striving towards partial retirement on ebay - not a question just a comment

[keziak]

Had a session with my therapist yesterday and she helped me realize that for a long time I've been in a toxic relationship with ebay, all the work and expense in terms of time, money, energy and living space. I've vented about all this here for too long. I worry about missing the money if I just quit. But I quit three library commissions last year which was scary but it turned out OK! Don't even miss them. 

My goal is to end my ebay business of auctioning "lots". I am tasked with denying my compulsion to buy more inventory to lot up and either list or discard my existing inventory. I've started hauling away stuff I know I will never list. I'm hoping that by my birthday and next visit in May I'll be majorly dug out! After that I will either keep ebay for listing single books or say goodbye entirely. I've been here for 24 years so it's hard to imagine a life with no ebay.

[umccars]

Ebay can be very stressful. Scale back and don't list as much. You can still get your Ebay fix by coming here to chat with other sellers and surfing Ebay. I'm selling off my Hot Wheels collection and anything that I find to sell. A few sales a week gives me a little mad money. No sales in a week is a bummer but doesn't hurt too much. I feel for sellers trying to make a living here. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

Your next visit with this therapist is in May and you're on your own (except for your buddies on these boards) until then?!  I never heard of therapy that meets at such a long interval.  I have no clinical expertise in this area, but based on TV shows and family experiences, hoarders cannot just control their impulses through sheer willpower. Maybe it would help if you have a local buddy or support group to help hold you accountable, especially with the hoarding/purchasing aspect of inventory management. Look into local social services.

On a more practical note: Some of the books that you have had listed for a long time are priced far higher than other listings for the identical book. Maybe it's time to donate them. For example, you have "Backyard Bird Lover's Field Guide" at $19 plus shipping, but other sellers have it for under $5 with free shipping. You can't compete with that.

[sapphire_studio]

I highly recommend a book called "The Hoarder in You" by Robin Zasio (she is a therapist on the show "Hoarders"). She talks about hoarding like it's a scale that most of us are on somewhere. It was a really informational and enjoyable read.

[12345jamesstamps]

I do 3-5 business days for shipping....

I list items when I am in the mood.

When I have a day of no sales I feel free.

[keziak]

I'll probably ask my husband to hold me accountable for buying more stuff. It's his house too and he's so patient but would love to see the piles go away. As for the overpriced books, my single book inventory here is very stale. I just have zero time to go back and look up everything and reprice. Repricing on Amazon is time consuming but a breeze. Maybe after I deal with the stuff for "lots" I will evaluate if I can devote the time to keeping my ebay single book inventory  up to date. If not that will probably have to go as well. 

[keziak]

I am also more in the "mad money" category at least here. I am giving myself a gift. Not long ago I had some good stuff and the resulting sales were lucrative. I am letting that money  stay in my business account to buffer the stress of making less money. It will also be interesting to see what happens when I don't spend a fortune on buying inventory. My goal is to come out of this mess feeling less stressed out and comfortable devoting time to non-work things I find important like my too-neglected gardens. 

[house*of*paws]

Hi @keziak 

Any activity can become a compulsion/ addiction.  I don’t do social media myself … but I’m sure there must be something like an eBay Anonymous, where you can get peer support to reach whatever goals you feel will improve the quality of your life.

Good luck to you!  😊

[lux.ra_14]

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@keziak wrote:

As for the overpriced books, my single book inventory here is very stale. I just have zero time to go back and look up everything and reprice.

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Oak Knoll once repriced 20,000+ books:

https://oakknollbooks.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/the-oak-knoll-repricing-saga/

[gloryglorygifts]

You do what is best for you and your mental health! Toxicity, wether from humans or otherwise, need to be excised from your life. I know that you will be just fine once you make your decisions. 

Good luck to you. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Many sellers have toxic relationships with internet marketplaces. It is not specific to Ebay.

Since buying reflects the only aspect of my pleasure in dealing with Ebay, I would have a very hard time continuing in any way if I stopped buying.

I am dealing with the how to dispose of much of my existing inventory, and not even considering markdowns or a clearance sale in lots online. The decrease in in person auctions is hampering that goal.

If I am going to clear my inventory, I want to do as little physical work to do so. Last time I sold through an in person auction, they sent a truck and van and three people to haul my consignments away.

My work was over, other than depositing the checks.

[a_c_green]

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@keziak wrote:

Yep. If I can force myself to stop buying more inventory I know I mean it this time.

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Well, I refined my inventory buying for eBay many years ago by simply not going to estate sales anymore. They were fun to attend and great for picking up interesting stuff for resale, but I was buying more than I was listing, and my basement [was/still is] looking a little too much like a hoarder's environment. 

I further refined (not scaled back, but better focused) my eBay activity with niche selling and no physically large items to ship. Separately, I am slowly weeding out and clearing the larger, older stuff in the basement by a combination of charitable donations and the occasional garage sale. I feel better as I see open areas downstairs slowly getting more cleared out.

[chapeau-noir]

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Never mind.

[2013grotz]

I definitely get where you're coming from.  Ebay has brought me a lot of stress over the time I've sold.  Add to that I never got enough money to really survive the time doing it and the exorbitant ebay FVF and shipping that's gotten exorbitant too.  Finally, I've been knocked out of business, but in more of a position where I *really* need money.  It's a lot more stress not having the money I did have come in and stress for *needing* to have the money come in, but it's a lot less stress not having to chase after everything going on in ebay and dealing with the stress of what ebay might abet the buyer to do with a sale I got.  My mental health has been tons better getting away from this place.

Oh and my local Salvation Army just went out of business too.  Really the trend.  Higher costs required to keep open coupled with less money out there means less buyers.  I've heard this at every flea market around me.  "Ebay's killing me too." is all I could respond with.  It's hard all around.

I still will finish "closet cleaning" as I can, but just boxing it all up together is a lot easier than listing and worrying about whether I'm going to lose money via frivolous returns.  I'll probably sort out what was actually worth money and put them up, but I'll more likely just donate the whole shebang and move on to just be a common buyer.

[oldschool718]

With almost 23000 feedback looks like e bay has been good to you over the years, Congrats you doing something right. 

[powell-memorabilia]

Wonderful post and discussion.  You’ve gotten some things off your chest and helped some others along the way.