Getting the hang of eBay...

Wow! in less than a month, I have rid myself of about 30 items for a total selling price of about $200!! Okay, so it's not a gold mine, but it got me out of a tight spot! I have learned a little something: the US Postal Service has it out for the "regular people"! LOL  hahahahaha... no, seriously. Check this out:
I do not have a postage scale at home so I have to guess what the weight of a package is. I set the shipping charges on my listing by what I think the item weighs. I am a poor guesser! BUT parcel rate on a package takes 3x as long to get there, but saves me only 25 cents over Priority Mail! That's right, one quarter of a dollar, twenty-five cents! Plus, since I am adding delivery confirmation/tracking on each package, the deliv. conf. with Priority Mail is 10 cents LESS than with any other option!... so, really, it's costing only 15 (fifteen!) cents to upgrade to Priority service!... Fifteen cents to get there in 2 to 3 days, versus 9 to 11 days. My clerk always asks if I want to send a package Priority, I think the postal service is pushing priority mail. Maybe one day ALL packages will go priority 2-3 day and none will be dragging around the system for two weeks until someone finally decides to deliver it. Why would you not opt for Priority?

Ok, that's not where they get me.... it's the graduated postage scale... If a package is under 13 oz. it can ride first-class (cheap). GREAT! If it is 13.1 oz, however the rates jump up considerably and I am wondering why the postal service eliminated some of the smaller flat rate box styles and increased the rates 25% (twenty-five PERCENT, not 25c). GRRRRR!

But I am getting better with estimating. In 22 mailed packages, my postage error is under $15. (yeah, I did a couple of free shippings! like a dummy!) My eBay fees (listing, if any, and final value fees (9%!!)  and PayPal fees (30c plus 2.9% of total amount received)) and my postage costs errors, and any tape/boxes I have purchased for the endeavors have all run me about $60. Then, 22 sold items put $140 in my account. Not too bad? Paid cell bill, car insurance and one credit card. So, put to good use....

Still need a steady source of income. Thank goodness I hadn't donated ALL my stuff to Goodwill and could eBay some of it. Applied at a local department store last week. Won't hear back until after Christmas. PartyLite and Avon are a little slow while people are looking for instant delivery/ cash-and-carry items and not wanting the stress of waiting for shipment hoping it arrives in time. I DO have hostesses lined up for January, just need to remind them of their commitments... and check my class schedule! Classes start up again after the First.

Okay, enough chit chat! My room is a chaotic mess again! Today it's because I set up my little 3 ft Christmas tree on my dresser. Now I need to stow all the stuff that WAS on the dresser! Cute tree, though. It was my grandmother's. She bought a new fiber-optic tree that turns around and gave me her old pre-lit tree. It's nice. I should take a picture for you. (Haven't learned how to add pics yet). TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

eBay Rocks!

So, if you've been following... I am a financially challenged part-time college student. I applied to a couple of employment opportunities that interested me on careerbuilder.com, but have had no response from those applications. However, many MANY insurance agents are looking for new salesteam members .... and the local auto-mall needs more car salespeople... and a few spammers want to help me set up a bank account so I can help them broaden their business horizons in the US. Something's gotta give...

Enter eBay. The international auction site that has taken the world by storm and just keeps on rolling! I took a quick look at my personal inventory, you know, the stuff sitting for the past 10 years in storage (or some part of 10 years as I shuffle it in and out of use). I did a few searches on eBay to see if my "stuff" had reasonable cash value, and ... well, some of it does! So, how should I invoke my old seller ID and move this stuff from storage to bank account?... eBay has changed over the past couple of years while I was sleeping!

eBay gives sellers a lot more free helpers (Vendio services) to attract more customers and keep buyers in the seller's store longer. Seller feedback (from buyer) is a 5-star scale, buyer feedback (from seller) cannot be negative... it seems all payments must filter through PayPal or eBay gets really upset... it's ok. I prefer PayPal.

Some things have not changed. The postage rates continue to go up, and the services get consolidates (read: some cheaper options are no longer available). Buyers complain over shipping charges even when they come out ahead of the actual charge! Example: buyer wins auction on 3 separate items (textbooks). I consolidate shipping and send cheapest way (per request).... USPS Media Rate. The eBay postage calculator charges the buyer the exact postage (right to the penny!). At the post office, I pay an additional $0.80 for delivery confirmation. The buyer leaves me positive feedback but warns that my "shipping charges are pricey." Ah, well, I shot the buyer an email politely defending the charge. Very politely! I don't want to lose my new customer. I have other items they will want (based on purchase history) and have yet to be listed....

All this to say, I am glad I got back into eBay. I am paring down my clutter and stacking up some much needed dough (haha stack now, pay to insurance, phone, gasoline, Walmart, FoodLion, student loans...)

While you were sleeping...

I was up at all hours of the night. Insomnia is a mean devil. It's all about school. I know it is! Classes are going well, and the semester ends next week... but tuition payments for next semester are due at the end of THIS week... and I don't have it. I have been searching careerbuilder.com for job opportunities, applied to a few with no response!! Not even a how do you do?! Not to give up, I started listing everything that is not nailed down on eBay (seller: and_ankhira) ... I have $40. Not even close. So, not giving up, I sent application to the last-resort Sallie Mae... "Aunt Sallie" will allow me to borrow but I have to have a sit down with the university loan officer, AND I STILL NEED A JOB!!
a job, well ... food service is not my cup of tea. I just don't like people. Plus, my hair falls out. Not in big clumps, but a strand here, there... I have to sweep the bathroom daily. I am EXTREMELY concerned when I am dealing with food, especially other people's food... there just isn't enough hairspray in the world.
And, I get flustered or confused easily when I am around others. I get nervous handling money, because I am afraid I will make a mistake. Plus, I worry that I am taking too long and holding people up.
WHAT I WANT TO DO IS RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS... some other students in my class agree. It's what they prefer, too. I guess rock-hounds prefer working with rocks instead of people because the rocks don't talk back, can't fire you, don't require financial transactions, never take too long a break, and if you DO get frustrated with a rock you can take a hammer and bust it!!

All to say I am very anxious. I am excited to be going to school in a program I enjoy, but anxious because I just cannot seem to get my eggs to stay in the basket and be counted!! GOOD GRIEF!!