eBay

southernfriedbelle · ‎07-09-2017

Going to work on organizing a work space for my eBay sales. Would appreciate input on what other sellers have done or have found to work for them regarding designating a room or area in their homes for this purpose. Photos welcome!

Belle

timemachine777 · ‎07-09-2017

@keziak wrote:
@timemachine777 wrote:
@keziak wrote:
@timemachine777 wrote:

The thing is to keep everything together as much as possible. I wouldn't want people coming into my home and seeing a mail order business being run out of it. Who wants to be married to online sales 24/7 as they walk from room to room in their home. I know people that do this, and it looks like they live in one of my storage rooms.

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So true! In my dreams the ideal house would have a walk-out basement with area for a workstation, shelving for all the books, area for incoming books, and mailing supplies. All on the same level as the car, all collected in one place away from living space. We won't be moving any decade soon so I am working on getting a better grip on things, a primary goal being to purge the family room from boxes of incoming books.

My house is almost set up like that. It's kinda weird. My garages are half way between the basement and the 1st fl of the house. The have a huge 6 foot wide stairwell with about five removable steps into my basement, and the same going into the house. I have a few entrances into the basement which makes it a more convenient space for me.

For many years I had my workstation on the 2nd floor and once I began to have stiff knees it was a strain to carry 25-lb boxes of books up and down the stairs all the time. My husband encouraged me to use the computer in the first floor dining room so here I am with PC and piles and boxes of books to list. I had the dining room table loaded with boxes of auction items but as a gesture of "I'm trying to get a grip" I found room for the stuff in the basement where I have my inventory and mailroom. At least it's cool there on hot summer days.

Take up Tai Chi plus mixing in a little Yoga doesn't hurt. Also eat herbs, spices and foods that are anti-inflammatory, plus good oils. Stay away from refined sugar and processed foods, bad fats and dyes. By mid winter, those knees should start to feel lubricated once again. An don't say I'm too old for that $#!T

myclosettwoyours · ‎07-09-2017

@southernfriedbelle Your print carteidges might be available in "store brand" version for less than you would expect. What is the cartridge number? I have to head of Office Depot during lunch I can check for you on price.

divwido · ‎07-09-2017

The men head to my husbands huge TV or our pool. The women get lost in my office.

We had a birthday party recently and the mom's were all staring.

Also, we have a family room plus bedrooms. Most people end up in the kitchen anyway.

Good Moms let you lick the Beaters.

Great Moms turn them off first.

timemachine777 · ‎07-09-2017

@trustedbasset wrote:
It's all over the house, in boxes, on shelves, in the hutch. Half my bedroom is ebay junk. It is uncontainable.

Box it all up in medium sized book boxes.

timemachine777 · ‎07-09-2017

@southernfriedbelle wrote:
@timemachine777 wrote
The boards are addictive. I get off of them for several months at a time, and then hop back on for a couple of months. I should be getting off them soon, as I have some house content deals that I'm looking to do, and I tend to get hyper-focused on those. I'm like a little kid preparing for a treasure hunt. You never know what you'll find, in an old house that's been packed up, and shut up for years.

Yes, very much so. Got to limit time I'm spending here. Keep us posted on what your treasure hunt uncovers. Lots of good stuff you can sell, I hope!

I usually sell all the furniture pretty quickly. It's the smalls that are time consuming some times. The boxes are what hold the treasures most of the time. Last year I found a xerox box filled with unused stamp sheets from the 50's to the 80's. Just the face value alone is worth thousands of dollars.

Since I made all my money back plus profit from the furniture. I just sit on the box of stamps and most of the other good stuff until I feel like selling them. It's the nature of the beast in a good way.

midohioimports · ‎07-09-2017

I'm lucky in that I have a very large house. It actually used to be a funeral home (Claim to fame is that Cy Young's funeral was here!) Anyway, I have two dogs so the unheated former embalming room is home to listed inventory. The dogs don't have access. Attatched to that room is a garage with the option for heat and that's where unlisted inventory, pallets etc live. Also, shelving with boxes and boxes with bubble mailers. I also have a collection of odd size "found" boxes in the basement. I have dehumidifiers in the basement and the garage.

timemachine777 · ‎07-09-2017

@divwido wrote:
The men head to my husbands huge TV or our pool. The women get lost in my office.

We had a birthday party recently and the mom's were all staring.

Also, we have a family room plus bedrooms. Most people end up in the kitchen anyway.

I have too many antiques out, so kids are restricted to the family room to rough house, and the deck. I have a in ground pool that's drained this year. I want to do a makeover. The previous owner wrapped the thing in black top, so I have the huge square of pavement around the pool. If you get out at the shallow end an try to walk to the diving board, your feet are on fire before you get half way there. Unless the grounds all wet.

I want to do the whole thing in a more natural setting with low growth grass, sand and stone. I also thought of putting in a sitting spa off the corner with a small waterfall feature and lights for at night.

pikabo-icu · ‎07-09-2017

@midohioimports wrote:
I'm lucky in that I have a very large house. It actually used to be a funeral home (Claim to fame is that Cy Young's funeral was here!) Anyway, I have two dogs so the unheated former embalming room is home to listed inventory. The dogs don't have access. Attatched to that room is a garage with the option for heat and that's where unlisted inventory, pallets etc live. Also, shelving with boxes and boxes with bubble mailers. I also have a collection of odd size "found" boxes in the basement. I have dehumidifiers in the basement and the garage.

Wow! I would like to see that house..

Sounds like you have a great set up..

~Pika~
People in life that are the happiest don't have the most,, they make the most of what they have...

southernfriedbelle · ‎07-09-2017

I'll have to check. Will let you know in A.M.

Belle

lindyslucky · ‎07-09-2017

My problem is more where to take photos than storage.

Once listing is written, we have assorted racks, shelves, China cabinets where item is stored. Hopefully, it moves quickly.

We have a nice sun porch with great natural light.

But it seems like it gets piled up with items in the process of being researched, or photographed, or re photographed after I've started the listing and have seen what I missed.

Theres so many steps between finding an item and sale.

The piles come when the whole process is playing out.

Like measuring things. I hate measuring. And especially seeing I forgot to measure, and getting the item back out and rewriting the listing.

And staying off the boards is a problem. Sometimes I'm just going to look for a minute....

squeakystreasures · ‎07-09-2017

Plastic bags not good for storing clothes (they hold moisture).

southernfriedbelle · ‎07-10-2017

Yes, staying off the boards IS a problem! That minute quickly turns into hours... 😄

Belle

southernfriedbelle · ‎07-10-2017

@squeakystreasures wrote:
Plastic bags not good for storing clothes (they hold moisture).

I'm storing them in the soon to be eBay room closet. So far only the NWT garments and NIB shoes and boots. (Recovering online shopping addict here! 😲) The stuff I'll be listing later as EUC and VGUC is still in wardrobe boxes from our last move, also crowding the eBay room. The unpacking process stalled when I realized how much stuff I needed to get rid of, and listed a few dresses... Saw this was the way to go, but now it's just sitting there.

I have to be ruthless, and only keep the really good stuff that has a decent chance of selling. Everything else that is too worn will either be donated if decent enough, or thrown out if it's not. This is where I've bogged down. Will be working on listing the new stuff this week, move it to the storage room closet or guest room closet, then begin sorting and listing the rest I don't donate or trash.

But then, as you said, there is the whole problem of space to photograph my items. The eBay room currently is sharing space with craft room supplies. Not a lot of space to move freely, and only one free wall for background. Constantly tripping over stuff and myself. Plus only one window. Terrible lighting. The real solution would be to take over the storage room, which is larger and has 2 windows and better lighting, but that's a battle with sweet but stubborn hubby I'm not yet ready to begin. 😄

Belle

zzydny · ‎07-10-2017

I used to have my eBay stuff all over the house but then someone suggested that I move it all to one room. Why did I never think of that? LOL My house is small and my eBay room is the smallest room (11 x 9.5 feet) in my small house but it works.

I still have some packing materials temporarily in my living room. (Kind people donate packing to me often and they sometimes donate stock as well because they know I am disabled and cannot work otherwise--I never know what is gonna show up, and it usually all lands in the living room for awhile.) I also have a workshop building (bigger than the house) that is full of very random stuff where I have garage sales.

Funny thing is that I was recently thinking about how I was using my eBay space, so I wrote a blog post about it with lots of pictures: Making Sense of Space.

Yes, I do have a cat but she has her own "desk" and she never bothers mine. All stock is clean and undercover even though my shelves look messy in the pictures. My magazines, books, and bandanas are stored in the closed cabinets.

Really interesting seeing what other folks do. It's something I've longed to ask about.