An enthusiastic, authoritative program for turning one person’s trash into another person's treasure—and making a profit...
A step-by-step debut guide to selling items on eBay.
At the start of his short book, Allen finds inspiration for new consignment-selling strategies from an unlikely source: his church pew. During a service, he looks around at the numerous elderly attendees and considers what they own, balancing that tally against what they need. Allen spent 36 years as a marketing consultant before transitioning to consignment selling, and his new guide distills his experiences for readers who may be interested in trying it themselves. After his church epiphany, Allen began doing presentations for retirement homes and senior centers, bringing in a professional appraiser to help elderly people discover what treasures they may own without knowing it; one person, for example, owned a fine set of World War II–era cameras. He stoutly defends this approach against possible charges of opportunism: “Many seniors are living on fixed incomes….They are highly motivated to turn their stuff into cash,” he says. “You are providing a much-needed service, so be proud of your work.” Allen describes himself as an avid history buff with a passion for discovering the past, and tells how he relished the experience of surprising seniors with unexpectedly high payoffs. He makes those paydays possible, he says, with his own online savvy and his use of professional appraisers, telling his elderly clients that such experts are worth every cent they charge. He includes several useful public-speaking tips when making presentations to potential clients, which deal with stage fright and the like. He also describes his own transition from the senior circuit to “eBay Heaven,” sharing fees with lawyers for consignment sales of warehouses full of items owned by their clients and their families. Many of these sales forgo eBay auctions altogether in favor of dealing directly with collectors, but some of the advice in this section may still be of use to beginners in the practice. Indeed, anyone interested in reselling items online (and fans of Antiques Roadshow) will likely benefit from Allen’s clear prose and infectious salesman’s confidence.
An enthusiastic, authoritative program for turning one person’s trash into another person's treasure—and making a profit along the way.Pub Date: May 10, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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