Welcom to 2024! What are your goals, and plans, for the new year?

[rosachs]

2024 is underway and what better time to take a look at what you're doing, how your doing, and how you -want- to be doing?  What are your goals for the year?  Increase sales?  Increase ASP?  Reduce returns?  Sending more Offers?  Using coupons?  Using Promoted Listings?

Looking at what you tried in 2023, and how it turned out, can be very educational, and can help determine what steps you may want to focus on more, what products to push and which to fade away, and just generally how to get more done in the same, or less, time as in 2023.

So let's see where we are, where we want to be, and how we plan to get there!

-Bob.

[chapeau-noir]

I'm in the US again and it's in the mid-teens here in the Pac NW (north of Seattle). I went out onto the porch and went back in again and decided to go to the gym instead of running outside. Back in the day when I was a bike messenger I once worked in weather this cold, but that was 30+ years ago. Now I wimp out on the porch.

In my defence, we are not used to weather this cold - rain, wind, earthquakes and general slop, yes, freezing cold temps, no.

However, here I am, still glued to my coffee cup...wondering if I'll even make it back out onto the porch again.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Thanks to these wonderful balmy temps I'm in mild panic/frantic cleanup mode after a pipe burst and flooded the basement which is where my bedroom and 'ebay space' is.

So far it looks like most of what's a loss is shipping boxes which at the prices they are today kinda makes me weep inside.

I've found a few things where the article is fine (glass/china etc) but the outer box is history so have taken those down for now. Thank goodness most of my stuff that would be water damaged is in plastic totes or drawers.

On the upside, at least the water was gushing in from downstairs, not upstairs and falling on top of everything downstairs. Now that would be a catastrophe.

We cleaned up all the standing water last night and today is being spent sucking water out of the carpets. Then comes the moving everything to inspect properly once we have dry places to move stuff to.

According to the City who we had come turn off the water at street level, we're far from the only ones dealing with this right now.

[rosachs]

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@toomuchstuffagain35 wrote:

Not as bad but I've done that with those sterilite plastic drawer units. If you load too much weight in them the castors tend to just bend the plastic and pop off.

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I've never trusted plastic shelving... just not in my DNA, I guess.  🙂

My new steel-frame, steel-wire-shelf rack is holding up great.  No place for wheels, but I'm ok with that.  My chromed rolling racks also have that 'woven' steel shelving and other than losing wheels when overloaded, are doing fine.  It the metal frame with wood insure shelf that are failing me - and some of those at as little at 60% of rating per-shelf load capacity.  The long side shelf supports bow out, the center of the shelve drops thru, and eventually the whole shelf is sitting on the one (or ones, depending on how many shelves give way) below.

I was considering buying new/better shelving to replace the aged ones, but I think it would be better to serve two mutually-supportive goals:  Unload and deal with the contents that collapsed and therefor have one less collapsed shelf to fix.  When all shelves are empty, sell unit on FBMP and buy replacement if still needed to complete house empty project.

All of which has to wait until the temps are warm enough that I can use my hands and fingers for more than 30 seconds before they begin to ice-over and lock up.

-Bob.

[ldif2687]

来吧，一年的计划从春天开始

[dbfolks166mt]

      Primary goal is to survive till next year. From the big picture perspective I continue to explore, expand and diversify across more platforms and venues. 

[rosachs]

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@ldif2687 wrote:

来吧，一年的计划从春天开始

(Come on, the year's plan starts in the spring) - Google Translate

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Why wait?

-Bob.

[go-bad-chicken]

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@rosachs wrote:

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@ldif2687 wrote:

来吧，一年的计划从春天开始

(Come on, the year's plan starts in the spring) - Google Translate

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Why wait?

-Bob.

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Agreed! Why wait?

This time of the year (Jan.-Feb.), I pound, pound, pound, social media for half the day with my existing inventory. I move alot of old stock this time of the year because of those endeavors, and most of social media has no clue that what im highlighting is old stock. For most of them its mostly all new. The other half of the day I'm researching, calling wholesalers, and or buying for the new year. 

[rosachs]

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@postcardcountry wrote:

Today is Monday 1/15 and I won't even look at the temperature.  Why bother when there is 4+ inches of snow?  All the towns and the county are saying "stay off the roads".  I have heard no traffic (except earlier for a police siren) on our usually extremely busy road.  Thaw is supposed to start Thursday, then comes more cold weather and snow.  

This does give me more time to get listings done but is killing the bottom line. 

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I actually made it in to work all week, but no one showed up to the retail store, so I just did my shipping, listed a few things, and then left at 3-3:30 to make sure I got home in daylight.  Boss was there with a couple of the guys, setting up new racks and displays -- it's a whole lot easier when there are no customers wandering around. 🙂

Went out Saturday for our weekly pharmacy run (we've GOT to get our scripts on a better schedule than a few each week), and did a bit of food shopping, and I'm planning on getting over to the house Sunday to meet with someone interested in my old backyard shed.  Free - but they have to haul it away, and I may need help getting it emptied.

Froze a pipe at the apartment, but none at the house.  Come to think of it, the only "bad pipe" we've ever had at the house was when the metal pipe for an outside faucet corroded where it contacted the brick masonry it poked thru.  And I don't recall every having pipe issues in our house back in MN.  I've heard they've started going to 6" exterior walls, same 2x4 studs, just weaved forward and back to expand 4" to 6" of wall depth and insulation. 🙂

-Bob.

[debbiet22]

January was a slow month for me and low dollar wise.  This month I may double sales prior to last month.  2023 sales surpassed 2022 sales by a good percentage.  I think that was because I started sourcing higher priced items later in the year and broadened categories that I sell.  I will continue to do that for this year.  I will be selective in what I purchase and do my research.  I need to start listing more per day.  Also renew old listings.  End those for awhile, then bring back at a later date.

Also planning on painting a bedroom and my office this summer, so definitely need to clean it up.  Sort and attack the death piles.  Maybe have a yard sale.  My granddaughter is teaching now and has the summer off, so going to check with her and see if she wants to help.  She said she likes to paint.  

downright and postcard - glad to see you back posting.  

Everybody have a great February.  Spring is just around the corner!

[downrightspecialkids]

@debbiet22 HI! I have been really lax in posting. I joined a death pile FB group that postcard is also in, but I haven't even been active on there. I find if I try to stay away from conversing, I can list more, or that is the plan anyway. How is the house and all the projects from way back? Who in their right mind LIKEs to paint? LOL! My husband just painted some walls in our house. He did some accent walls, not entire rooms. 

Sales have been really sluggish for me, and I am spending more days now than ever getting 10-30 listings a day up, but it is not helping. My death pile/money mountain doesn't look like it's moving much, but I am slowly working at it. I find it really hard to stay motivated to list when sales are so slow. I had more really low days this past January than I can remember having in a long time. 

We're into February and have not had snow here yet in NC, or even the usual ice storm that shuts the state down for days, but it's been cold. It was 24 degrees when I got up this morning. 

I'll try to be more diligent on popping over here and reading/posting.