Shoot that poison arrow .... through my TRS ...

Yes, shoot that poison arrow through my Top Seller Rating.


Nothing gets me scooting off to write a blog quicker than being shafted.  In fact, I think I got a bit of whiplash getting to my computer so fast.
So be warned: there is whining ahead with some lashings of sarcasm - but there are also some book BOLO's at the end to keep you reading.  :-)


I have never been a cup-half-full kind of person.  I go around with a permanent look of the downtrodden, constantly waiting for somebody to kick me in the teeth.  I think that doesn't help - I think sometimes that encourages the bad karma.


This morning I got up, made my morning cup of tea and turned on my computer to read my emails.   I feel like crap - my sinuses hurt, my eyes itch and my fingers have swollen into sausages.   Already a pretty nasty sight at this time of the morning, today in particular, I was enough to make the milk sitting in the fridge begin to sour just a little.


I click through my emails with an indifferent finger -


CLICK


No new eBay sale notification emails.   *sniff*


CLICK


I've won that $250,000 Reader's Digest prize AGAIN!!!!   *bwahahhah*


CLICK


Your seller status is no longer Top-rated.      *hmmpphhh*


CLICK


Brain starts to catch up.    Screaming backtrack.   What !!!????


I'm not ashamed to say that I cried like a baby.

I pounded my chest.  I tore at my hair and I wailed like a banshee.   Why meeee?   The world hates me.   I don't know why I even bother anymore....   I'm a fat ugly failure ......


Etc... Etc... you get the idea.


I hit Facebook and eBay Underground and got some much-needed support and advice from my on-line friends.  I really appreciate their help at times like these, as I have nobody else to turn to.  


Things weren't that bad.  The world wasn't going to end.   The milk in the fridge heaved a sigh of relief.   The wine began to shiver in anticipation of the evening ahead.


I looked at my DSR status and found that somebody had jumped in and given me a rating 1 or 2   - 3 times!!!.   No wonder my rating did a belly-whacker.


All my feedback has been glowing.     I have my suspicions on who did leave me these dings - and I'm not sure if they did it out of spite, or just because Ebay lacks any kind of education to buyers on this thing.    I know I provided a good service - I know it wasn't because of anything I have done.  I need to stop kicking myself up the arse and move on.


So I decided to have a look at what I was missing out on by losing this Top Rated Status.  Surely there are lots of huge benefits, discounts and bonuses for having this high standing (other than having a pretty little badge next to my user name) - why else would I be flogging myself over losing it?


I go to Ebay information and find this listing of the huge benefits that I had been awarded for being a good little girl.

Wow - look at that long list of benefits and discounts I was being awarded.   I'm SO PRIVILEGED !!!


Just for a hoot, lets look at the information on what bells & whistles I get for my "improved search standing".   

Do note the note.  The note is very note-worthy.  It's basically telling me that I get bugger-all.   I would get better increased exposure by taking ebay photos like these.

I am now better educated on something that I valued, because I thought it was a reward for my good work.     


The DSR rating system is a farce.    My DSR page noted that I could look at what my low ratings were for and use it to improve the way I work.    How can I friggin' do this if anybody can ding my stars without me getting any communication on what I have done wrong, (if anything).


~~~~~  END OF RANT  ~~~~~~~~~~


In my last blog, I promised some BOLO's  for books.   There's only a couple here, but these are things to look out for.


Cowboy Books.

No no - not THOSE kind of cowboys. 


I mean the real ones - the manly ones with hair on their chest.  They smoke cigarettes, shuffle cards,  and tote guns.  They love fast women and drinking whiskey.  They're so tough, they probably fart bullets.

When I had my book exchange - the men would come in rabidly looking for these books.  I used to call them "Mills & Boons for Men".


Here in Australia, they are rare as hen's teeth.   My friend Sue rang me one day and said she'd just bought 230 Westerns at a garage sale for $20.     


I looked them up and saw that one lot of 20 had sold at auction for $25.   Really?  That's crazy.  These aren't even full-length novels.  They're just little books and they only have about 95 pages. 


I sorted through the books and threw quite out a few that were water damaged.    The remaining ones were not in great condition, and I made sure to mention that they had a slight musty smell.
I put up 9 lots - BIN at $26.   I still have enough for 2 more lots and maybe a couple of lots of more damaged ones at a lower price.


They sat for a couple of weeks so I did a 5% off sale. 

So far I have sold 5 of these lots and still have 4 left.  So that's $130 so far (even sharing half with Sue) - still a good profit.

The other BOLO is Weight Watchers books - especially the supermarket guides that allocate points to different food items.


When someone goes on WW, they want all the bells & whistles to help them achieve their goal.  Those books are expensive to buy brand new.


I found my first one a couple of weeks ago.  This book is not a ProPoints book (which is the current WW Points program), but I checked the completed's and decided to give it a go.  This book costed me 25 cents.  It sold within an hour.

Then last week I found these two.  These are current ProPoints books.   They costed me 20 cents each.  These also sold within an hour.

So now I make sure to keep an eye out for these.


Do you have any quirky little books that you have any BOLO's for?


Now I've got all that off my chest, I will go and have a nice cup of tea - using my new fresh bottle of milk.   :-)