Remember me .... ?

Remember me?

It's been a long time since my last blog.   Naughty, naughty me.    Have I been getting up to mischief and shenanigans, seeing as I have been too busy to even write my blog for nearly three months?

Umm ...  no.

You know that saying "When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going."

That absolutely, positively and definitely does NOT describe me.


I have been going through a boo-hoo, oh-woe-is-me, what's-the-use couple of months.

My new attempts at increasing my sales on the internet had seemed so good at the time.  I was vibrating with enthusiasm and chock-full of zealousness   

Instead of increasing my sales, all that ended up getting me was a strange feeling in my colon.


My 3 selling venues:

1)    Aaah Quicksales -  Quicksales, aka PissWeakSales.   I had been working madly, copying my listings over.   I was SO proud of myself.    The number there is now approaching 400 items.   Total sales in the last 10 weeks = 1 board game @ $9.99 and one book that ended up being a non-payer.


2)   Fishpond - the Amazon-wannabe online store where I sent in 3 huge boxes of books/DVDs.    The postage cost was nearly $20 a box, making a total of nearly $60.   This would be taken from the initial sales - so no cash outlay was necessary.   Sounded great, right?   They weren't sitting in my house, and I didn't have to worry about sending them.

They entered the items I'd send, and then from my end, I changed the prices to what I wanted for each item.

Well, at some point they decided to change the pricing structure to "generate quicker sales and cash for customers like me".     This was done without any communication to me.    This change meant that all the prices that I had put in on my items were replaced with a different price, guaranteed to move the item quickly.

You bet they moved quickly - faster than a zombie with an empty tummy - confronted with a member of Mensa.

 Here are some examples of the prices I got for items before I cottoned on to their new "pricing structure".

Serenity DVD   -   83 cents
Happy Elf DVD  -   65 cents
Battlestar Galactica Season 1 Box set   -  78 cents
Bridget Jones Diary DVD  -  79 cents
The Net DVD  -  79 cents
V for Vendetta DVD -   99 cents

Can you see why they were flying off the shelves!!!!   A lot of those were my own DVDs that I had very reluctantly parted with in an effort to try and get some more money to pay bills.  They were in Like New condition.

I WAS SO MAD!!!!    A lot of my items have sold, but my sales have only just paid off the postage and a whole $10 has been paid to me so far after nearly 3 months.    Can you hear the steam spurting from my ears????

They have a new policy now, where if any more items are sent in "you cannot ask your own price, Fishpond will set the price for you to move your stock quickly."    Did I mention that they get 17% commission for each sale - and take that out of the postage as well as the item.   So they don't really care if it sells for .99 cents.    I will no longer be sending anything there.   I had hopes for this selling venue, so I am very disappointed.

3)  eBay.  Sales still plummeting.   Then I got an email telling me that the cost of my store was rising from $29.95/month to $49.95 a month.   The email noted that eBay wanted to (in my own words) - "weed out the little man, and encourage the larger sellers" - hence the rise in fees.  The email suggested that I take a Webinar to increase my store's exposure to make it stand out from the '1000's of other stores on eBay."    Bah humbug!

I am gradually going through this video on Youtube, that was mentioned by Rachel on Ebay Underground.   This has some great tips - and I'm only about 20 minutes in so far.  It tells you how to Optimise and Market Your Ebay Store.   There are some other Ebay videos on there that look  helpful too.

I have given up on the adult clothing idea.  Didn't do so well there.    Lots of the clothing ended up having something wrong, such as a stain or tear, or pant legs that had been cunningly shortened in such a neat way that it wasn't easy to tell in the shop.    I am anal about clothing being perfect.  I was getting seriously stressed and out of my comfort zone.  So I got those clothes and took them back.   If I can't see them, I can't feel guilty.

On a lighter note.   As you know, my Mum is the clothing cleaner / ironing specialist.   When I gave her this pair of men's/youth's shorts, she cleaned and ironed them very nicely.

When I picked them up, she pointed out the tear on one leg with a shocked look on her face.

And mentioned what a shoddy job somebody had done of sewing it up.   She said she was going to have a go at doing it herself, but decided it was too hard.

Bwahahahahahaa!    I told her it was meant to look like that.

Her face was a sight to behold.


Sooo, lower sales = lower cash to spend on stock.  So my next blog will talk about what cheaper items I am picking up to stock my shop.

Until them, I am head down, bum up - listing, listing, listing !!

Wandering out of my comfort zone ...

After much contemplation of my navel (bellybutton lint up for sale soon!), and advice from other sellers, I took my first scary step into the world of adult clothing.  And when I say adult, I don't mean bras with tassles on the nipples.

Whoops, now where did he saunter in from?  


I followed some advice from my awesome new mentor, Ms Maggie and chose a non-scary item to start with - men's jeans.


I did the search for completed and found the top $ sellers in "used" men's jeans in Australia are:


True Religion
RM Williams
G Star
Nudie
Tsubi Ksubi Dee Dee  (try saying that when you're drunk)
Diesel


Following along in the decent sale range were:


Levi
Lee
Billabong
Quiksilver




Looking at sizing - some were rarer than others  - for example a lot less of Size 44 was up for sale - when I looked at the completeds for them - of the 31 listed - 26 of them had sold.   Interesting.


So I trotted off to my local Op Shop with $5 in my moth-infested purse.   This is a community-run op shop rather than a big name charity.   One plastic bag of clothing is $5.   I thought this was a good place to learn without having the fork out the huge amounts of the prices at the big name op shops such as Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul or Brotherhood of St Laurence.


It made it easier focussing on just one item.    I shuffled through the jeans with the list above in mind.   There was an awful lot of boring generic jeans (probably 80%) such as  Target and Kmart jeans which I rejected.  And some that looked like the owner had been fired out of a cannon whilst wearing them.    It was simple for my tiny brain because I was not over-whelmed with too many things to look through.  


I got a few pairs of jeans and then had a quick look at the shorts and a shuffle through the shirts (don't know anything about men's shirts yet!).


On the way home I drove past the local Salvos store with my nose in the air (it could have been my finger - sorry!)  Then the local St Vinnies had a red sign in the window saying "Sale" - so I thought I'd have a quick peek.


I sneered at their high-priced jeans muttering about highway robbery like a grumpy old bag.   Then I saw the sign above the books section.   Any 2 books for $1.   I hyperventilated.   I grabbed a salesperson, and they said - yes, any book - hardback, large or small.    I probably gave a moan of pain, because a woman peeked out from behind the crockery and stared at me.


I dug in my purse - empty.  I dug around in my handbag - empty.   I stuck a couple of fingers in my jeans pocket - and came out with $2.   Score!    I trotted out the door with 4 books in a bag.


I'm never going to be able to keep away from books.


This is what was in the bag of clothes that I got for $5.

First was the only pair of Levis on the rack - these are Levi Strauss 508.  Are these red-tab because of the label on the pocket?  These are in nice condition - and don't show any wear at all, except on the label on the back.   I'm confused by the sizing which is 78 - possibly this is American sizing?  I must rustle myself up a sizing comparison chart between different countries.

Looking these up when I got home, they don't look high on the wish-lists.  Not many for sale - and seem to sell rarely.  Going price between $10 - 20.  


These are Target brand longer shorts - but then I noticed the Tony Hawk on the label.  He's a famous skateboarder, so I assume these are skate-shorts.  These are in nice condition.  The colour is more a grey denim.

There are NO men's Tony Hawk shorts on ebay, only Boys, so I might have a chance with these.


These are Industrie brand.  I don't know why I picked these up, I just "thought" the brand sounded popular?   These are in nice condition except for wear on the bottom of the cuffs.

Looking up the Industrie web-site, their jeans go for $100.  But these don't have the right label.  Perhaps an older pair.  These are very normal looking jeans, with nothing to make them stand out.  There are no completeds on these - they are all the newer tagged ones.  These are probably a different Industrie label altogether.  


These are Saltwater long shorts.  I've never heard of this brand, but these were funky-looking shorts, with pre-made slashes, and a cool decal label on one leg.  These show a very small amount of wear.

Looking at Completeds only shows some very boring Saltwater brand jeans that are not even selling for $2.  Interesting.


Wrangler wasn't on my list either, but it seemed to ring a bell so I picked up these brown pants.   These have no size tag on them.  Made in Mexico of US fabric.  These are brown pants - not denim, but a heavy fabric with a bit of a weave on it.  Chinos?

All it has is this weird half-missing tattoo inside and this label that I can't figure out.   Can anybody help with the sizing from this tag, or is it useless?

My final item, was the only top that I could recognize.  This top is actually grey.  It's an XL size - but I think it might be a boy's shirt, as it's really not *that* big to me.   This says its a Majestic Dodgers Major Baseball League Genuine Merchandise.  It has no marks or wear.

There is nothing to compare this with on Ebay Australia - either sold or currently for sale.  Maybe a good pickup.


Now I have to wash these clothing, and hope that my iron still works.  It hasn't been used in a few years!!!


These are my books that I got.    

The two Terry Brooks are brand new.   Juicing books are very popular at the moment, as are self-sufficiency books.  I've already listed all these and hope to get $38 in total after sales.


So that was my baby-steps in jeans.   I can't see that I found any sure-fire winners, but at least I tried, right?


I might need a stiff drink (or 3 or 4) to recover.

Boobs = interest = sale = $

Firstly, let me say a sincere thank you to those lovely readers who gave me suggestions to get me out of my book-rut.


Carol, yes prices of books are plummeting.    Great as a buyer, but not as a seller.   Fishpond is like a very basic version of Amazon.  I can't sell on Amazon as they won't make payments to Australian bank accounts (the last time I looked).


Maggie, I like your idea of keeping your store stocked with lots of different items.   Then I can open my shop to a new range of customers.  At the moment, I hardly even get a sale on Fridays/Saturdays.  I'd like to change it - and have my store selling 7 days a week.  After all, it is open 7 days a week!


Yvette, thanks, the idea of just starting with exercise outfits / accessories is also excellent one.    Being allergic to exercise should not harm me there.  *I* will not be the intended victim.  And as you say, they are very easy to wrap and post.   I'm already with Ebay Underground (the BEST place ever), and will also join Thrifting with the Boys that you mentioned.


Miss Maggie, your idea of asking the op-shops to keep videos aside for me and paying them money, if they no longer wanted to stock them, is a fantastic idea.  And one I will try out this week.   One of my op-shops that cleared out the videos are now re-stocking them.  I think they must have just wanted to clean out those that had been sitting there.    (Ms Maggie I must reply to your kind offer on Ebug).


I'm going to try looking at clothes tomorrow.  So I'll show you what weird things I pick up.


No shoes though, I have a thing about touching other people's used shoes.


OK, so I went shopping for stock last week.  I told myself that I would no longer buy piles of crime/romance books because they are only 20 cents each, and I have this magical idea that they will sell in bulk lots.   No more, none of that.   I decided to only look out for unusual / sure sellers.

I found boobs were popping up a lot this week in my ebay world.    And I don't mean I was staring in the mirror, poking my own naughty pillows and giggling like a mad thing.   Oh, I did come across an arse too - I hope I've still got the photo.   ;-)

It's a good thing I'm easily amused.

I poked around at my local op-shop and came across a couple of interesting books.

This one was my favourite, I almost squealed with delight when I looked at it.  I thought it might have been a vintage cookbook - but it was even better than that.

The title is hard to read - it is "The Fabulous Feminique Program For Developing a Beautiful Bust."

Printed in 1969 - it's a rip-snorter.  Loookeee - one of the exercises is lifting a raw chicken in a tray.  So the next time you're making a roast - be sure to do a few lifts and you'll be looking perkier in no time.

I also found this one:

This was printed in 1979.  It's huge with over 320 pages of photos of model farm toys and their value then.  A truck collecting nerd will love this.  It's a US-based book, so I'll be sure to include international postage, but it's going to cost a fortune to post overseas.

Then I hit my local junk/$2 shop to get a birthday card and was confronted with this item.  I took a photo with my phone, but I was laughing too much and it was blurry.  Fortunately I found a photo of one on the internet:


What do you think this might be?

It's a breast massager.  

I kid you not.  For a whole $5.   Between this and lifting my roast chicken in and out of the oven, I could have norgs so perky I could rest my head on them.


Then on to my mid-week op-shops, my eyes beheld these.  

Lovely shorts.  And only $2.   These stayed on the rack when I left, but came home on my new mobile phone!  This was the first photo I took with my new phone.  How long can I uphold this high standard of living?


I visited one of my op shops that had thrown out all their videos.  They had 2 cardboard boxes full of recently-donated videos sitting outside.  A lot of them were TV shows that had been recorded onto blank videos.  I trawled through them and got some video gold according to my "Golden Rules of Videos."


Evidence # 1 - Crappy B-grade horror movies - mostly rated R.  Even though one had a rental sticker describing it as "Art House", I was not fooled.   Nobody in their right mind would distribute these on DVD.  Check.

Let's turn them over and do a quick tittie check.

Bingo.  One comes up trumps here.


Evidence # 2 - Not Rated R - but quirky titles are a plus - how could I pass up "Blacula!" and "Stuff Stephanie In the Incinerator."   These make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Evidence # 3 - The idea of even looking at these movies makes me want to eat my own head.

Check.   Check.

Well, I'm off to put a roast chicken in the oven multiple times.

Goodbye books :-(

I have had to come to a painful decision this week.


My ebay shop is approximately 85% books.   I worked hard to get 1,000 items in my store.  For the past few months I have been slogging away, keeping my stock at above 1,000.   I was very proud of myself.


Now I look at my sales figures and realise the harsh reality - books don't sell.    My sales are actually decreasing.  I thought having a magic big number of items in my store would bring the buyers.   My items are very reasonably priced compared to other sellers.


But now there's too much competition - from many fellow ebay.au sellers selling the same books as me, to overseas sellers - mainly from ebay.uk - flooding the Aussie market with cheap second hand books - to cheap brand new imported books from the US.     Don't even get me started on e-books.


It breaks my heart.   I love books.   Since I was a child, I spent all my time reading - I was (and still are) very much a loner, and an introvert, and prefer to spend time with a book than a human being.  Books have always been my companions, and they can take you to places you can only dream about, or you can learn about new things.  

So I've gone through my books in stock - I have about 2,000.    I have culled many that I am sick of the sight of - they got taken to the op shop.    I have now sent about 300 off to the Fishpond warehouse to sit there and hopefully sell.  At least I won't have to look at them anymore.


What I have left, I will either send to Fishpond next month, put up on the free Quicksales website or sell as bulk lots.  Only the rare and very popular shall stay.


My bookshelves are looking emptier now.   I have more space, but I don't know what to fill it with.   My ebay store is now hovering around 900.   Once I cull more books and send more off to Fishpond, it will get even lower.


In the past year I was looking for more cheap items to stock my store with.   I found board games - and the good ones I bought have sold, but I still have ones sitting around for over a year - and far too many of them that have parts missing.  I'm getting better at picking which ones to buy - but they are not filling much of a $ void.


Then I discovered VHS Videos - and they have added some much-needed extra income.  They are hard work - they need testing and cleaning.    Then my 2 favourite local op-shops that were the source for most of my cheap videos - THREW ALL THEIR VIDEOS IN THE BIN.  They no longer sell them.   I have very few places to pick them up cheap anymore.  Bang goes another source of stock.


I tried selling bulk lots of children clothes - and they seemed to sell in the beginning.   I thought they were going to save me - but now the sales have dried up, and I have lost the drive to keep buying more clothes just to have them fill my closet.


I feel like I am going backwards now.   I look around my unit which has stock lining the walls, and all I can see is money & effort spent for nothing.

I have had some sales with my other selling venues.


Fishpond.com.au -  When my 3 parcels of books that were picked up today reach them - they will have 300 of my items in their warehouse.   This is great because they take care of the shipping, emails, etc. to customers, and they pay pretty quick.   I have even noticed (obviously they get a good deal on shipping) that sometimes I also get a little extra from $1-2 extra which is a refund from the set postage of $4.99 that the customer pays.  Pretty good.  These items don't sell for much, because you have to undercut all the others selling the same item - but it is money in the bank.


So far this month I have made : $59.


Quicksales have also given me some sales.   I have been madly cutting and pasting across from ebay, and so far I have 320 items on their website.


In the past month and a bit, I have sold:


1 x video  $8
3 lots of Mills & Boons   $33
bulk lot of Clive Cussler books   $15
2 x board games    $20


So at a total of $73 - that's not too shabby.   The fees from all those sales have been less than a dollar in total.   I will definitely work harder on Quicksales.


I thought that I might try magazine lots - they're fairly cheap at only 20 cents, but we shall see.
I also try to pick up any vintage knitting pattern booklets.


Does anybody have any idea on some other items I could branch out into, that are low in cost ?????


I have no idea about clothes.
I will not even touch a pair of used shoes.


I'm in serious need of some ideas.   I'm finding it hard to get past not selling books.


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Now I'll put down my tiny little violin of pity that I'm playing and show you some sales I got this week:


These 2 x Diet Books only took a few days to sell:


Sold For:   $29.99
Paid:     50 cents

I always pick up horse/pony children's books when they're cheap and sell them as a bulk lot.  It's school holidays here, so I hoped these would sell.    There are 17 books in this lot.


Sold For:  $21.99
Paid:  about $3.50

I picked these books up on a whim to fill a bag of books for $5.   I have never heard of them before, and they were published in 1985 - so a bit vintage.  I had 3 and put them up separately.  They sold the next day to the same buyer.


Sold For:   $15
Paid:   50 cents

I've had these up for a couple of months.  I always pick up Tae Bo videos.


Sold For :   $18.99
Paid:    $1.00 (probably less)

These took a while to sell, but I was happy to wait because Linda Howard is a popular author.


Sold For :    $18.99
Paid:    $1.00

Due to my dwindling income, I am now on a vicious hunt to cut my expenses - both business and household.   I'll share some of my tips with you next time!

Drowning in cash ....

This morning I crawled out of bed - made a cup of tea - and sat down to my morning ritual of checking emails, printing out postage labels for my parcels and checking Paypal for any miniscule amount I can transfer to my bank account.


Then I check my bank account.    A lovely number swims before my eyes, and I have to blink a few times to make sure I'm not dreaming.


The grand total in my account is just over $1000.


There hasn't been that much in my account for a few years.   

I dream of the wonderful things I can do with this money:


- pay the phone bill, the gas bill, the electricity bill, the internet bill
- buy my Dad's present for his birthday
- get my car its long over-due service
- go to the chiropractor for my back
- get a haircut by a hairdresser instead of hacking at it myself with scissors
- wrap my teeth around a real steak for the first time in years.
- replace my worn granny knickers with some new granny knickers   (oh the thrill !!)
- perhaps even *shock* - buy myself a BRAND NEW book or DVD!!!!


The possibilities are endless.    I feel a warm glow in my nether regions, about the delicious things I can do with this money.


Except for one thing.


IT IS NOT MINE.   It has been transferred to my account in error overnight.




You see, the lovely website where I attempt to sell my books Fishpond.com.au - has been fiddling with their website.    They've been having a really good poke around in there.   I sent a query to them only a couple of days ago querying why a couple of sales hadn't been applied to my account.


Now they've had a fiddle-fest and all the sales I've made from them in the past 3 years or so came up as not being paid.   I saw this yesterday evening and had a laugh.  At the top of the account it said that $925 would be paid to my bank account via bank transfer.    What a hoot!   Surely they wouldn't be silly enough to do that.


Apparently they are.   Apparently all those transfers are automated.   If the system say pay it - it gets paid.   Oh, their IT Department is going to be getting a thrashing.   I feel sorry for them.   Have they never heard of Beta Testing changes before they go live?

Oh well, I will just sit and look at this total in my account for a day and pretend it is mine - then tomorrow I will contact them if they haven't contacted me first.


Oh, my precious.  My precious!!!!

SLAP!!  <Ahem>.


Back to the real world.




My sales have been atrocious.   I'm talking a drop of two thirds in sales for 3 months that had me in tears almost daily.   So bad, I haven't been blogging because I all would do is moan about it, and that's not fun for you or for me. 


My friends on Ebay Underground had been talking about a "light being switched on."   I finally got to see that in action in my store last week.      In one day I had 10 sales - and it has still been pretty good.  Things I had gotten sick of looking at were suddenly bouncing out the red door.   Hurrah, I can finally pay some bills!!


Finally, here are some items I have sold worth mentioning:




This rare 1st edition book from 1918.     A previous copy on Ebay had sold for $40.    Mine sat for ages at that price, and then I decided I just needed some money to pay bills.  

Sold for:  $24.95

Bought for:  $1

I thought my new foray into kids clothing was going to save my bacon, but they suddenly stopped selling.   Then I got this sale of Bulk 27 x Girls Size 4 Clothing.  Hurrah!!  

Sold for:  $47.95 (less $11 fee for stupidity)

Bought for:   $7

Then I got home from the post office and looked at the photo, thinking "I don't remember packing those dresses?"    Oh crap, I'd forgotten to pack 3 dresses that were hanging up.    I grabbed them and hurried back to the post office.   Yay, they still had my parcel.   I did surgery on it and added the missing clothes.    I got slugged with $11 charge for the extra weight.   Oh well, at least I remembered before it got to the customer.

These diet books I've had for 8 months.  I was selling them separately, and then decided to put them in all together.   Glad to see them go.    

Sold for:  $15

Bought for:  Less than $1

These lovely embroidery magazines I've had for a while.  Then somebody came in and snaffled up 4 of them. 

Sold for:  $22 (4 magazines at $5.50 each)

Bought for : $2

This Maths Textbook - I've also had for a while.   The buyer wanted to pick it up.  At the front door she stared at the book and said "I hope it's the right one.  I'll let you know if there's any problems."

WHAAAAT??!!   You're supposed to check that before you buy the frickin book!   I haven't heard from her, so all is well.

Sold for :  $29.99

Bought for :   $1

This huge gorgeous book on roses was in Like New condition.   It's huge and weighs over 3.5 kgs.  I'm surprised it took 6 months to sell.   Somebody bought it, and I am posting it to a friend of the buyer for a gift.

Sold for:  $24.95

Bought for:  $1

Ah, the lovely Squatter Board Game.  My sister found me this when she was op-shopping.  Always a sure-fire seller if it is complete.  Considering part of the game is 180 tiny plastic sheep, this rarely happens!

Bought for:  $3.50

Sold for :  $24.95

This is my favourite sale.   These sold within a few hours.   I got 4 of these magazines for free from my local op-shop.    Woodworking books/magazines are always a sure-fire seller for me.

Sold for:    $22.00 (for 4 magazines @ 5.50 each).

Bought for :   FREE

I'm thinking of branching into magazines.  Does anybody have any magazines they can recommend as a good-seller either in singles or bulk lots?


For now, I'll sit and gaze at my illegal bank balance, and not think about spanking.


Whoops, too late....

A Change Is As Good As a Holiday ...

A change is as good as a holiday.   <snort>


This is one of those trite sayings that people say to you at times when you have stood in the Great Cowpat of Life.

Along with my other two favourite cringers of 'When one door closes, another door opens.'


And


'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'




So Ebay Australia - that great dinosaur of the Ebay family finally had half the overhaul it had announced for May. Two things were put off until later - I will be discussing them later (take notice: there will be an essay and multiple choice test later).


Were these changes wonderful and amazing, did it make me shiver with joy, did I feel a tingling in my nether regions, did my cheeks glow like a child who has been given a big fat lolly?   You can see where I'm going here, surely.


Bottom line - they got rid of the lowliest store tier - Basic Store - at $19.95/month.  This is what my store was.
They got rid of the 'I Can't Believe You're Willing To Pay This Much' Store - at $49.95.     A new Basic Store Level emerges and the price rises to $24.95/month for my store.


For this I get:


~ No change in fees for the major stock in my store (videos/books/etc) - still at 5 cents a pop for BIN listings.


~ Other items have decreased from 40 cents to 20 cents for BIN listing.  This constitutes less than 10% of my store items.


~ Number of free photos allowed in each listing rises to 13.   (Yawn: I subscribe to Auctiva and get 24 photos per listing).


So all in all - the end result for me - given that the decrease in fees is cancelled out by the rise in store cost = no change.


Oh, oh, I forgot to mention the most exciting benefit listed for the change:


      ***  GREATER VISIBILITY OF LISTING FEES ***


"Look, it's the Transit of Venus - it won't happen again until 2117".


"Sod that - LOOK at those Ebay Fees - they are Visible for the first time in 1000s of years, and may not be seen again until 2300!"   *Runs off to grab camera.*

Big Fat Yawn.   Sorry, can't get excited over those changes.   No benefit to my business.




And now to the two items that were put on hold.


My favourite change of all - which I really think is the Ebay Monkeys playing a trick on us - is the No Communication = Great Service = Instant 5 stars on your Communication DSR.


So you get 5 Stars for Communication, by not having any Communication other than those impersonal ones sent by Ebay.   I am all agog.  Am I the only one in thinks this is a farce?


This must be wonderful for all those huge stores run by Cybermen who just want your money and don't give a crap about customer service.


Even though I am an anti-social bint - this ebay shop is my job.  It's the only way I get to interact with my customers.  I want them to know that I am one real human being sitting behind this business and I want them to be happy with their service.   I send all my customers a personal message after I've posted their items.  ALWAYS!   I get a tiny amount of warmth in my big toe when somebody sends me a thank you email, saying it's rare to get a real message from a seller.  Or somebody saying that they are so grateful to find the game from their childhood that they can't wait to play it.   Or somebody saying thanks for the books for my granddad/nan who can't find them anywhere and will be ever so happy.


With this new process in place, does it mean that we begin to feel resentment for a customer when they dare to send a message to you - the Seller?


I fart in eBay's general direction over this one.  I'm sticking with sending my personal messages.  I'll leave impersonal ebay messages to the Cybermen.

The next update I know my US Ebug friends are having challenges with - sending your parcel within 1 day to get an automatic 5 stars for Postage Time.


I can't help but get the image of a cowboy with his gun out  ....

Whoops.  *Ahem*  


The image of the cowboy baddie shooting bullets at the good guy's feet to "make him dance to his tune."


Are we all now dancing to eBay's tune like little puppets?


I can be blase about this, because on eBay Australia there are NO BENEFITS to being a Top Rated Seller.   I got my rating back again last week, and really didn't care.   After how upset I was about losing it that first time, I don't give a patootie.


The other eBay Sites get a 20% Final Value Fee Discount.    That's worth jumping through hoops for, I'm sure.   At the moment I have no compulsion to dance to eBay's tune any more than I currently do.


My DSRs have been dinged by customers who are either uneducated or just malicious.     I can do the eBay Cha-Cha-Cha and get automatic 5 stars on a couple of items - but those other two are still out there vulnerable to attack.


Now I have the song "I want to play with my ding-a-ling" in my head.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D2PwYVLiR8&feature=related


As a child I never once thought this was about a boy playing with his cocktail frankfurt.   No, not at all.

End of rant.   I promise my next blog will be more interesting and have sales and other items of interest rather than whining.  In the next couple of days, hopefully.




Just when you least expect it - OWLS!!!