Monday, October 3, 2011

Time

Before I start on my planned post, I want to address one of my least favorite things on eBay: when people leave you weird feedback. Like today, I got one on a Polo shirt I sold in excellent condition and I was even flexible with the person paying and their feedback? "Satisfied". That's it! Really? Or just the flat "thanks." or "satisfied with transaction." It makes me feel like they were somehow not happy with their purchase. I dunno. Maybe I'm too sensitive. But, "satisfied"? Boo.

So some people have asked me how I have the time to list like I do. My basic strategy is one of desperation and lack of space. Our dining room and office are currently packed to the gills and I want it gone. Sometimes, I think "I should just throw this crap out", but I list it instead.

I take pictures whenever I get a chance. Baby's naps, Tyler playing with baby, anytime I have a free minute, I lay down a blanket and try to take a decent picture or two. Then, I sit down and load all of the new pictures on my computer once baby's asleep. Bedtime is pretty regularly 6:30-7:00, so I list then. Let's say I have 5 things to list. I usually sit down at 7:30, upload pics, edit if necessary, do my listings (if it's clothes, I'll take quick measurements when I take the photos and write them down) and I'm done by 8:00.

I've tried Auctiva. I know this is the most basic of the listing sites, but the free month trial lured me in. I loved it at first, until after a couple weeks of using it, I realized my sales really hadn't changed and it was taking me 30 minutes to find a background I liked for each listing. To me, 30 minutes of time doing other things is more important than the few extra dollars it might have made me.

Luckily I have nothing to list tonight because my house is a total wreck. I'm watching Hoarders to inspire me to clean up.

1 comment:

  1. I watch Hoarders too, to keep me and my inventory in check! Very Funny! I'm fairly new at this eBay game, so it takes me much longer to list than it should...it seems like I'm constantly listing something New to me, so it's slogging thru all the detail: right now it's shoes that I'm listing for the first time, so I took all the neat-o photos I'm supposed to take (per We Sell on eBay! Blog), earlier I scrubbed and polished all 17 pairs--finding two that need stitching and/or buckle repair, sigh. I'm trying out Sellers Sourcebook for the first time--I just use one fairly neutral template. It sure looks a ton better...I think I write too much detail in my listings, but I've done pretty well, considering I haven't jumped and got a store yet! I enjoy your blog!

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