posted on June 20, 2014 11:23:10 AM new
I am done! Well, sort of.
I recently started a job that allows me to help people start their own business or go to school by providing matching grants. I've had the job for over a month now and enjoy it.
In the process, I have eliminated my space in a local store - June 30th is my move out date.
I have a 400 square foot studio that I may also be giving notice for in the near future. I have done my prep work for items online and locally from there for 3 years. It is an excellent deal at $410 a month all inclusive, but I don't need 400 square feet any longer. I may look at sharing the space or we may find a new house that offers me the 200 sq ft I need to store some merchandise and shipping supplies.
I am done with furniture locally. I'm eliminating 75% of my vintage stock, focusing only on higher end items that are easily shipable, and will increase my new products a bit.
I don't have time to be searching for stuff at sales much anymore and feel I can keep up with ordering a few new product lines and sell them online, enough to throw a few extra hundred dollars a month in my pocket. I'm going to start an e-commerce site for these items and utilize Etsy, eBay, and Square Marketplace to drive traffic to it.
The new eBay rules are ridiculous and I just don't feel the need to incentivize them with my money like I have in the past. Their new system is far worse than the old. They can't even provide sellers with accurate information about their account and they would rather make things more complex than fix the problems of their website. Everywhere I look another business is dipping their hands into my pockets, far more so than taxes do.
Good luck in your new 'normal'. I have a distressed house we bought next door for storage and with the slow sales on Ebay I am questioning my wisdom in that. I have all but stopped going to auctions and yard sales because I am way overstocked and under interested in listing. I may just take the summer off and start fresh in the fall. The fun is wearing off...grin.
posted on June 23, 2014 07:05:11 AM new
good luck to you.
Ebay stock has reached a new low .
I have been reading Ebay discussions,and most sellers have seen their sales dropped.
It is not same old same old horror story,someone recently shipped a box of feces?
I am gradually phasing out of ecommerce,but it would take some time to rid all my inventory,especially books.
posted on June 23, 2014 07:08:01 AM new
Pmelcher,
You must have a lot of stuff to sell,or bulky stuff?
I keep all my inventory in my house and my formal dining room facing the street is my office,I can see all the traffic,anyone who comes to the door to deliver a package,I can see them.
posted on June 26, 2014 07:24:23 AM new
Shag if you have a job you enjoy, that great.
I'm looking for another way myself. I may cut down on everyday items and just go for high ticket items. Maybe even send stuff to live auctions and start my own website. Most anything will be better than ebay.
posted on July 1, 2014 03:52:38 AM new
Shag,
Happy to hear about the new job. Wish you nothing but the very best.
I may be forced to follow your lead. This roller coaster ride that eBay has become is painful. 40 sales one day, 4 the next. This will be my first year in fifteen that I have not had an increase in year to year sales. I will be lucky to do half.
The listings we pay for have become nothing more then a platform for paid advertising. Win-Win for ebay but not so much for the sellers.
posted on July 1, 2014 08:20:03 AM new
I've had a roller coaster ride of events this past week, so my move-out of the store was not very momentus.
I had finally remembered an old friend's last name and decided to search for him and his wife online. I was horrified to see headlines from Jacksonville that she shot him in the head 4 times with a 357 in 2011. I knew them before they were married and would never imagine this would have happened. Very sad. I'm sick of the gun violence and the easy access to "resolve" problems with guns. I keep thinking about it and just can't even imagine this happening between them. He was a great friend. She was also a friend, but someone I wasn't close with, though someone I visited and hung out with when I visited Florida State University for the first time. My mom was shocked when I told her.
The sale to liquidate went very well. When I arrived I to move out, we had 5 end tables + a coffee table, 6 dining chairs and a small display cabinet. We drove 3 end tables and the coffee table to another store and got more than what we had them discounted at. Go figure.
We took the dining chairs to our warehouse to reupholster because the fabric was not good. We'll easily sell them after reupholstery.
We were left with about 6 small pieces of art, and 6 boxes of small stuff + 2 displays that were easy to move.
