ClearanceClarence: Latest News

Making kick-ass music videos with Animoto (07/19/09) A friend brought this to our attention. Animoto takes your photographs and your music (or you can choose some of theirs.) They analyze the images and music, then produce a completely unique video piece. No two videos are ever the same. Fast and free to sign up. Check it out!

Catching up with old friends (06/29/09) That would be you, Constant Reader.

My, it has been a busy five months. JCEarrings.com has taken off like a rocket-propelled grenade with our JCEarrings Summer Giveaway. It runs every day through August 31, 2009.

On eBay we've seen a big surge of interest in our sterling silver turquoise jewelry, possibly because of the "Twilight" movie, where the heroine Bella wears a sweet sterling silver turquoise cuff bracelet. Other stones such as apple coral, Royston Ribbon, boulder turquoise, appaloosa, sugilite, black onyx and white buffalo are selling well, too. Truth is we're having trouble keeping this jewelry in stock.

For years (almost 10, in fact) we have been selling Macy's sterling silver overstock jewelry on eBay. It is with a little sadness that we announce our Macy's sales are drawing to a close. We had a good run while it lasted and met many wonderful people. But to be utterly frank, the quality of department store jewelry has dropped steadily as more and more manufacturing is outsourced to China. We'll miss the big boxes of Macy's stuff. Sometimes we found some wonderful surprises therein.

So our primary emphasis going forward is on jewelry made in the USA. 95% of the Jody Coyote earrings are manufactured at their plant in Eugene, Oregon. 100% of our Southwestern sterling silver jewelry is made in Arizona.

Feeling nostalgic (02/04/09) What's your favorite eBay commercial? Is it this one?

Got a coupon from eBay recently? (01/24/09) The big E is handing out 10% off coupons. From all reports it seems they expire in a week, more or less. Not much time to shop!

10% off is okay, I guess, but let's go it one better: Clearance*Clarence will give you *another* 10% off any one of our fixed-price items (meaning, you didn't have to bid against someone else to get it) that you do a Buy It Now on before 02/05/09.

Let's review: You pay with PayPal and eBay automatically gives you 10% off. Let us know you saw this page (shout out "Hey, Clarence!") and we'll rebate you another 10%. Sweet!

--CL

Problem solved, with Reimage (01/23/09) Momma always done tole us not to browse around the dark seamy underbelly of the Internet (and honest! We weren't!) but we done went and got usselves infected with a virus anyway.

A Trojan actually, a nasty bit of malware that disables your ability to connect to antivirus sites. Say hello to sagipsul, just one of the many thugs roaming the net looking to mess you up.

I won't do into the whole long story here; suffice it to say that many anti-malware and anti-virus scans later, we were confident we'd eradicated all trace of the baddie...but the computer still ran very slowly. Clearly something had been damaged in Windows XP. Many things, as we were about to find out.

A friend told me about Reimage. Reimage actually scans your computer through a browser connection, finds damaged system components and gives you a repair plan. All that is free. You can even take that repair plan and follow it yourself, or hand it to your IT guy. If you want Reimage to repair your Windows, it's $65. It takes only a few minutes, and when it's done you may think you have a new computer. Reimage did the trick for me. Definitely worth it. I can't even get the guys at Fixin' PCs R Us to look at my laptop for $65.

--CL

New year, new you? (01/21/09) How are you doing with your New Year's resolutions? Frankly, we cheated: We got started last October by joining a health club.

If you haven't made any resolutions, it's not too late. Here are some suggestions:

Resolve to save money by buying from trusted eBay merchants. You'll find them scattered throughout this site. They're all sellers we know or have dealt with and can vouch for. The only way that could get better would be if the seller is your next door neighbor.

If you smoke, quit. If you don't, don't start.

If you're looking to lose weight this year, try the only FDA-approved weight loss aid: Alli. I've used it. It works.

If you're too shy for the gym, get in shape with home exercise equipment.

Vowing to enjoy life more is admirable. Take up a hobby or new activity, like square dancing.

Maybe this will be the year you stop drinking.

Perhaps it's finally time to get out of debt.

Have you taken a look in the mirror and decided you could be a better person?

That ought to be enough to get you started. Until next time...

--CL

What we do and why we do it (01/19/09) This seems like a good moment to talk about ClearanceClarence.com and its raison d'etre. (No, that's not a fancy French dessert featuring dried grapes.)

ClearanceClarence.com exists because long ago we noticed people like to buy from other people they trust. But how to know who to trust? Every seller on ClearanceClarence.com is either known to us personally, belongs to the same professional associations we do, or is someone we've bought from. We like 'em and we think you probably will, too.

Why the name ClearanceClarence? It's our eBay id, only there it's spelled Clearance*Clarence.

--CL

Jody Coyote earrings (01/17/09) We can't keep it quiet much longer: Yes, we are the brains behind the fabulously successful JCEarrings.com website that sells Jody Coyote earrings. You should care about this because women of all ages love Jody Coyote, yet up until now they were stuck with whatever small selection their local gift or stationery store had in stock.

No more. Choose from hundreds of styles, hoops, drop earrings, 14k gold-filled or sterling silver, you name it.

Gift wrap is available for a small fee. Gift-giving doesn't get any easier than this.

And during the months of January and February, we have some special offers. If you're a blogger, you can get free earrings! We call it Blogging for Bling.

Also, we'll send you a 25% off coupon just for asking to receive our monthly newsletter. Check it out.

--CL

Let's get out the vote for Moms (01/16/09) Our friend Lanae of Old World Limited is in the running to win the 2009 StartupNation Leading Moms in Business Competition. Won't you please take a moment and vote for her here?

StartupNation Leading Moms in Business Competition.

We ladies gotta stick together.

--CL

Countdown to Cupid (01/15/09) One month to go and what to do, what to do? Guys, women love jewelry. It's not fattening. Have you ever heard your girlfriend say, "Does this necklace make me look fat?" No! It's the perfect gift!

Plus, jewelry doesn't have to come with a commitment. Women buy each other jewelry all the time. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces. Here's a hint that'll help keep it a surprise: Look at the jewelry she's already wearing. Is it gold (in color)? Or is it silver? Go with the metal color she prefers. Already I can hear her telling her mom excitedly how thoughtful you are.

--CL

Fantastic deals on clothing, jewelry, shoes, groceries and more (01/13/09) It's the Web's top couponing site: RetailMeNot. RetailMeNot had the scoop on the FREE cosmetics giveaway at Macy's and other large department stores. Readers post their top deals all the time because RMN has a special deal: You get ad revenue from any thread you start in their forum. JenaWood says she paid for her family's three-day beach vacation with money she earned posting on RetailMeNot. So it's a win-win. You save and you earn!

--CL

Blast from the past Old articles and musings are here.