02-27-2025 10:16 AM
February was somewhat uneven but overall better than I expected for this time of year. I sell books and media and a little dinnerware. I have been on partial "staycation" meaning taking care of non-work jobs, reading more and the mail. No listing until yesterday. I had my inventory number relatively up and I guess that helped. I also leave and receive offers with what I think are decent discounted rates though I don't take the time to check the competition which I should. I caught a nasty virus and was down for 10 days though pushed myself to get the mail done, otherwise staying in bed.
02-27-2025 11:22 AM
@keziak wrote:February was somewhat uneven but overall better than I expected for this time of year. I sell books and media and a little dinnerware. I have been on partial "staycation" meaning taking care of non-work jobs, reading more and the mail. No listing until yesterday. I had my inventory number relatively up and I guess that helped. I also leave and receive offers with what I think are decent discounted rates though I don't take the time to check the competition which I should. I caught a nasty virus and was down for 10 days though pushed myself to get the mail done, otherwise staying in bed.
Because I'm in Canada, there's been lots of drama in February with a few days shut down and trying to figure out what happens next.
All my regulars have come to buy stuff this month, so we actually had some pretty good sales in February (maybe they don't remember I'm in Canada, but my business card says Canada, and it seems that will mean tariffs in the near future).
While I didn't work at listing any new items in February, I did work at having auctions and trying to move some inventory cheaply, and the side effect of that is traffic in the store, generally speaking. I also had some good Canadian sales (which I think occurred because the buyer found out I live in Canada, it started out with a question about shipping to Canada and shipping costs, and quickly transformed into a bunch of sales).
Hope you're feeling better from the virus. I've never thought it was much fun to be trying to sell and ship stuff while feeling sick.
C.
02-27-2025 11:22 AM
Well I hope you are feeling better, sounds like a nasty flu.
02-27-2025 11:47 AM
I thought it was the cold from heck, about as bad as when I had pneumonia so I saw a doctor who just said to expect a lingering cough for 2 weeks. At least now I can sleep. With the cough I couldn't sleep at night or nap which degraded my strength and didn't eat which contributed to fatigue. SO grateful to be mostly up to speed.
There is a legit question of why not backup with the mail? I have asked the better half to put me on vacation in event of an emergency but nobody is trained to do the mail and it's so detail-oriented. My son is great for moving boxes but that's about it and hubby has no use for my business.
02-27-2025 11:54 AM
Didn't you say you had a friend who sold on ebay? If not, maybe your husband knows some tech guy from his firm. It would be nice if you had someone that could help you out.
02-27-2025 12:21 PM
Yes, I have a good friend in the same business but she lives far enough away that I don't feel I can ask her to come here enough to keep up. IN my life I've managed the mail through multiple operations and unmedicated depression. The idea now is to slide into retirement, handle fewer books. I am determined to lick my hoarding problem and list what I have. The profit/loss statement was not pretty, spent way too much on unlisted inventory.
02-27-2025 12:58 PM
02-27-2025 01:05 PM
I figure my month "off" is all but over so I am getting back to it. My friend has a lot more books than I do and uses Fulfillment by Amazon. There is no way I can catch up; I have the books but not the time and stamina. She lists a lot of books, very fast. Even though I can't catch up it's friendly competition and helps inspiring me to get with the job. All the unlisted books are just not working for me.