when quitting takes a hard left turn

[keziak]

Been struggling for a very long time with issues related to selling both here and on Amazon (mostly books). Recently it's gotten a lot worse due to taking on tending my extensive gardens.  I"ve been having a slow-motion nervous breakdown. I landed in my therapist's office and in talking again about cutting back I finally realized this doesn't mean quitting ebay at all. It means quitting Amazon. I just like ebay far more than Amazon which is a cold, when not downright hostile, platform. 

Not sure  yet what this means for my inventory, just that going forward no more listing on Amazon and no more using Amazon prices for books I list here. Also, no more buying inventory that has a poor chance of selling here.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Post Covid, I made the move back to Ebay from Amazon.

Unlike in 2008 when I made the move from Ebay to Amazon and also shut my own website, Amazon no longer represented more sales and higher prices. Without a large economic advantage, I could not make myself but up with the higher stress environment Amazon is, and the higher hassle level with kept increasing there.

I also moved down from 20k active listings to under 5k active listing.

Life is easier but I do not depend on my Ebay sales to live.

Ebay has always been a lower stress level venue to sell on, especially if you sell books and other items which buyers buy because they want to own then, not because they can flip them for a couple of bucks quickly after they have ripped you off.

I can only support your decision.

[luckythewinner]

no more buying inventory that has a poor chance of selling here

IMHO this is business 101 for any seller on any venue.

[keziak]

There have always been a huge percentage of books out there with more of a chance on Amazon than ebay, for various reasons.  It will be hard to pass them up when I've bought such books for decades. Oh well. It will save me money. There are still plenty of books that will sell here.

For example today I sold 3 woodworking books and just yesterday I bought a lot more from a woman downsizing her father's collection. The difference will be that I will start using prices I find here. For decades I would list most books here using what I priced for them on Amazon and any number of people have pointed out that is not a winning formula  here. 

[iamalwaysright]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

no more buying inventory that has a poor chance of selling here

IMHO this is business 101 for any seller on any venue.

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The guy made a million dollars

[lux.ra_14]

Which way will the weathervane point next?

@keziak  No offense,  but you're onto a new "plan" every couple of weeks or so. Not long ago, you planned on curtailing eBay in favor of Amazon, and now the script is flipped again. Selling dishes and other non-book items even briefly came into play, shortly after you also discussed running of space and having too much inventory. 

I suggest picking one plan that really works best for you. AND then stick with it for some time, even if the wind shifts in the meantime.

[epowerbargains]

For me.... when selling becomes a chore, miserable, stressful and leads to anxiety it's time to re-evaluate, develop a plan/strategy and implement it based on a reasonable time frame. Recently, I became aware that I needed to make a major change for many reasons some personal and some business. I closed my eBay store, reduced to the 250-listing level and went from 900 listings to less than 250. I donated, gave away and recycled inventory that was just not cost effective. I am in the process of gradually selling off my remaining inventory and some fine day I will be done. I had a great time selling on eBay over the years, but eBay has changed, and so have I & I am not being critical of eBay as it is their platform and you either accept, adjust or move on.  There is one thing I feel confident about - you can't let selling anywhere impact your health or happiness to the level that it impacts daily life in a negative way. 

[golfingaddict]

@keziak 

It is time that you take a giant step back.  This is a pattern with you as someone pointed out.

Hire a professional organizer.  The goal should be to pare down your "book business" to be contained in one room of your home and take up a few hours a week.  Give yourself time to garden or walk or swim or even just enjoy your home.

Purge everything you can and of course, that goes without saying, stop buying.  

When you decide what to keep or purge you can call a place like 1-800-got-junk to pick it all up and take it away.  

You need to make some really hard choices.   From your numerous posts about this, I am not certain that you really want to make a change. If you do, you may need support from professionals to help clear your "stuff" and help you make the change that will take this burden off your shoulders.

You keep going in circles and it's clear you need a push or help to get through the tough choices you need to make.

[yuzuha]

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@keziak wrote:

For example today I sold 3 woodworking books and just yesterday I bought a lot more from a woman downsizing her father's collection.

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Why??? You've made post after post about how you're running out of space for your inventory and how you desperately need to clear stuff out and then you go out and buy MORE?

I truly don't think you actually want to change at this point.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@keziak wrote:

There have always been a huge percentage of books out there with more of a chance on Amazon than ebay, for various reasons.  It will be hard to pass them up when I've bought such books for decades. Oh well. It will save me money. There are still plenty of books that will sell here.

For example today I sold 3 woodworking books and just yesterday I bought a lot more from a woman downsizing her father's collection. The difference will be that I will start using prices I find here. For decades I would list most books here using what I priced for them on Amazon and any number of people have pointed out that is not a winning formula  here. 

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Some books sell on Amazon for higher prices than Ebay because no one lists them there and if an Amazon buyer who never buys on Ebay finds them and wants them, she buys them on Amazon.

Past prices do not tell you what to price at, past prices and number of past sales tell you more of the story. Past prices and number of past listings and number of past sales would tell you more.

Ebay is more competitive for books sales than Amazon, hence prices can be lower. BUT Terapeak often fails to reflect the difference in prices between trade editions and limited editions and other characteristics of books which lead to big price differentials. They are not helped by the difference between Ebay and Amazon. The Amazon catalog has different catalog pages for different editions of the product - both buyers and Terapeak have to try to figure out what the heck each listing is selling, and often the seller does not know.

Having some intelligence and knowing about books and what you are selling is still a requirement.

[keziak]

Yes you are right of course. I kept telling myself that I need to cut back to one business but could not get myself to quit ebay. Until today it never dawned on me to quit Amazon instead. I kept feeling like somewhere out there was the answer to my problem and I think I finally found it. By not using Amazon anymore I will organically buy a lot less inventory which will help with my hoarding. When I purge my Amazon inventory I will have tons of shelf space for anything I list here. Stuff like that. 

[keziak]

That is true, but here is the difference. I have a LOT of inventory that is what I call Amazon-Only. It cannot be listed on ebay with any reasonable expectation of selling. I have 1800 inventory on Amazon and maybe, what, 200 or so of that is suitable for ebay. 

Rather than going in a circle I am looking at driving off in a totally different direction. I will be buying FAR less inventory - no point if it is not suitable for ebay. The stuff I have stockpiled now for Amazon will have to go to the bookstore I guess, or donated. I will have to take away tons more from my shelving. 

By quitting Amazon I should organically end up spending much less time scouting and listing and no longer have the boxes cluttering up the place. 

Or, I will do this, end up making no money and then I'll retire. 

[keziak]

I love many things about ebay but pricing and repricing isn't one of them. Doing this on Amazon is a breeze in comparison. It's a moot point now! 

[stuff4divas]

@keziak  Good that you found your comfy spot. I wish u the best on your eBay quest.

Perhaps concentrating on just eBay will improve things all around for you 😌

[keziak]

thanks, I appreciate that. Guess I'll see - I just put my Amazon account "on vacation" so I won't even have orders to work on. I could never bring myself to do this on ebay no matter how much I told myself it was time to say goodbye.