website is until I got caught up in the clicking craze of their new “egg” contest in the spirit of Easter!

Coffee Cup Software initially announced their $20,000 egg giveaway in March with 1 Golden Egg worth $1,000 as of 3:00pm CST today, April 2, 2010, still available and up for grabs! 9 E-commerce Eggs with a $119 value and The Graphics Pack Egg worth $89 remaining.

They are giving hints on Facebook and Twitter for each 100 users that fan/follow them and promising their followers more eggs when they reach 1500 as of right now they are Facebook 1444 and Twitter 1373.

You can find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coffeecup and Twitter www.twitter.com/coffeecup and you can search for eggs by visiting their site Coffee Cup Software

While working on my Squidoo lens I came across an app that allows you to read eBooks on your Android among many other mobile devices. Here is a link to a free download of one eBook from a list of 200+ so you can test it out before you buy any of the eBooks.

Free eBooks at Kobo

If you are using an Android you can find detailed instructions here. The application is currently being called Shortcovers spelled as one word and has a 3.5 star rating as of March 29, 2010. I am still working on my review but once it is completed you can find it here.

Read our full review for the Android

HNG Wholesale is having a Mother’s Day Celebration by offering 5% off on all items in the Mother’s Day category on their website.

HNG Wholesale specialize in home decor and garden decor items for resale or for personal use. Offers gifts, candles, home decor, garden, mirrors, throws, holiday decor, dishes and glass sculptures.

Below are some examples of the Mother’s Day products HNG Wholesale offers:

You can add to cart here and when you are finished Checkout.

Beautifully bedecked in bright blue blooms, this flowerpot bears a tender expression of motherly appreciation. A lasting token of love that?s sure to touch her heart! Ceramic. Plant not included. 51/4″ diameter x 5 1/2″ high. Price: $7.90 Quantity:	Turn any day into Mother’s Day present her with this charming reminder of your heartfelt appreciation! A ruby-red spun-glass rose nestles within a box of sumptuous white satin; tucked inside the lid is a touching little poem about a mother’s love. Glass ornament; polyester box. 2 7/8″ x 1 5/8″ x 3 7/8″ high. Price:  $6.00 Quantity:	A sweet-faced mother gently cradles her newborn, holding her infant close to her heart full of love. Beautiful ivory tone statue bespeaks the timelessness of a mother’s affection! Handmade by CloudWorks™. Weight 0.9 lb. Stone resin. 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ Price: $13.95 Quantity:
Frame a favorite memory and create a lasting reminder that Mom is forever in your heart! Playful pewter frame is sprinkled with sweet sayings and bright enamel daisies. Holds 4″ x 6″ photo. Easel back. Pewter with glass cover. 8 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ x 1/4″ thick. Price:nbsp;$9.30 Quantity:	As they trek across the wide African savanna, a mother gently guides her youngster with a gentle touch of her trunk. Inspired by the bronze sculptures found in high-end galleries, this connoisseur-quality statue is sure to be the centerpiece of your fine art collection! Polyresin with coppertone finish. 8″ x 4″ x 6 1/4″ high. Price: $23.30 Quantity:	Pay tribute to your mother?s loving spirit and tender heart with a special prayer created just for her! Beautiful 11 oz. mug is an inspiring way to start the day; luscious screened wraparound graphics feature the Holy Cross on one side, a heartfelt prayer verse on the other, brightened by colorful flowers throughout. Stoneware. Microwave and dishwasher safe. 3?” diameter x 3?” high. Price: $3.20 Quantity:

Mother’s Day Items

A friend told me about this site you can buy a Step by step guide on how to download, copy, burn and stream any movie. Includes all software needed. I haven’t tried it personally but I have heard it is really simple and easy to use.

http://gabes-poolservice.com/

Today I came across a ping tool that works well with wordpress that I thought I would pass along. It is called Feed Shark and it is free to use however it does require a link back to them on your site so it may not be the solution for you.

It has three categories:

Services that accept blogs:

Daypop
Technorati
Bloogz
Blog Census
Blo.gs
IceRocket
Read A Blog
FeedBurner
Google
BlogRolling
focusLook
Weblogs.com
Alexa
GeoURL
Gnoos
Adoppt
Twingly
Infotiger
whatUseek
Cipinet
Burf
FyberSearch
Walhello
Acoon
HopHunt
Super.info
AskPeter
Myahint
Semager
Livedoor
Gnibo
Search-o-rama

Blogdigger
NewsMob
Bulkfeeds
NgoidObjects
SearchFeed
Directory
Postami
Feed24
FeedsFarm
Golden Feed
FeedFuryFeedPlex
Moreover
Yahoo!
WASALive
Feedgy

AllPodcasts
Get A Podcast
YouLoud
Podscope
Odeo
Pluggd
PodLounge
Podcast Like That
Mefeedia
Speecha
Fluctu8
Replay Video
Podcast Fusion
Podcast.com

If you aren’t sure what ping can do for you or how to use it then you should check out this page on wordpress.org for an excellent guide on using ping with your wordpress blog.

When I first used ProStores many years ago they offered a free month trial and 30% off your subscription if you were an eBay store owner.  That has went away for the most part except for the free one month trial which you can find here:

One Month Free Trial! ProStores – an eBay Company

ProStores only offers a discount to eBay powersellers but it is still 30% making the Professional eCommerce Basic Plan $20.97 (Normally $29.95) and the Professional eCommerce Plus $41.95 (Normally $59.95).

Not sure if you want to subscribe to ProStores? Please visit the Squidoo lens “Is ProStores the right merchant solution for me?”

When we bought our house in 2006 one of the first things we discovered is that a 2400 sq ft house has a lot of light bulbs especially when all of the main rooms and bedrooms have ceiling fans with two to four bulbs. We easily at one time use 30 light bulbs throughout our home.

We then decided that it was worth the cost of buying flourescent light bulbs which at the time cost us about $2.50 per bulb. Now I am not sure how long they really should last but gradually they have begun to burn out so we recently started replacing them one by one with Compact Fluorescent light bulbs.

One of the major reasons for switching to the compact is the idea that they use even less energy than the slightly larger fluorescents we have been using which of course means saving a few more dollars a year. Another big deciding factor is the size of the newer compact fluorescent light bulbs. For the last three years some of our lights have not had the cover on them because the old bulbs were just too large. Now we can put these light covers back on as they originally were.

When we initially made the change we noticed roughly a $5-$10 a month difference in the electric bill. This doesn’t sound like much but our most recent switch we expect to save a little more. The hardest part is shopping for the best compact fluorescent light bulb for your needs.

If we used regular incandescent light bulbs we would spend on average $8.00 every 6-12 months and figuring if we only had to replace the bulbs once a year that is $24 ($1 generics from Wal-Mart) for three years. When we bought our fluorescent light bulbs we spent about $75($2.50 generics from Wal-Mart).

If we saved even $3 a month over three years that would be $108 so if you take the 108-75 we would have saved a minimum of $33 over the past three years after the cost of purchasing the fluorescent light bulbs.

We have been shopping around and at Wal-Mart we found a 6 pack of GE for 15.16 (2.53 each), 18W MINI TWST CFL BULB REPL75W on amazon was about as low as I could find at $3.25 each for a brand I haven’t used but they claim to last 7 years, and my husband (the true King of online bargain shopping) came across this bulk pack of 25 on eBay25 CFL Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs 20w=75w ($1.28 each).

They all seem to be good bulbs from as far as we can tell. We have decided for now to try out the eBay 25 CFL Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs 20w=75w. After we get them I will comment and let you all know how we like them.

Using the same method and assuming we will be getting at least a 25% increase in savings per month that would be $3.75 per month over the next three years (these bulbs claim to last 6 years so we will assume that is true but we know they last at least three so we will stick with that number) jumping the savings to $135 before the cost of buying new bulbs all throughout the house. The new bulbs will cost us about $40 (We are buying 2 sets and letting friends get some at cost of course for those we don’t need so 1.28*31 is our actual cost after being reimbursed on the others.) so our expected savings now is $135-$40=$95!

Next time we hope to change to an even better energy saving light bulb but until then this is about as low cost of a a CFL we found as of March 19, 2010. Please chime in if you find a better deal!

If anyone knows where to find some really cheap “green” light bulb solutions we would be interested in hearing about that. We thought about going with LED but they are still very expensive and we do have a rather large amount of lights to replace.