Birds, Boots and Boxes

I'm tired of worrying about ebay. How about you?

I'm have been stressing over every listing, question and sale. I'm going to stop worrying about ebay all together.....well maybe just a wee bit.

Several weeks ago I was getting some inventory out of the cardboard boxes that I still have sitting on my front porch.(Don't worry, they are behind the overgrown azaleas and they can't be seen from the street.)Back to the story. I opened up one box that contained pants and one corner was full of leaves. What the heck? I picked up some sticks from the yard, just to be on the safe side, and lifted up the leaves. A birds nest, complete with 2 eggs. One of the eggs came tumbling out of the nest as I picked up the nest, chopstick style, with the sticks. Not really thinking I reached down and picked up the egg and put it back in the nest, turned around and sat everything on the front porch swing. Got my pants out of the box and proceeded to do laundry.

Several days later I saw the nest and was going to put it in the natural area of the yard. When I went to pick it up, out flew a little sparrow!! I checked inside and there were 4 eggs!!

Look what I saw today!!
FOUR baby birds. I'm glad my picking up one of the eggs didn't stop this little bird mommy from taking care of her eggs.

It has really been hot and humid here in the South these past weeks. I did go yard sale-ing for a couple of hours last Saturday. Picked up some nice clothes for resale, some NWT, some used, and some kitchen things.  No big $$, but a good profit margin.  One yard sale had everything at super cheap prices. I missed a good quilt for $1 by about 6 inches. However, there was a big box of vintage bed linens sitting close by and when I asked they were $1, for the whole box. It seems that the man having the sale had just closed his parents cottage at the beach and wanted everything gone.

This is after being laundered. I counted 22 pieces, including sheets and pillowcases. That works out to 4 1/2 cents for each piece!! I have several complete sets, double and twin. I think I might make my money back even if I sell them as cutters. Some nice fabric in the bunch. And down front a new set of linen napkins!!

I don't shop our local Goodwill because it's a pain. No bathroom and no credit/debit cards. Cash or check and cross your legs!! But I had an errand in the area and I stopped to check things out. I found 6 swimsuits, 2 new, 2 new large size bras and these:
Justin Paddock Boots!!
Our GW loves to price any shoes and boots that they think are top of the line at high prices. (This is where I purchased the handmade, Italian leather Damiani Marini boots last year, sold for $180)When I checked out, the clerk made a point of telling me that these were not marked and they were Justin Boots. I already knew that and I expected to pay $4.59. She yelled at the other clerk and said, Justin boots not marked!! My comment, "too late". I'm surprised that she didn't refuse to sell to me. As you can tell, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Justin Paddock Boots!! I've had two pair of Ariat boots in this style and both went for $60+ . These are a size 6C, so they may take a while.

Well, back to the yard sale buyout inventory. While I'm glad I purchased this "bunch of stuff", I will really be glad when I get it all washed and lined up for pictures. I'd say that I am about 30% through the pile of stuff. My goal is to have it all off of the porch before I go on vacation (to Atlanta thrifting) Labor Day week. Just think about what I would be facing if I had kept all 1,200 pieces of stuff!!

Happy sale-ing and listing!!!

Life Goes On..love hate ebay

Don't you just love ebay?

Don't you just hate ebay?

Well, which is it? I love that I can sell on ebay, it's my job, stay home, be my own "boss" and earn a decent income. I hate it when ebay goes wrong.

I have been dealing with two very different customers in the past several weeks. Customer A emailed me to tell me she had received the skirt, didn't like it and wanted to return it. Ok, return it and I will refund your purchase price, less 20% as per my return policy. She gets "all up in my face" about my hidden return policy. What? In a very professional way I explained that everyone on ebay has to have a return policy, even if its no returns. After returning the item and demanding her entire amount refunded we had several "conversations". I tried to be as professional as possible, explaining that the fees that she wanted returned were collected by ebay and I didn't have them to return them. In fact the 20% restocking fee only barely covered the fees, which is true. After two emails she stopped. End of story.

Customer B, on the other hand, was not going to give up. She emailed me that she wanted to return a skirt because of  "unexpected condition". Whatever that means, I instructed her to return and I would refund. She did and I again charged the 20% restocking fee. Well, then all hell broke loose. It seems that unexpected condition now means that it was not as described. Why? Because the hem of the skirt had some threads hanging down that I failed to mention. What? This was a silk skirt and there were maybe 6-8 single strands of silk hanging down from the hem. Not frayed, not damaged but something very, very minor. The "damage" probably occurred when I washed the skirt and didn't think to clip the hanging threads. Mind you these were the woven fabric silk threads, not sewing thread. Not very visible.  Again, I tried to keep it professional explaining that the only reason I charged the restocking fee was to cover the ebay fees. After 5 or 6 emails of her demanding a full refund and calling me all sorts of names, I stopped restating the issue and let it drop. Then she opened a case, not as described, and wanted her money back. The original shipping, the 20% and the return shipping. I took a deep breath and called ebay. Ebay said to let the case sit and since I had refunded I was OK and it should be ruled in my favor with no defect.

Well, long story short, ebay refunded her money and did not charge it back to me. I will keep an eye on this case and see if it affects my rating. Who knows.  I've about decided that it's not worth the headache to try so hard to keep the TRS status. I try and along comes some crazy and wrecks everything. And for what? $7. I could have refunded her the $7 when she started her name calling, and email rant, but gee whiz the skirt was as described and she didn't like it and wanted to return.

When I do utilize the 20% restocking fee, as plainly stated on ebay, I get jumped all over by an angry customer. Honestly, I do understand that every $ counts, but I have one suggestion for customers.
READ THE DESCRIPTION, LOOK AT THE PICTURES, AND READ THE MEASUREMENTS

It's so simple, a child could do it!

Oh, and one more thing. When I list an item I have started giving shipping options. First Class if applicable, and then Priority Flat Rate. Sometime first class is free, sometimes not. It is up to the buyer to choose slow or priority. But it costs.

Both of these skirts were shipped out first class and both were returned priority flat rate. Why? Because the buyer thought they would get refunded for the priority? Because the buyer didn't give a rats ass?

My money is on the rats ass!

I am two footed

I took the advice of everyone and listed the shoes that I purchased that were mixed sizes. You may remember that I purchased three pair of shoes at an estate sale and they were two different sizes. I have most of them listed and they have been just sitting there. I did get one inquiry from Hong Kong about one, but they thought it was a pair. I guess the lower price is so tempting that they don't read the entire title.

That's what happened this time.

This is the message I received:

"I just received this item only to discover that it just one foot and I am two footed. I never took note of the fact that it is one foot and was stated so. I would like to return the shoe please."

This was the title:

Mens 8M Rockport Loafer Brown Leather LEFT Shoe Only Amputee Crutches

This was the picture:


Let me recap.
Picture of ONE shoe
LEFT shoe only in title
Stated again in listing ONE shoe only

When this sold I almost emailed to make sure that he was aware that is was one shoe. I didn't because I didn't want to be insensitive.

My gut told me to call.

I should have listened.