2022: last year on ebay or not?

[keziak]

I'm going to be 60 this year and I am questioning many things about life, both work and otherwise.  There are so many things I want to change, like emptying my storage unit (huge job) and setting some hard parameters for returning to work at my main library commission this Summer. But the big one is:  does it make sense to stay on ebay when I am never going to make much more than I do now, and it's not good money considering the work (and weight of many boxes of mail)?

It's not that I hate Ebay. Despite everything I like selling here, it's warmer and more diverse than Amazon which has all the warmth of a vacation in Antarctica. But I make more "over there" and might make a lot more if I took my ebay time and used it to just list on Amazon like my friend does - the woman who works a few hours a day at her business and shakes her  head over my hours. Whose mail is a tub or two of bubble mailers, not U-carts of boxes like I take to the P.O. most days of the week.

I'll make less money if I quit ebay but I'm not "paying the mortgage" anyway and my investments make me a huge amount more than I  ever make selling online. 

So maybe it boils down to: make less money but take the time saved and go lie on the beach, so to speak?

[wastingtime101]

It sounds like your decision is already made.

[wrong66]

Sounds like it's not about money, but rather enjoyment (or lack of). I enjoy selling here, especially now that I'm retired. I don't need the money, but it's a kick when I make some.  We're all on here for a variety of reasons. Your decision. If it makes you feel good, stay. If lying on the beach makes you feel better, then maybe that's for you.

[jewelbiz]

I like going to the beach on vacation!

[chapeau-noir]

Yeah, but do you want to just go and lie on a beach?  Some do, some don't.

I've been going through just this issue (I'm 68 so understand) and have found it useful to look at it a different way.  What do YOU want to do with your time, and does your book business fulfill any of that?

In my case, I do want to continue working, but have other things to do, so I would take the FAST and sterile at Amazon and skip eBay save for little hobby stuff.  And do other things with your time.

Others may decide for the slower but warmer eBay but sell fewer books/items and do something else with their time.

So start with what YOU want to see in your life, and then look at where eBay/Amazon/bookselling fits into that.  That way you'll be deciding by your own lights rather than allowing something external to decide for you.

[maxine*j]

Why not sell better books? You sell a ton of low-value, low-return, commodity books and magazines.  You sell at auction.  That's all quite physically demanding and time consuming.

Think about selling only single books, or books published as a set, that will fetch some reasonable minimum, say $35 or $40  (or up).  Toss all the other stuff, and when you've run out of better books to sell, decide if you want to continue selling at all.  

And think about selling at fixed price, immediate payment required, which has fewer hassles.

Just some thoughts.

=

[mtgraves7984]

I'll go you one better... I'm up for (Basic) store renewal in March and I haven't sold a thing yet in 2022. What's a 1099??? 🤣

[fashunu4eeuh]

“I'm going to be 60 this year and I am questioning many things about life, both work and otherwise. ..”

I also find myself wondering/thinking/examining life since i hit my 60s. (Feel young at heart, but the mirror’s reflection belies it!)

I vote to keep a (minimum selling) presence on eBay, to give yourself the option of returning without your account being limited for taking a complete  break. Concentrate on other things, then decide. See if you miss it and if selling here is fulfilling enough to warrant the time spent. Because at our age, closer to the end of life than the beginning, the real issue of importance is the use of our time left.

[wastingtime101]

---

@mtgraves7984 wrote:

I'll go you one better... I'm up for (Basic) store renewal in March and I haven't sold a thing yet in 2022. What's a 1099??? 🤣

---

I just looked at your listings and spotted a tee that GF owns. Brown J Crew with flowers.

[mtgraves7984]

---

@wastingtime101 wrote:

---

@mtgraves7984 wrote:

I'll go you one better... I'm up for (Basic) store renewal in March and I haven't sold a thing yet in 2022. What's a 1099??? 🤣

---

I just looked at your listings and spotted a tee that GF owns. Brown J Crew with flowers.

---

@wastingtime101 

So... 'No Sale', and you're not my watcher. 🤣

P.S. I really like that one, and might just keep it for myself. 😉

[slippinjimmy]

I'll be here until they take my keyboard away from my cold dead hands!

Well actually I'll be leaving when I run out of stuff to get rid of (because it will all likely end up in a dumpster if I'm dead).

At the rate I'm going I estimate I'll be somewhere in the area of 120 years old when that might happen! I originally thought the stuff would be mostly gone in 25 years, I've been here 23 years and while the shelves

are no longer as tightly packed as they once were, a casual scan of my storage area might give you the idea that I've sold almost nothing in those 23 years.

[keziak]

Yes, I have a bad habit of dealing in stuff that comes my way rather than being stricter about only dealing in books/media that are worth more. An obvious thing to work on this year. I sell more expensive books every day on Amazon so better books are out there. 

Auctions are the way I make the money I do  make here. If I didn't run actions there would basically be no point in maintaining my Premium account. 

Maybe the answer is right there: auctions not worth the time/effort, stop auctions=bye, ebay. Or at the very least, bye the Premium store.

[this*old*attic]

Nope

[luckythewinner]

---

@keziak wrote:

(eBay is) not good money considering the work (and weight of many boxes of mail)

(Amazon has) all the warmth of a vacation in Antarctica

my investments make me a huge amount

---

It sounds to me like your eBay income is a pittance compared to your investment income. 

• Your eBay business sounds unrewarding for the time spent.
• Your Amazon business sounds unrewarding because of the venue. 
• Your investment income is "huge". 

Please explain why you even need to ponder this decision. 

[katzrul15]

@keziak 

All the BEST as you work to decide what is your next step.  You have been struggling with these issues based on your posts throughout 2021.............

If you were not "busy" doing this........what would you do to "fill" your time?  Perhaps there is something more "fulfilling" that awaits you.  There is surely life after e-Bay!