The Real Reason I Got Hooked THE PEOPLE
So there I was with a new venture on my hands that could possibly provide me the resources to decorate the house, and the funds to do so if I sold off my "treasures" that didn't work for me. But there was a big unknown factor, could I actually hold my own as a seller?
Those first three items sold were to be the most challenging of all! Next up was packing and shipping, YIKES! A trip to the Post Office brought me home with a few of those blue and white boxes that were soon to take over my house.
I had carefully saved all packing material from my online purchases, and thought I had enough to send dozens of items out! Well, that calculation was not correct. The three items I had sold were rather packing material intensive, a trend I continue to this day! By the end of that day I was to learn to shop price for wrapping materials right on eBay, found the one I was, and am still the most comfortable with to this day, so that was solved. Sadly I live in a really expensive price zone for the big box stores, and have yet to see anyone beat the prices I get from this guy, even factoring in the shipping.
By the end of that day too, I was to learn that I knew nothing about quoting shipping prices! I had put 3 or 4 dollars on each item! And that is where the people entered the equation.
The buyer of the red Pyrex bowl was an eBayer from CA with a rank of about 750, which to me was a scary number at that point. I had him figured as some sort of very advanced seller who was sure to find fault with my not yet acquired packing skills.
Mike turned out to be a lovely guy who was chatty in the emails about the sale from the getgo, his wife's family was from the town in NJ I was then living in! When this Mike 750 actually recieved the package I sent and saw the price I had paid to ship the item, against what he had paid me by about 4 dollars, he immediately sent me an email to watch my regular snail mail, that help was on the way. About a week later the old (pre USPS zoning) postage rate chart appeared in my mailbox, as a way of ensuring that I didn't cheat myself like that again!
I had entered a world of wonderful folks who watch out for each other, and knew I wanted to stay in that world.
Those first three items sold were to be the most challenging of all! Next up was packing and shipping, YIKES! A trip to the Post Office brought me home with a few of those blue and white boxes that were soon to take over my house.
I had carefully saved all packing material from my online purchases, and thought I had enough to send dozens of items out! Well, that calculation was not correct. The three items I had sold were rather packing material intensive, a trend I continue to this day! By the end of that day I was to learn to shop price for wrapping materials right on eBay, found the one I was, and am still the most comfortable with to this day, so that was solved. Sadly I live in a really expensive price zone for the big box stores, and have yet to see anyone beat the prices I get from this guy, even factoring in the shipping.
By the end of that day too, I was to learn that I knew nothing about quoting shipping prices! I had put 3 or 4 dollars on each item! And that is where the people entered the equation.
The buyer of the red Pyrex bowl was an eBayer from CA with a rank of about 750, which to me was a scary number at that point. I had him figured as some sort of very advanced seller who was sure to find fault with my not yet acquired packing skills.
Mike turned out to be a lovely guy who was chatty in the emails about the sale from the getgo, his wife's family was from the town in NJ I was then living in! When this Mike 750 actually recieved the package I sent and saw the price I had paid to ship the item, against what he had paid me by about 4 dollars, he immediately sent me an email to watch my regular snail mail, that help was on the way. About a week later the old (pre USPS zoning) postage rate chart appeared in my mailbox, as a way of ensuring that I didn't cheat myself like that again!
I had entered a world of wonderful folks who watch out for each other, and knew I wanted to stay in that world.
posted by kathyscorner | 6:41 AM
1 Comments:
Hey stranger! Long time! Hope the holiday sales were good for you - I didn't do too badly!
If you ever talk to the gang at "O" say hi for me!
(They might get a chuckle out of my post in December about struggling to list at the Bay - LOL)
Making a list to thank everyone who commented on my blog in 2005 - you did - thank you! List to post later today. Best wishes for 2006!
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