I. My "rookie error"
Yesterday I took a 1967 Spirograph to the post office and paid $11 to ship it to the guy who'd bought it from me for $4 on eBay.
The thing is, I'd only charged him $7 for postage.
Minus eBay's fee and the $1 I'd paid for the Spirograph at Goodwill ––(a steal! though 1 of its 18 plastic wheels was missing, the set still had its instruction booklet, board, pens [dried out, but cool], pins, and other pieces)––I lost a couple bucks. No big deal.
I wrote the customer that he'd see when the package arrived that I'd made a beginner's error (being new to eBay), but it was in his favor.
I was happy he got a good deal, I wrote, and this great classic toy was going to a new home--it was one of my childhood favorites.
"I'm chalking it up to a learning experience."
Later in the day I got this message from PayPal:
This brought tears to my eyes. Who expects kindness and humor in online sales?
But in fact, after being on it for two weeks, I'm experiencing eBay more like a garage sale/thrift store than, say, an antique or a department store. I'm surprised. I'd expected to like researching and writing up stuff to sell, but I'm also love the smatterings of personal chat and bits of bargaining.
I'm listing things for sale mostly at fixed, buy-it-now prices--mostly around $4.99–9.99.
I've sold four out of twelve items, for a profit of $8.50 (before my $5 tip), a profit I immediately spent on packing tape.
So, it's small potatoes, but the dollar amount isn't really the point. I've seen people be mean over pennies.
II. "I don't care for your kind."
eBay's like Wikipedia--I'd expected both to be hostile but have mostly met nice and helpful people. I'm not very involved in either site though. I expect if I stick around I'll eventually run into some unpleasant types.
It happens, as this seller writes in their description [sorry, the screencap is wide--scroll right > to see it all]:
And that's another thing I'm liking on eBay---getting to read the writing of people who aren't writers. Mostly it's bland, but sometimes it's blunt like this.
III. Mid-Century Modern Spun-Aluminum Canisters
I'm getting a lot of pleasure out of having a reason to buy, research, and [hopefully] pass along some cool stuff I find at Goodwill that I don't want myself.
Like that classic Spirograph---it sparked vivid memories from childhood--taking it home, opening it up and handling the parts, but I didn't want to keep it.
Other stuff, I'm just curious about--like this little (1" tall) elephant stamped Made in Occupied Japan. (It's one of a lot of 11 elephant figurines that I listed on the auction option.)
Also up for auction this week is the thing I personally like the best:
a set of mid-century, brushed/spun aluminum canisters labelled flour, sugar, coffee, and tea, with pinkish anodized aluminum lids.
Empty, they nest inside one another like Russian dolls.
GW was selling it for $2.99--cheap! even if they are a bit dinged (aluminum is soft).
I started the auction at $9.99. (Sadly, the buyer pays postage, which adds a lot.)
If they don't sell, I'm keeping them!
The non-fiction photography is a neat challenge:
you want stuff to look good, but also be honest so buyers aren't fooled.
And you want to arrange stuff so it shows up, attractive and informative, on a phone screen--and choose a good background. eBay suggests plain, solid backgrounds, but I like the black and white I used here (my bathroom floor).
Shooting the stuff is tricky, especially if it's reflective, which lots of thing are (and I don't any lighting set up). I'd like to work on that.
Writing the descriptions is fun---you want to choose searchable terms in the title and then write up things succinctly but interestingly.
They say to write plenty, but not too much. Was mentioning that interior/home designers picked up aluminum from the aerospace industry TMI?
Well... not for me---if I were a buyer, I'd love that detail. I love knowing it now.
Finally, I even like the design challenge of wrapping stuff up for shippping. The Spirograph, for instance---I put two boxes together, and I also folded foam sheeting around each corner, to protect them. (And boy was I extra glad I'd done such a good job when the buyer was so nice to me---he'll see I took care with his toy. Nice, all round.)
Yesterday I took a 1967 Spirograph to the post office and paid $11 to ship it to the guy who'd bought it from me for $4 on eBay.
The thing is, I'd only charged him $7 for postage.
Minus eBay's fee and the $1 I'd paid for the Spirograph at Goodwill ––(a steal! though 1 of its 18 plastic wheels was missing, the set still had its instruction booklet, board, pens [dried out, but cool], pins, and other pieces)––I lost a couple bucks. No big deal.
I wrote the customer that he'd see when the package arrived that I'd made a beginner's error (being new to eBay), but it was in his favor.
I was happy he got a good deal, I wrote, and this great classic toy was going to a new home--it was one of my childhood favorites.
"I'm chalking it up to a learning experience."
Later in the day I got this message from PayPal:
This brought tears to my eyes. Who expects kindness and humor in online sales?
But in fact, after being on it for two weeks, I'm experiencing eBay more like a garage sale/thrift store than, say, an antique or a department store. I'm surprised. I'd expected to like researching and writing up stuff to sell, but I'm also love the smatterings of personal chat and bits of bargaining.
I'm listing things for sale mostly at fixed, buy-it-now prices--mostly around $4.99–9.99.
I've sold four out of twelve items, for a profit of $8.50 (before my $5 tip), a profit I immediately spent on packing tape.
So, it's small potatoes, but the dollar amount isn't really the point. I've seen people be mean over pennies.
II. "I don't care for your kind."
eBay's like Wikipedia--I'd expected both to be hostile but have mostly met nice and helpful people. I'm not very involved in either site though. I expect if I stick around I'll eventually run into some unpleasant types.
It happens, as this seller writes in their description [sorry, the screencap is wide--scroll right > to see it all]:
And that's another thing I'm liking on eBay---getting to read the writing of people who aren't writers. Mostly it's bland, but sometimes it's blunt like this.
III. Mid-Century Modern Spun-Aluminum Canisters
I'm getting a lot of pleasure out of having a reason to buy, research, and [hopefully] pass along some cool stuff I find at Goodwill that I don't want myself.
Like that classic Spirograph---it sparked vivid memories from childhood--taking it home, opening it up and handling the parts, but I didn't want to keep it.
Other stuff, I'm just curious about--like this little (1" tall) elephant stamped Made in Occupied Japan. (It's one of a lot of 11 elephant figurines that I listed on the auction option.)
Also up for auction this week is the thing I personally like the best:
a set of mid-century, brushed/spun aluminum canisters labelled flour, sugar, coffee, and tea, with pinkish anodized aluminum lids.
Empty, they nest inside one another like Russian dolls.
GW was selling it for $2.99--cheap! even if they are a bit dinged (aluminum is soft).
I started the auction at $9.99. (Sadly, the buyer pays postage, which adds a lot.)
If they don't sell, I'm keeping them!
The non-fiction photography is a neat challenge:
you want stuff to look good, but also be honest so buyers aren't fooled.
And you want to arrange stuff so it shows up, attractive and informative, on a phone screen--and choose a good background. eBay suggests plain, solid backgrounds, but I like the black and white I used here (my bathroom floor).
Shooting the stuff is tricky, especially if it's reflective, which lots of thing are (and I don't any lighting set up). I'd like to work on that.
Writing the descriptions is fun---you want to choose searchable terms in the title and then write up things succinctly but interestingly.
They say to write plenty, but not too much. Was mentioning that interior/home designers picked up aluminum from the aerospace industry TMI?
Well... not for me---if I were a buyer, I'd love that detail. I love knowing it now.
Finally, I even like the design challenge of wrapping stuff up for shippping. The Spirograph, for instance---I put two boxes together, and I also folded foam sheeting around each corner, to protect them. (And boy was I extra glad I'd done such a good job when the buyer was so nice to me---he'll see I took care with his toy. Nice, all round.)
2 comments:
I need to be brave enough o start ebaying Stuff...good for you xx
Oh, yes, do, and then let us know how it goes!
I heeded the Advice to Beginners:
Start small, start with stuff you have around.
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