2019: a year for resignation

[keziak]

Not as in resigning from Ebay though I certainly ponder that a lot.  More a matter of stopping the constant angst and anxiety about how sales have gone so far down compared to previous years. I'm doing what I can and it's either not enough or the vast majority of books will not sell, so there. 

When I get my 1099 from Amazon I am going to crunch some numbers. I hope that my increased sales there have kept me steady compared to other years, ie making up for the loss in ebay income.  

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

ebay has no idea what they want to be as far as Media is concerned.

First they wanted as many media sellers as possible so they only charged a nickel a listing, then they decided they wanted the same fees (after bringing on board the thrift store mega booksellers who totally flooded the category and royally screwed up the sub cats) and fast forward to today where they're charging media sellers an extra 2% FVF.

[jason_incognito]

I wish more people would sit down and crunch some numbers every once in a while. Also, when trying to decide if things are working, don't forget to pay yourself. Often what looks like a profit becomes a loss when you factor in your labor cost (even at minimum wages)

[luckythewinner]

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First they wanted as many media sellers as possible so they only charged a nickel a listing

Back when media insertions were 5 cents, the final value fee on media was 13% when everything else was 10%.

[go-bad-chicken]

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@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
ebay has no idea what they want to be as far as Media is concerned.

First they wanted as many media sellers as possible so they only charged a nickel a listing, then they decided they wanted the same fees (after bringing on board the thrift store mega booksellers who totally flooded the category and royally screwed up the sub cats) and fast forward to today where they're charging media sellers with store subscriptions an extra 2% 31% FVF.

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Fixed that for you.

[smileytown18]

Good luck! Having emotional stability and not living in a state of anxiety is enough of a reward. Interestingly, sometimes that's when things pick up, when we relax.
And crunching numbers in a calm state leads to more rational decisions.
Hope 2019 is awesome for you (and all of us)

[dhbookds]

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@keziak wrote:

Not as in resigning from Ebay though I certainly ponder that a lot.  More a matter of stopping the constant angst and anxiety about how sales have gone so far down compared to previous years. I'm doing what I can and it's either not enough or the vast majority of books will not sell, so there. 

When I get my 1099 from Amazon I am going to crunch some numbers. I hope that my increased sales there have kept me steady compared to other years, ie making up for the loss in ebay income.  

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Stop disasterizing about it and when info comes, just figure out then what you are going to do....... 

[keziak]

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@dhbookds wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Not as in resigning from Ebay though I certainly ponder that a lot.  More a matter of stopping the constant angst and anxiety about how sales have gone so far down compared to previous years. I'm doing what I can and it's either not enough or the vast majority of books will not sell, so there. 

When I get my 1099 from Amazon I am going to crunch some numbers. I hope that my increased sales there have kept me steady compared to other years, ie making up for the loss in ebay income.  

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Stop disasterizing about it and when info comes, just figure out then what you are going to do....... 

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I feel like that's all I ever do, trying to figure out what to do.  Keep the store? Ditch the store? List more to try to reach 1000? Be more selective in what I list (save time)? List booklots at auction? In the store? Reprice every book every month? Bulk relist (save time)? Stuff like that.

[keziak]

Meant to add that while Amazon  has severe problems I have much less angst and second-guessing there.  If it's worth listing, I list it. Reprice regularly. Sit back and collect orders. Boom.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@keziak wrote:

Meant to add that while Amazon  has severe problems I have much less angst and second-guessing there.  If it's worth listing, I list it. Reprice regularly. Sit back and collect orders. Boom.

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hehe I can't give my stuff away there or on Etsy. I ended my Amazon listings last week after giving them a third try, only kept things up for about six months and sold a whopping five items.  I sold nine items on Etsy all of last year so I'm just letting my listings there expire without relisting.  I've decided that this year I'm going to put all my time and energy (what little of both I have) towards Ebay instead of trying to divide my time when it's just not worth it elsewhere.

[go-bad-chicken]

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@keziak wrote:

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@dhbookds wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Not as in resigning from Ebay though I certainly ponder that a lot.  More a matter of stopping the constant angst and anxiety about how sales have gone so far down compared to previous years. I'm doing what I can and it's either not enough or the vast majority of books will not sell, so there. 

When I get my 1099 from Amazon I am going to crunch some numbers. I hope that my increased sales there have kept me steady compared to other years, ie making up for the loss in ebay income.  

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Stop disasterizing about it and when info comes, just figure out then what you are going to do....... 

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I feel like that's all I ever do, trying to figure out what to do.  Keep the store? Ditch the store? List more to try to reach 1000? Be more selective in what I list (save time)? List booklots at auction? In the store? Reprice every book every month? Bulk relist (save time)? Stuff like that.

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Make 2019 a year of exploration and diversification. There are some other pastures out there, at least for book sellers. Hopefuly if all goes well by this time next year you will reveive 4 or 5 1099s!

[keziak]

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@go-bad-chicken wrote:

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Make 2019 a year of exploration and diversification. There are some other pastures out there, at least for book sellers. Hopefuly if all goes well by this time next year you will reveive 4 or 5 1099s!

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I never seriously explored other sites, mostly because I do not sell antiquarian. But you are right, maybe it's time to research that strategy.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Just remember that AbeBooks is now owned by AMZ.

[tunicaslot]

It's never bad to look around and see what's out there. In just a couple of months I've had 11 Etsy sales with limited listings. Most of my items aren't vintage so the majority are listed here - but when you need so much to pay the bills - you can't help but be anxious!

Good luck kez! 

[divwido]

My number crunching says it's time to quit.  Too many listings on too many sites and they all equal zero.   Even if sales picked up, I'm just over it.  I was here when it was great, here when it was nothing, there' s nothing left to see.