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Published On: Sep 09, 2005 01:03 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Sep 09, 2005 01:03 PM
eBay: Sobering Thoughts - the junk that chokes you, will choke you.
Toby goes home-businessy and guess what?
He sucks at THAT too.
If you've reached your 30's then there is a
strong chance that you have accumulated a lot of what we will euphemistically
call,
junk.
Lord knows I have, and I wasn't even trying. Like a lot of lazy and greedy
people I became convinced that my
junk
was worth what we will euphemistically call,
lettuce
or
cabbage.
Since I am what we will euphemistically call,
hurtin'for
cabbage I decided to jump on the gravy
train (now long, long pulled away
from the station) and start hawkin' my
'junk'
to score some
'cabbage'.
First I had to amass my 'junk' and' figure out what I could bear to part with. This took a long time, eventually Tony P. just swept all my loose possessions into a series of boxes and said sell it all or burn it.
Hours of poorly shot digital photos later I had a batch of 'merch' which is what the pros call merchandise or what we have euphemistically called, junk. Every item tells a story (not a good story but plenty long regardless) and every item is 'priced to move'. This is a phrase I picked up in the 'newbie' chat boards I perused on the eBay 'so you think you wanna be your own boss' page that had many helpful tips for the beginning eBay-er.
Getting a seller's account on eBay is about 17 times harder than getting a buyer's account. The process was lengthy and involved. Paypal (a strategic partner and recently acquired asset of eBay) was online to handle the cash when it started rolling in. After they scoop their cream off the top of my milk, I'm beginning to see where the money really is. "Never-mind that", thinks I, "the gravy train is rolling into town" All aboard!
here's my first ad:
Original FURBY in box never opened - read about the special curse of this Albatross
YOU GOTTA HAVE THIS:
The original FURBY circa 1998. New, still in the box (small marks on plastic). Suitable for collector or would be 'cracker'. The Furby was THE toy to get that Christmas, many of its features were undocumented and undiscovered to this day.
Almost every item has a story behind it, and this is no different.
THIS FURBY IS CURSED
That fateful holiday season, I was pretty broke but as luck would have it I came across a pair of these brand new wonder toys in an import/export store. Seeing an opportunity to make a little quick cash on the mark-up, I spent some of the small amount of Christmas present money that I had to buy. I wasn't (and still aren't) the type of guy to go in for a get rich quich scheme, but this seemed like a 'can't lose' proposition.
HOW FOOLISH I WAS...
Christmas Eve and I'm carting the darn thing all over the place. I got kicked out of the shopping mall (they didn't like the competition) and moved along from the Toys R Us, the Target, all the places that didn't have any left and didn't want me trying to scoop up a quick sale. Everyone's Christmas shopping was done, and I had the darn Furby still on my hands, and depreciating FAST.
So I kept it, to teach me a lesson, to keep me from any more 'fast-buck' ideas. Furby's blank glare became a mocking glare, and now I want him no more. Please take him off my hands.
Guess what? No sale, no bids even. My heart-on-sleeve approach was a bust.
Actually most of my auctions went this way. It is possible that I have over estimated the value of my worldly goods. But the notion that would not be ignored...
"NOBODY WANTS YOUR STUFF"
kept echoing through my thought. Even worse, of all the voices in my head, this one was the loudest.
What a crush to the ego. To realize that the items you had collected, maintained, boxed and unpacked, left stored in a garage for almost a year and a half (thanks again Tony and Chris), and finally reclaimed only to move 2 more times and lug it all with you again... your 'stuff' really was junk after all. If nobody will validate your act of hoarding this stuff all this time by recognizing its resale value and agreeing to part with a few measly dollars so that they can have it... well you can only surmise that you wasted years of time and thousands (hundreds is more accurate but I'm making a point here) of dollars of your own. Just the Morrissey and Smiths stuff sent my FICO score into the toilet for years, (recovery underway -Ed.) and I'd like more to show for it than an obscure (and unattractive) CD collection and piles of things I thought I needed at the time.
A lesson hard taught and hard learned, courtesy of eBay and the free-market economic system. FYI The Furby has been re-listed and at a considerable mark down!!
I list under the name PLUG - feel free to browse, it's all priced to move!
First I had to amass my 'junk' and' figure out what I could bear to part with. This took a long time, eventually Tony P. just swept all my loose possessions into a series of boxes and said sell it all or burn it.
Hours of poorly shot digital photos later I had a batch of 'merch' which is what the pros call merchandise or what we have euphemistically called, junk. Every item tells a story (not a good story but plenty long regardless) and every item is 'priced to move'. This is a phrase I picked up in the 'newbie' chat boards I perused on the eBay 'so you think you wanna be your own boss' page that had many helpful tips for the beginning eBay-er.
Getting a seller's account on eBay is about 17 times harder than getting a buyer's account. The process was lengthy and involved. Paypal (a strategic partner and recently acquired asset of eBay) was online to handle the cash when it started rolling in. After they scoop their cream off the top of my milk, I'm beginning to see where the money really is. "Never-mind that", thinks I, "the gravy train is rolling into town" All aboard!
here's my first ad:
Original FURBY in box never opened - read about the special curse of this Albatross
YOU GOTTA HAVE THIS:
The original FURBY circa 1998. New, still in the box (small marks on plastic). Suitable for collector or would be 'cracker'. The Furby was THE toy to get that Christmas, many of its features were undocumented and undiscovered to this day.
Almost every item has a story behind it, and this is no different.
THIS FURBY IS CURSED
That fateful holiday season, I was pretty broke but as luck would have it I came across a pair of these brand new wonder toys in an import/export store. Seeing an opportunity to make a little quick cash on the mark-up, I spent some of the small amount of Christmas present money that I had to buy. I wasn't (and still aren't) the type of guy to go in for a get rich quich scheme, but this seemed like a 'can't lose' proposition.
HOW FOOLISH I WAS...
Christmas Eve and I'm carting the darn thing all over the place. I got kicked out of the shopping mall (they didn't like the competition) and moved along from the Toys R Us, the Target, all the places that didn't have any left and didn't want me trying to scoop up a quick sale. Everyone's Christmas shopping was done, and I had the darn Furby still on my hands, and depreciating FAST.
So I kept it, to teach me a lesson, to keep me from any more 'fast-buck' ideas. Furby's blank glare became a mocking glare, and now I want him no more. Please take him off my hands.
Guess what? No sale, no bids even. My heart-on-sleeve approach was a bust.
Actually most of my auctions went this way. It is possible that I have over estimated the value of my worldly goods. But the notion that would not be ignored...
"NOBODY WANTS YOUR STUFF"
kept echoing through my thought. Even worse, of all the voices in my head, this one was the loudest.
What a crush to the ego. To realize that the items you had collected, maintained, boxed and unpacked, left stored in a garage for almost a year and a half (thanks again Tony and Chris), and finally reclaimed only to move 2 more times and lug it all with you again... your 'stuff' really was junk after all. If nobody will validate your act of hoarding this stuff all this time by recognizing its resale value and agreeing to part with a few measly dollars so that they can have it... well you can only surmise that you wasted years of time and thousands (hundreds is more accurate but I'm making a point here) of dollars of your own. Just the Morrissey and Smiths stuff sent my FICO score into the toilet for years, (recovery underway -Ed.) and I'd like more to show for it than an obscure (and unattractive) CD collection and piles of things I thought I needed at the time.
A lesson hard taught and hard learned, courtesy of eBay and the free-market economic system. FYI The Furby has been re-listed and at a considerable mark down!!
I list under the name PLUG - feel free to browse, it's all priced to move!
Posted: Wed - June 16, 2004 at 01:45 AM @ toby