Shameless Photo Gallery of the XinaCat Cats Begins....

Please indulge me, I'm going to post photographs I've taken of my various cats.
Here is my aggressively friendly Blue Point Siamese longhair, also known as a "Balinese" cat,
"Skye" (born 3/1998) who is such a ham, much like her human - me, Laura Hoffman. She
must have learned by example.

Making a BLOG is the utmost of hamminess. But people
are "hitting" my page, so I feel the need to contribute. Look for more photographs - probably
random. I'll use this blog thingie as my personal photo gallery. Even if it's just for us rabid
cat-lovers. I'll have plenty of photos of my prisms too - and the resultant light shows, just wait.
I have just gotten started....

WHAT I SAY TO PEOPLE WHO ASK,
"SHOULD I SELL MY STUFF ON EBAY?"

There's so much to say about the experience of selling on eBay. I get
to work at home because of the fact I sell my goodies on eBay. What
helps is having something people want--and having really great
photography and well written descriptive copy. And being prepared to
work your butt off...service is everything, eBay people expect their goods
yesterday.

***Since this blog post was published, we opened our own on-line store in 2006 called: XinaCat at XinaCat.com. Shhhhhh....you get better deals going directly through XinaCat.

It took a while to get my pricing to where it needs to be and get into
the rhythm of fulfilling the orders. It turns your home business into
a cluttered fulfillment house, laden with piles of boxes and packing materials. Not to
mention dealing with the 1000's of e-mails weekly, a seller would have to be ready
to deal with tons of correspondence...and endless questions, some of
them amazingly weird...and even more amazingly silly.

Still, it's a way to match buyers with your goodies, such as original
work. You have to ask, would anyone want this thingie I'm selling?
Start out small--see if people like what you have; that's how I started out.
I hit the market when Austrian crystal jewelry was a big deal.
But now it's not such a big deal anymore, so I
had to branch out with cat-related items for the many cat-people out
there (xinacat!). It's a very dynamic environment and never boring.
But it is a lot of work.

That's just scratching the surface.

I'd say, try it--there's nothing to lose but a little time. I do well
on eBay and I'm grateful there is such a high profile venue for my
stuff and have met so many great people plus loyal buyers. I love it
that I'm home and not on the scary roads. My stress level is way low.
And I love my work.

There are variables, every seller will discover his or her own place on eBay.
eBay is not cheap, either - but that's the necessary overhead of doing
business. And you get to WORK AT HOME.

Here's the way to my eBay store: XinaCat
Who IS XinaCat? About XinaCat 
 

Skye Kitty covered in rainbow spray, XinaCat

 

Skye kitty on the stairs, XinaCat image

Traffic on the stairs...or Skye being a speed-bump
 

At XinaCat, I get asked the same questions over and over. I know, I need a FAQ. But how tedious...! No one really reads those, do they?

ARE MY CRYSTALS REALLY GENUINE SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS?

So here is the question of the day: "Are your crystals really genuine Swarovski crystals? Do I get a pretty box and certificate...?" --even though I only have to pay $10 for a really beautiful heart crystal??

Here it is: Most of what I have is made by Strass Swarovski components. These crystals - heart shaped, spear shaped, cat's eyes (marquis shaped), et al come to me with no Swarovski trappings such as certificates nor boxes. You're paying less than $20!! However - USUALLY - there is a tiny laser etched logo (of Strass Swarovski) of a receding rainbow which marks the crystal as authentic. This little tiny etching is next to the drilled hole which allows me to attach the crystal to hardware so you can wear these beauties as earrings or pendants--or hang as prism suncatchers in the sun.

I have had people complain, "What's that flaw? How could you...?" That's no flaw - that mark is the laser etching that marks the crystal as the real deal, not some crummy knockoff.

To make it interesting, Strass Swarovski doesn't ALWAYS mark their crystals with the etching. Why that is, I have no idea. My importers don't even know. An example of this, would be my 28mm ruby red bordeaux heart crystals. Still, these crystals are the real thing.

I'll post answers regularly as I need to.

Oh wow, I have a BLOG! What's a blog? Random brain-droppings? For all to see? Who would care to read someone's blog? Maybe I'll find out....really soon.

I may make notes about what I do...why I do it. I have a website on eBay. Called XinaCat or also known as http://www.xinacat.com. I love it because it means I get to deal with stuff I love....and stay at home doing it.

My commute is really easy, it's just down a flight of stairs. The only traffic I have to deal with may be a couple of lazy Siamese cats on the stairs, got to step around them, because they're not going to move. Then I turn on my Mac and away I go. I'm at work...sending out prisms and Austrian crystal jewelry - I make mostly myself all over the world...now I also send cat decor items to fellow cat lovers - it's that XinaCat connection.

And talk to 1000's of people who do XinaCat that I only get to meet for a minute.

But they're there, my people. Because of the Internet. I once worked for a commercial photography studio where we took pictures of other people's stuff...now I get to shoot my own stuff - and even better - make my own hours. Life isn't so bad.

Here's the way to my eBay store: XinaCat
Who IS XinaCat? About XinaCat

So this is me, with one of my Siamese cats, Skye. I'm finding out if I know how to post photos....!!

Laura Hoffman of XinaCat

Free counters provided by Andale.