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Just List, dammit!
Post your listing numbers here every Monday to be included in this challenge. For details on the challenge, please look at Trash Elf Listing Challenge 2019.
This is thread #4, beginning October for the last quarter of the year.
New Rule #6 added: Listings numbers are number of listings created, not number of items listed.
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I had a week of many distractions; however, I was able to list 44 items.
How? Because about 33 of them were copies. I bought a large auction lot of whiskey pitchers, and the differences between the listings were brand of whiskey, brand of pitcher, height, and so on. I also had the photo taking down so that it only took less than two hours to get them all done.
This week I also will have distractions, and I’m not going to work on the rest of the pitchers until I get some other stuff listed. So, my number will be smaller next Monday.
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First, the number: 8 listing last week.
Now, I’m going easy on myself because I was out of town last weekend at an amazing but tiring music festival. And then I got sick with a sinus infection. And I had a good number of sales to take care of (YAY!).
I’m still dragging from the sinus infection, but I’m hoping to maybe get another 30 listings this week and weekend. I have another pile of jeans from my daughter. I also put 5 items in the “not worth it, thrift store” bag.
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Well I finally got back in the action with 13 items listed. That’s 10 unique listings. Did some tinkering on almost expired listings, bumped promoted from 1 to 2%. Was rewarded with one $19 sale. Oof. Maybe will catch a break this week but I’ll be out of town this weekend.
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Well done, VT! Looks like you’re going to take the baton next week! Fingers crossed you’ll be on a roll for the rest of the year. I’m going to be posting a thread about Habits, shortly, it should help us with our DP Challenge.
Sharyn, “sell similar” is my favorite button! I love it when it works out so well!
Looking forward to hearing about your picking adventures, VL. In the interim, I’ve put two zeroes into the spreadsheet to remind me. However, if you do end up with any listings, post as usual and I’ll amend it accordingly. It’s just with my butterfly brain, I’ll be wondering why you haven’t posted if I don’t mark it forward.
Welcome to the team, chaoticgood, thrilled to have a new Elf in the group!
ChristineR – you’re back! Whoo hooo! So pleased to have you back on the go.
As for me, zero as anticipated. I will be finishing up this week, so expect me back on the list next Monday.
Spreadsheet updated, Sharyn wins a hat-trick of 3 in a row and is now tied with points with VT. You ladies have been given two weeks’ grace by VL, so you can pull ahead a little in the points game. Go for it! 😀
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I’ll kick it off with a zero for this week. Got the taxes done! *does happy dance* and finalized all the expense lines and everything and even did some of THIS year’s stuff (figured I’d get on with it while I was in the mojo, IYKWIM.)
Will be back on the board this coming week. Gotta start listing now and get those holiday sales in! Drove the hubby’s truck this week and danged if he doesn’t desperately need a replacement! Only, what, 10 weeks to Christmas? Plenty of time! Gulp!
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Hello All,
Amatino you may have jinxed me with your well-meaning “Well done, VT! Looks like you’re going to take the baton next week! Fingers crossed you’ll be on a roll for the rest of the year.” Or more likely I jinxed myself by saying I had my listing mojo back – LOL!
Honestly I did okay with 56 new listings last week, but that was with 3 days of zero listing. On Monday night we had to rush our 19.5 year old cat to the emergency vet. By Tuesday afternoon our bill there was more than I make on eBay in a month. Ouch. Anyway our cat is at home and seems to be doing well now (for a 19.5 year old cat) but I spent 3 days coaxing him to eat, to take his medicine and worrying instead of listing. The news wasn’t great from the vet but most cats don’t live to his age so it’s not surprising. But it’s still difficult news since he’s our baby… We are feeling very grateful to still have him with us for now.
Anyway, I cancelled my vacation that was going to start today so I’ll be getting more listing done this week than I would have, so there’s that!
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Couldn’t have been tooooo much of a jinx, VT, you won the week! Hope your furble is doing well and this is a cherry on the cake.
Spreadsheet updated. Did we lose chaoticgood already?
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I listed 47 items this week, which included 34 whiskey pitchers.
This group of pitchers I listed on Etsy where I only had three listings previously. I figured I’d list the pitchers in two different sites for better coverage. The rest will go into storage for when a good number have been sold or when I find another site I want to post to.
This week I work on items I obtained at two other auctions since I bought the whiskey pitchers. I still have the radios to work on and stuff from a family friend (on commission), so I really have a huge backlog. I’m not calling them deathpiles yet because I have’t had them for that long, but I really need to stop buying inventory!!!!
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I’m back on the board! I listed a whopping 6 items. Oh…. pffft I’m back, m’kay? 😛 I would have done more, but it took a whole day to list those 6 and I thought it was my computer or that I had a virus or something. Then I found out that the eBay system was playing silly buggers and decided that I have too many other things to do to stress myself out over it and got on with those instead. But at least I’m back in the game.
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@Amatino some is better then none! I found about 3 items last week that were not worth listing and without hesitation I threw them in the donate pile. So, I’ll just thin as I go along for now. Got some thanksgiving up.
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Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much everybody for the good wishes for my cat. He’s doing okay right now (for a sick almost 20 year old cat) so we’re super grateful.
I was supposed to be on vacation last week (I canceled it because of the cat situation) so even though I only did 23 new listings that’s still more than it would have been had I been on vacation.
In defense of my fairly low listing number my cleaning person was here on Thursday morning and disconnected my internet somehow. My husband was out of town and being me I had no idea how to fix the problem. BUT it appears that eBay was all screwed up anyway so I guess I didn’t miss much as far as listing on Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Luckily(?) sales were also screwed so I was only late shipping the measly 2 items that sold on Thursday. My hubs got home on Saturday, plugged in one dangling cord and the internet was fine. Yup, I’m a dope. Since I couldn’t list on Friday I spent it at 2 different Goodwill Outlets in my area. Not the greatest stuff I’ve ever found there, but so fun, and I’m already ahead of what I spent there.
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Spreadsheet updated. Sorry, a little late. Had a couple crises yesterday that took my attention and completely forgot to log in and update it. I think chaoticgood has abandoned us. I’ll move her down next week.
Sharyn wins this week, but be warned… VL is back next week! 😀
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Zero for me this week. I’ve really been focussed on cleaning out my stuff and it’s cathartic! It’s surprisingly time consuming too. Ok, maybe not so surprising, if you consider that every item has to be checked for value before it’s tossed. With 83 items out, I actually did the research on over 100 items. However, I find this hugely encouraging. I now know that everything I have left has a value over $15 and so I have an extra motivation to list. With over 100 items waiting for me to list at an average of $15 per item, I know I have a buck and a half waiting for me. Furthermore, the odd items that were difficult to find and would be a pain to pull up later for pricing, I created drafts for. I’ll get those listed first and out of the way, which means I’m already on the way there. Good stuff!
As we have only 4 days left of October and I really do want to start listing with a clean slate, I’m probably going to have low listing numbers next week too, unless I finish all my sorting before the week is out. I hadn’t thought of a Get It OUT Challenge before. I shoulda done this ages ago. I think I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve been totally committed to a Challenge for a whole month, and I feel terrific and so pumped now! I do hope that it translates into a huge listing leap next month!
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First of all, @amatino, it’s freaking me out that there are four days left in the month and I haven’t reported anything.
Second of all, I love the outlook you are having with getting rid of stuff. Having confidence of what your remaining items are worth, and even getting some of them drafted is great!Looking back at my notes and weekly goals, I’m not sure that I can give an accurate total for listing. I feel that it’s around 55 items on eBay for the month so far. Some of that is cross-posting, but most are original.
I did a first pass of my jewelry pile last night. I sorted into “craft lot/donate,” “repairs needed,” and “ready to photograph and list.” Part of me wants to tackle that, but I think it makes more sense to work on the larger items that are taking up more space.
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Hey, chaoticgood, great to have you back. Just so you know, we post our numbers every Monday and the spreadsheet is updated Tuesday (if my butterfly brain remembers!) The person with the highest number for the week gets a point. If you had the highest number but missed the deadline, your numbers are updated in the next week, but you don’t get the point retroactively. I’ll add your number to the spreadsheet, but as you posted 55 for the month, you’re not getting a point for the week, yeah? *wink*
If you’ve already sorted your jewelry, go ahead and work on it. I have severe ADHD, so sometimes I literally can’t work on a Death Pile because I’m overwhelmed by the stuff. In that case, I pick a box/shelf/tote and just work through that until it’s cleared. Clearing that small pile makes it easier to face the next. In that light, perhaps clearing the jewelry will help motivate you to move forward? Pack up the craft lot/donate stuff and stick it in the car, set the repairs aside for later when you’re watching TV, and list them suckers! 😀
Glad you’re back!
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For eBay, I find out how many items I’ve listed for the week by sorting on “Start Date” in Seller Hub. I click at the top of the column once to get from oldest to newest and then click again to get the newest to oldest. I then count out how many items I’ve listed new since the last reporting date.
For this week, I listed 37 items.
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k – I only got 9 items listed, one was multi. Hope to do better this week with multiple listing sections. Also spent most of Saturday literally getting my house back in order. I listed a bunch of breakables, so I need to pad those and put them back in storage.
Amatino, keep it up with your purge. Sounds like you had a lot of stuff hanging around that wasn’t worth selling. I don’t have any inventory in our living space except the guest closet, but still it feels really good to see space opening up.
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@Sharyn I used to do that, but then you have to go to your Sold Items and check how many of the items you listed were sold during the week, or ended, or similar. It turned into a pain in the potato. Now I just write number listed in my daily To Do List and add them up at the end of the week.
@ChristineR Thanks. Yes, I have been extremely lucky that so many folks in my community have donated stuff to me, but I couldn’t list in time with the donations, so it got boxed. Fortunately, at one point, I actually separated stuff as “clothes” and “other”, so I’ve just hauled out boxes and bags of clothes items and checked prices. As I hate listing clothes, it seemed to be a good idea to get that huge pile out of the way, and I’ve been astounded and humbled by the sheer quantity that has gone to Goodwill/landfill (I think a LOT of stuff that goes to Goodwill goes to landfill, but that’s just my opinion.) I have stuff EVERYWHERE! So clearing out literally means a visible breathing space. It’s so good for the psyche!Now, if only I could confess to my fabric addiction and clear out my sewing space… 😀
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@Amatino – Yes, in fact, I had to do that this week as I had two items sell right away.
I actually meant to make that comment to ChaoticGood in case it helped to break out the month worth of listing. I should have labeled that better.
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Hello All,
I had 53 new listings for the week. I don’t know how any of you accomplish more than that in a week, by yesterday (usually my high listing day of the week) I had to force myself just to get 5 listings up. I don’t expect this week to be as prolific; I’ve got a busy week ahead outside of eBay life.
Wishing you all a fabulous week ahead!
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Hello friends,
Show was great however I got the creeping coughing crud last Wednesday and it’s knocked me low. I’ve been crawling out of bed ( or more precisely the chair in my bedroom because I can’t sleep lying down right now) to do my mailings and right back again. I managed 5 listings and that was a huge push, just so I wouldn’t have another week with a zero. UGH. I’ll share about the show when I feel better. Guess I burned the candle at both ends a little too much this time around….but it was worth it. I think. Ask me in a week. I’m not even going to throw down a gauntlet, y’all….just too damn tired.
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Well done, VT, you won this week. Only 5 points behind VL and still 9 weeks to go. Sharyn, you’ve got 6 points to catch up. Come on you two, give VL a little competition! LOL
VL, my little chicken, so sorry you’re feeling fowl. Sending healing thoughts your way with lots of well wishes and happy energy. Hope you get to breath and sleep a bit. Hug! Looking forward to hearing all about the show when you’re back on your feet.
Spreadsheet updated. VT takes the win!
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NOVEMBER CHALLENGE!
What, you thought you were free and clear? Mais no, my sweet, deluded Elflings. Next month is your well-earned-rest. THIS month, you are being CHALLENGED!
For the next 30 days, list anything that falls into the following categories:
Fall; Winter; Thanksgiving; Christmas.Now, things that would make a gift don’t count if it’s a statue of a woman in a pretzel, for example. When you look at it, the first thing you think is Fall (pumpkins, leaves, gourds, turkeys) or Winter (ice, snow, snowflakes) or Thanksgiving (all of Fall plus pilgrims) or Christmas (Santa, reindeer, gifts, etc.) Scarves, gloves, jackets, snow boots totally count. Pretty chiffon blouse that would “make a great Christmas gift” doesn’t. Geddit?
Challenge rules:
1. It must be LISTED by November 30, not in Drafts.
2. Cross posting doesn’t count. E.g. post the same item in eBay and Etsy, it’s one item.
3. However, listing on ANY platform counts. Whether it’s listed on eBay or Poshmark, you count it.
3. LISTINGS count, not number of items listed. So 5 Christmas ornaments in 5 listings = 5, but one listing with 5 variations = 1.Challenge guidelines:
List 30 items – Challenge minimum. Good for you.
List 31 – 60 items – Challenge Accepted! Your promotion from Trash Elf to Christmas Elf is in review.
List 61 – 90 items – Instant Trash Elf to Christmas Elf promotion!
List 90+ items – You have OCD – Obsessive Christmas Disorder. 😀Go! Just list, dammit!
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Well, this is both good and bad news for me. The good news is that I have some coats and other cold weather clothing that I have’t listed because I need to try to remove some stains. I have at least one other winter item that needs some attention before I can list.
After maybe five things or so, that is it. I’ve got no other Fall/Winter/Holiday stuff. I’m not planning to do much sourcing in the next two months (a little, but not much).
I’m currently working on glass and ceramic collectables (from my one commission), and I’ve got my large purchase of vintage radios and a few death pile things.
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Listed a couple of big items on Craigslist and Facebook that are in the middle of our garage. We started tackling that and I realized I have more large Ebay and USPS boxes than I need so I’m cutting loose some of those loose. Unfortunately only got one item listed on Ebay this week, it sold right away and I’m pleased about getting the garage back in shape again. Will need another couple of stints in there and then we can get the cars back in.
Also, I have a new storage closet at my dad’s for backlog. I’ve put the boxes of fabric items in there and some original death pile Starbucks mugs. It helped to get those out of the garage so I can focus first on just part of the piles and get to the back row of boxes that came from my parents’ house. I don’t think I have much Christmas to list but I do have some winter items and some larger items that would be good to be rid of soon. My kids’ fundraiser is this week and then November should be pretty quiet by comparison. yeah! for listing.
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Only 8 new listings for me last week. I think I might be in my end of the year burnout phase. Gonna have to suck it up if I want to stay in this listing competition…
Vintage Lacy I hope you have recovered from your latest show and are feeling well again, sounds like you were really down for the count! Wishing everyone a great week ahead!
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Amatino and Vintage Treasures, thank so much for your well wishes. I especially loved being called your little chicken…made my heart swell. I am still recovering…at about 90% well now. Yesterday was the first day I felt really human. Hoping to finally sleep in my bed tonight, after almost two weeks of having to sleep in my chair.
I’ll talk about my show next week, I promise. I managed 15 listings last week but hope to have a gangbuster week this week. I looked at last years figures and noted that the most I listed in a week in the weeks from the end of my show to the end of the year was 19 items. I aim to do much better this year. I have so much vintage Christmas to list!
I am digging the November challenge and already have listed 9 Christmas items, out of the 15 last week.
Hope everyone has a great week!
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This past week, I finally pulled out a few bins of stuff on consignment for a family friend. I gathered up all the glass items (mostly cobalt blue vintage stuff), and started cranking them out. Combined with some of my things, I ended up with 52 listed this week! Definitely one of my bigger weeks; I think I’ve listed over 50 in a week before, but I don’t really remember.
This week, though, will be much different. Many non-eBay distractions including my son is off school the whole week and some paperwork stuff (FAFSA!) that I need to get done.
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@Sharyn we will be doing that paperwork this time next year. I don’t imagine Ebay will be getting a lot of attention.
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I did the FAFSA for the first time last year. I first started with filling it out line by line. I got confused, so I went back to the beginning and did the automatic upload of my tax information. That made it much easier. I can’t remember how involved the other questions were, but I don’t think it was a big deal.
The problem last year was that my daughter applied to some colleges that required the CSS profile. That form required all sorts of annoying calculations. She is looking to transfer, but the colleges she is considering either don’t require it or won’t give us any money anyway. So, I’m only filling out the FAFSA.
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@Sharyn You never know. You might find a pile of stuff you’ve forgotten about. Or decide to list some of your Christmas decorations you don’t want any more. 😉 This year so far you have had listing weeks that logged one 50, one 51, one 52, and one 60. So this week’s blockbuster of 52 is your 2nd. Good for you!
@ChristineR Feels good to clear space, doesn’t it? Glad you get a peaceful November. May you have lots listed so that you have a prosperous December!@VT November Challenge. Come onnnnnnnn… one last push and I’ll let you take December off, I promise. 😀
@VL ROFL Shoulda known you’d lead the charge! Good for you. Just so you know, I’m determined I’m going to give you some competition on this Challenge. TBH, I’m not sure how much stuff I have that qualifies, but I did find some winter stuff in my Big Purge last month, so I’ll be on the board at least.
For me, ladies, it was a zero for this round again. I’m sad to advise that my beloved Gran passed away last week, just shy of her 100th birthday. She was an amazing woman and I think that I truly believed her indestructible. It was both heartbreaking that I couldn’t say goodbye, but better for her that she’s gone, because she had dementia and wouldn’t have known who I was to say goodbye anyway. It’s been a rough week and I think I’ve spent most of it in denial. I kinda just kept going as normal, but I know that there’s a huge piece of me that stuck its head in the sand. I’ll come up eventually, spitting sand and looking for a toothpick.
Anyway, spreadsheet updated, and Sharyn is rewarded with the win this week. Go you!
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@Amatino sorry for your loss hon.
Zero for me last week. Was dealing with solving a thorny issue outside ebay, day job busy, and kid had performances. We also tackled the garage and it’s back to 75% swept and under control. Got one car back in there. Made me realize there are lots of piles boxes in there, probably around 20 boxes in all including the stuff from my folks’ house. Ugh. I’m off because school is out and will try to list as much as possible today.
One of the death boxes is full of vintage 60s purses and shoes. Some are animal skin – croc mostly. Do any of you happen to know where it is legal to sell that?
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Thanks VL. She was cremated this weekend and her ashes will be scattered on the farm.
Despite my resolution last week, I listed zero. I think everything caught up with me. My husband kindly called it a “meltdown” (I woulda said it was a tantrum!) when I freaked out that I couldn’t move in my space. I run multiple businesses out of a 17’x14′ room which is our primary living space for anything you’d normally do in a living room. It also has my sewing “room” and my “office”, and all of the sewing machines that have been serviced pending pick up from his business; as well as being the “dump” space for anything that anyone doesn’t know where to put stuff.
This week I ripped it apart. I packed up my entire sewing stash into labelled boxes, and anything else that absolutely didn’t HAVE to be here into more labelled boxes and stacked them all in our tiny guest bedroom. (It’s so small, we have a full size bed. A queen doesn’t fit!) I threw away a 6ft bookshelf and rearranged furniture, with my sewing table tucking away into one corner and other furniture being moved out too, pending donation/disposal. The resulting mess must be cleared, with stuff that needs to find a home scattered on the floor until I decide if it stays or gets boxed up as well. And while it still looks like I survived a tornado, I feel like I can breathe just a little easier.
Furthermore, Himself has promised that, by June, we will finance one of those little wooden cabins to be built on the other end of the ranch and we will move both the big “stuff” businesses (my eBay and his sewing machines) out of the house; to have a home again, instead of an office we live in.
All of that ^ combined with still running his business, my dance classes still going on, and the most incredible run of bad luck on eBay with multiple returns and shipping issues, culminated in no listings. I do my best to keep up, I really do, but this week I just lost the plot and went postal.
Ah well… interesting ride. Now I get to look forward to a new office in the spring, and this week I’ll finish cleaning up the current office. Guess what? I’ve actually got a space now where I can put up a Christmas tree! First time in 3 years. See, there’s always something good in troubles.
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I ended up in urgent care last week after getting sicker instead of better. Antibiotics are now coursing through my veins and I am doing MUCH better. However, I lost two weeks in the process and that’s a hard realization this time of year. SO so much to do, and the clock is ticking. I did manage to get 21 listings done and plan to power through a whole bunch this week. I have a big show coming up in two weeks–the Plucky Maiden Holiday Fest and she gave us the PRIME space at the front of the show so we have to bring our A game and do a fantastic over the top display. No pressure there! Ha! So some of my time has to be devoted to getting ready for the show too. We flourish under this kind of pressure, right?
I did promise a recap of my fall show so here goes….it was fantastic. Many new customers, lots of raves on our displays and it was one the best shows in years. Farmhouse is still HUGE and we sold a TON of vintage Christmas, which we featured up at the front. I had a new artist up on the stage–Ramona Owen Designs. She does painted furniture and handpainted handsewn pillows and she was phenomenal. She’s been a Brookhaven customer for many years and has always loved the show so it was a great fit for both of us. Check her out on Instagram if you get a chance. I’ll post a few pictures of the show soon…in the meantime you can always see my live feed video on Facebook. Just look for Brookhaven Vintage Marketplace. I’m already starting to plan the spring show next April.
I hope everyone has a great week ahead…and stays healthy!!
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@ChristineR Thank you.
eBay, Etsy, and ThredUp all list croc skin items. I know ivory is illegal, but hadn’t heard that croc skin is.
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Oh Amatino, I’m so sorry to hear that your Grandmother passed away. I have an aunt who is 103 and I’m counting on her living forever… Mortality is hard thing to accept. I wish you peace with your loss.
On the eBay front I was still in burnout mode last week and only managed 9 new listings. This week will be a busy one outside eBay for me but should be better on the listing front, I’ve already beaten my total for last week in just one day this week. I’m starting to see the results of not listing much: not many sales and hopefully I’ve learned my lesson about slacking off:)
So sorry VL to hear about how sick you were, the antibiotics should fix you up quickly I hope! Thank you for telling us about your Fall show, it sounds like it was fabulous!
Wishing everyone a peaceful, healthy and productive week!
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I am so sorry to hear about your grandma passing, Amatino.
VL, I am glad you are well into your recovery. That doesn’t sound like fun, but can you imagine what life was before antibiotics?
When I said that I was not going to list much last week, I meant it. I listed two items.
My son was off school all week. He has been doing archery on and off since he was about eight (he is now 15), and he recently really got much more interested in improving. He is currently taking lessons at our archery club. I promised him that I would take him every day for practice. We ended up driving out to Lancaster Archery on Thursday, and I bought him a new, intermediate level bow, which is his gift for the holidays and his upcoming birthday.
I also went to eBay Upfront in Brooklyn Wednesday night. Big week, lots of fun.
I’m going to get much more done this week, but I’m not sure how much. My daughter just called, and I need to pick her up. Her college is shutting off electricity to her dorm in order to make some emergency repairs, so she needs to be out until tomorrow evening. So, the week is starting off screwy. We shall see.
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I am back to feeling a-ok and last week was catch up time. Trying to not burn the candle at both ends AGAIN but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. 70 listings for me last week. It will be less for me this week as I have the Plucky Maiden show on Friday and Saturday. I’ll be happy to get 25-30 done.
Hope everyone has a great week…can you believe November is half over already? Eeeeek!
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Zero for me again. Other than packing orders, I’ve not worked eBay at all this week. I’ve been full steam ahead on the impromptu renovation and I love it! We have a living room again, there’s a whole lot of furniture out and only one extra chair in as we needed more seating. It. Feels. AWESOME! I can breathe, move, think. I’ve lost my sewing table (it became my desk) so now I have to do cutting and pattern making and stuff on the kitchen peninsula, but I’ll get around to sorting that out down the road. For now, it feels wonderful to have the space and be clutter free. The October Purge has continued into November and, although I stopped counting once the Challenge was done, there have been several more loads moved out of the house. I think I was drowning. Now I believe I’ll make it to shore.
Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. Spreadsheet updated, VL takes the win again. Go you!
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Hello Challengers!
Just 32 new listings for me last week. I lost my listing mojo Thursday night and haven’t listed a thing since then… This week I’ll be even less focused on eBay: lots of time will be spent on Thanksgiving preparations and socializing.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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Hi Ladies, 9 items for me, all unique. A lot of family time, which while enjoyable is really not allowing for a lot of listing time. They are out of school all week, but I hope to get a couple of sessions in. More teen growth happening as well, so it’s tough.
Congrats to you Amatino on clearing out your space. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
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Hello ladies! Still not working eBay, just getting things done and I can tell you, while I haven’t lost an ounce, I feel lighter than I have in years. Clearing out my spaces, rearranging furniture, getting things done that have been piling up for ages; it’s literally chicken soup for the soul! eBay has taken a knock, I expected that, and I’m incredibly grateful I don’t rely on it as my primary source of income, but I feel energized and refreshed and ready to climb back into the ring in the New Year. I’m still getting orders to send out, so things aren’t dead, but I’ve not listed at all in weeks.
Removing the pressure and just working on getting everything cleared up in my life is the best thing I’ve done. Instead of stressing, my house is starting to look welcoming and peaceful and cosy. And big! Wow, getting rid of stuff really changes perspective! 😀 I have finished all my Christmas shopping for folks getting bought stuff, and am about halfway through my Christmas making (couple quilts and table runners and similar.) All my Christmas cards are written AND posted and, at the ripe old age of 51, I used a hot glue gun for the first time and made these “Christmas trees.” They’re the first half of an Advent Calendar, second half will be finished this week.
https://imgur.com/hM8KPAkWishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
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Amatino, somewhere in a previous post, I think that you mentioned that you have a rather small house (less than 1000 sq ft?). If you have been storing that much stuff, I can see how that would pull you down.
I’m currently reorganizing my basement because the business has expanded to take up more and more. I have to keep some stuff on our first floor because I don’t have a good sorting area downstairs. My plan is to move some workout equipment upstairs and then I’ll have more space. I also have to reign in my sourcing. I had two large purchases in September that have made the storage situation more unreasonable.
I think that we both need to come up with a solution where our business stays some distance away from our personal space. For me, that is my basement. I think you’ve mentioned that you have a storage area somewhere on your property and then you have your work area within the house.
Anyway, I listed 26 items last week. Lots of cleaning, testing, and/or researching kept me from too quick a pace. Also, I seem to be a bit distracted with other stuff.
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Sharyn, you’re right. You have a great memory! 995 sqft to be exact. My husband has decided we’re going to buy one of those wooden cabins and move the businesses out of the house. Then we’ll “go” to work. It will be nice to have a separation of work and home life.
Spreadsheet updated. VT takes the win this week. So close, Sharyn, so close! 😉
Happy Thanksgiving ladies. May your tables be laden, your hearts be full, and your blessings be many.
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Ack! I forgot to post yesterday and I had 36 listings! Such is life, so congrats VT on the win. 🙂
My brother is visiting from Colorado so I took him to the bins yesterday since he has never been. He sells primarily books and media on Ebay so I thought he would enjoy it and he did…finding a book that lists for $75 and another for $45. That guy has always been lucky. The scavenging gene runs strong in our family!
I also spent about 5 hours listing yesterday in the calm before the storm so I WILL be putting up a big number for this week-ha! Look out ladies!!!! I had a GREAT show Friday and Saturday and sold tons of vintage Christmas. I spent a lot of time in my garage Sunday…Amatino you have inspired me to do some purging as well. I used to do a lot of collage art but haven’t for years and I got rid of at least 20 boxes of art materials…some went to be donated and some landed in my recycle bin. Man, that felt good.
Sharyn and Amatino your dream of keeping your personal space separate from your work space sounds delightful and makes me wistful. I too have that dream, but it isn’t practical in this house, although there’s things I can and will do to make it better. Y’all are so inspiring.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of laughter and love.
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Happy to report that I listed 50 items on Ebay and 12 on Mercari. I lit my campfire scented candle and it was raining mornings so the lighting was bad but I plowed through. Very cozy and good for the soul as I pulled a couple of death pile boxes out and half a Christmas vintage bin. I donated about 10 items – found some stained vintage tablecloths and small stuff that I can hardly believe I bothered to purchase. (shakes head)
I did have some down time while the girls were at the ice rink so I went thrifting once. The Christmas was not really good this year. I didn’t purchase too much, which is good. I passed on the second day of the thrift boutique, which is also good. I let myself go the first day last week.
Have a great week ladies.
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Wow, well done ChristineR and Sharyn! Very impressive numbers!
I only listed 7 things 🙁 and this week I’m leaving for vacation (rescheduled from when I cancelled because my cat was so ill). So this week and possibly next week will be low listing weeks again for me. Looks like December is not going to be a high listing month for me. On the positive side my sales have been great since Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed.
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Wow…way to go Christine! I sure thought I would ace everyone with my 60 listings, but it wasn’t meant to be. Ha! Not sure what I’ll get accomplished this week, as the mass mailing has begun. I had over 60 orders to ship out this morning and the orders keep coming in. God bless cyber Monday!
Here’s hoping that everyone has great sales this week….Happy December!
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Wow, a sudden flurry of activity and some great listing numbers! Way to GO!
Congratulations Christine on your win this week. Awesome! Spreadsheet updated.
With only 4 weeks left of the year, we will continue our Challenge, as we always do, but I think we can all agree that VL is top of the pops this year! Please email me your address, VL, so that I can send your prize? Email snratoni@yahoo.com and I’ll pop it in the post for you.
For me, another week of zero listings. However, I feel wonderful! The mental health aspect is way cooler than a bigger listing number right now. I’m sure I’ll get back to being competitive, but right now I’m just thrilled to be up to date on all my To Do list items. Things like paying insurance, sending Christmas cards, rearranging furniture, clearing cluttered corners – actually getting the things done that make life better, easier, and more pleasant for everyone who lives here.
An interesting side note is that the Grinch has decided he’s throwing me out the house. It’s no longer “our” businesses that will be moving, it’s my business, including all my sewing stuff. I’m being shifted, lock, stock, and enormous fabric stash! He’s going to take over the areas in the garage that were my business space and work out of that. No telling what that fuzzy little green brain is thinking and why he decided I was to vacate the space, but I’m not arguing. I’m getting a 12 foot by 36 foot lofted barn cabin, with TWO lofts, all to myself AND built to my specifications. One half will be eBay, the other half will be sewing, and I get to fit and fill it as I wish. One of the biggest downsides of us both working from home and having a tiny home at that, is there is nowhere to go when we’re mad at each other. My new She-Den will be half a mile away from the house. Heheheheheheheh.
MY Christmas present is FANTASTIC! 😀
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Hello Challengers!
I had zero new listings last week. I’m back from vacation now but I don’t think this week will be a big listing week for me. I’ve already missed 2 listing days for this week and those are the 2 days I usually list the most. But any amount is better than zero so there’s that 🙂
Wishing everyone a wonderful week!
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I listed 29 items last week. Interestingly, after counting up my new listings, I had to go to my orders page and count the number that had been both listed and sold last week. Came to five! That doesn’t happen very often (I think less so than in past years).
This week should be about the same. The nice thing is that I haven’t been sourcing, so I’m catching up with my piles (death or otherwise)!
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Sorry, ladies, I DID update the spreadsheet but I forgot to post. Sharyn swooped in for an impressive win this week!
Wow, VL, that’s an impressive number of orders! All clothes? You list a lot, so it should be no surprise that you’re raking in the orders now.
Zero for me. This is my last week of “stuff to do.” I have a Bad Santa party on Saturday, for which all the Christmas stuff must be completed – all decorations up, all cookies made, entire house cleaned and cleared, etc. After that, it’s back to the mundane. Perhaps I’ll get some listing done!
I scored a huge discount on an Amazon light box, so I’m utterly thrilled! I will be selling my old one and setting this up as my primary photography bay. With everything else in the house sorted, I may actually get a few listings done before the new year. I have a dozen sewing machines waiting for my attention. If I can get a few up in time for folks to buy as last minute Christmas gifts, life will be just grand!
Have a good week, y’all!
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Wow, Vintage Lacy: I am so impressed with your order count! It’s nice to hear that hard work pays off -congratulations to you, you certainly deserve it! But how do you keep up with the shipping? I don’t think I could possibly get out that many orders in a day. Do you have more than one business day for shipping or do you prepackage your items?
As for me, the expected dreaded Christmas slow down in sales has arrived but that is also deserved in my case – I listed only 9 items last week 🙁 My birthday is this week so I doubt I’ll be listing much again this week with all the social stuff we have going on.
Wishing you all a great week!
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I can’t imagine getting and shipping that many items in one day; however, I do know that Vintage Lacy sells lots of fabric and needlepoint patterns, not the ceramics and vintage electronics that I have to wrap so carefully.
I was fighting a cold all of last week. You know, one of those colds that make you miserable, but not bedridden. So, you try to do all the normal things that you do, but you do them slowly while your head feels like a ten ton weight. I’m feeling better now, but I listed only 12 items.
I hope this week is better, but my daughter will be home from college and I have many other distractions. We’ll see.
Good luck everyone on the last week before the holidays!
Happy Birthday, Vintage Treasures!
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This weekend is always the busiest sales weekend of the year for me but I did manage to have a lovely girlfriend Christmas dinner for three dear friends and my mom. Little dinner parties are so much more manageable than big Christmas open houses and I love decorating for Christmas…makes it much nicer to look at all the lights and pretties while I am hyper mailing. As of 9pm last night, I had 5 Etsy orders, 11 Ebay orders and 160 Amazon orders, for the weekend.
You are right Sharyn that some of the orders are fabric and patterns and those are quick and easy to ship, unless I need to cut the fabric. I don’t sell clothing. On Ebay I sell a mix of vintage, home decor and gift items. On Amazon I sell home decor and gift items. The way I keep up on shipping that much is to streamline the process and many of my Amazon sales are duplicate items that can quickly slip into a padded envelope, and I also invested in a label printer. I’ve streamlined it so I can ship 18-20 items an hour, but even going so quickly I still spend many hours shipping. Tis the season. Last night I stayed up to 2am and then got back up at 6am, in order to make sure I got my orders done. It’s craziness, but it only lasts a couple of weeks so I can handle it. And one upside to selling on Amazon is that you do have TWO business days to ship, if needed.
I did manage to get 19 items listed, which I wasn’t expecting to do.
Sorry you haven’t been feeling well Sharyn…sure hope you feel all better quickly.
Happy Birthday Vintage Treasure! Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!
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Happy birthday, VT. If I remember, you’re a little less than a year younger than I. It’s a grand age to be. Hope you had a fabulous day and, in the year to come, may every bad decision turn into good stories!
VL wins again this week! Spreadsheet updated.
Zero for me.
Last week before Christmas! Count down to the end of the year and the decade. Did you see they’re making Christmas Eve a Federal holiday? No post office, no orders. I wonder if buyers will realize?
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Hello Challengers!
Just 10 new listings for me last week. I’m not expecting much from myself as far as new listings until 2020. I’ll be going out of town again this week and with all the holiday events we have scheduled I don’t have much free time for listing. My store reflects that unfortunately, I don’t think it’s ever been so dead 🙁
Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, I had a wonderful birthday!
Merry Christmas everyone!
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I was surprised when I counted up my new listings. I had 30 last week.
I’m not expecting much for the rest of the year with everyone home starting tomorrow, year-end trip, and many other things going on!
Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and just general happy holidays to you and your families!
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Wow…congrats Sharyn and VT. I got exactly zero listings done last week. I’m impressed that y’all got so much done! I might get a few done this coming weekend…but we’ll see.
Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas to everyone too!
Thanks ladies for being such a bright and warm spot in my life this year.
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Hey Hey Challengers (thanks, VT, that’s a great term!)
Zero again for me. I’m spending my days wiping out ALL my backlog of stuff that had to be done. Old paperwork? Check. Pay all bills? Check. Follow up on annual expenses and ensure funds are available? Check. Clear piles from various spots around the house and put them away? Check. Wash the windows? Check. Yup, I even washed the windows! Today I sat down and worked out my 2020 Goals as a mind map (I do really well with mind maps) and I’m feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and excited to start the New Year of the New Decade with a clean slate. Hoping to give VL a run for her money next year. 😀
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I listed 16 unique items.
I will work the day job a bit this week and be pretty much off next week. I hope to continue with the early morning listing shifts while the kids are out and sleeping in.
I’m continuing with the piles. The last box was small framed original paintings, Starbucks mugs, a Pendleton purse and some linens. Most of my unlisted items are boxed by type, but apparently not all of it. Slow to list a hodge podge. Some of the mugs were a bit scratched up. Kind of makes you wonder if it’s worth it. I’m trying to make myself list $15 minimum on Ebay, $10 on Mercari (because it’s faster).
The garage looks pretty good. Pretty much everything waiting is boxed up. I was able to consolidate some half empty boxes of sold and unsold so the perimeter of the garage is looking better. I also tidied up my shipping supplies. I hope by summer things look even better and a lot more is listed.
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Zero for me this week. I was feeling pretty unmotivated Ebay-wise and distracted by college research and the kids being off. This week I’m home mostly from my day job, so plan to make a push.
This past year, I think due to app improvements and my willingness to compromise on picture quality and getting top dollar, I’ve definitely learned to list more efficiently. I’m hopeful about 2020. I have access to good items, Terapeak is making it easier to set a good opening price, and listing is a little bit faster than when I learned over the last couple of years, even with the new item specifics, which I hope Ebay will cut down. I’ll have to take a hard look at my piles this year though and decide what is worth my limited reselling time. I’m not a goal setter, but I do want a strategy.
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Last week of the year, I finished on zero again. Ready for the New Year to start! Woot!
Once VT and VL post their numbers, I’ll close this thread and start the New Year thread for our 2010 Challenge. Let’s get rocking and rolling with lot of New Year Cheer! 😀
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Hello All,
I just returned from visiting family also but I managed 6 new listings earlier in the week.
Right now I’m looking forward to finding my mojo for the new year challenge.
I actually like the idea of a 2010 challenge Sharyn – that way all my listing will have already been completed and I won’t have to go searching for my listing mojo.Happy New Year!!!
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Zero for me for the week…..congrats Vintage Treasures on winning the week with 6 listings! Ha! That’s hilarious, if not unexpected. Ladies I am setting lofty goals for next year….maybe 2 thousand 20 listings? I love the idea of a 2020 challenge. Let’s have more fun next year….and I hope everyone has a great New Years.
Warm regards to everyone.
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Ladies and Gentleman:
That is hilarious that I win the week with just 6 listings, I hope Utahbill and Hausfrau aren’t getting the idea that we’re a bunch of Challenge slackers. All joking aside: I’m so excited that we will gain 2 new challengers for 2020. Welcome Utahbill and Hausfrau!!!
And thank you to Amatino for thinking up, starting and maintaining this challenge. You are the best!
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Congratulations VT on your big win! LOL. Love it. VL won the year, as we know.
The good news, VL, is that we FINALLY figured out what to do with the prize. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t think of it earlier! Can’t tell you more without ruining the surprise, but it will be in the mail this week.
Utahbill – thrilled to have a guy for a change. This challenge is open to everyone. It just worked out for the last couple years that only the women have stuck with it.
Hausfrau – glad to have you. It’s so good to be growing as we move into a New Decade.
Spreadsheet updated for the final numbers of the year. Well done, everyone, on all your hard work! I’ll be starting a 2020 thread soon and a brand new spreadsheet.
ChristineR has started the new year over on the Death Pile Challenge. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an organized Death Pile! Stroll over to the Death Pile Support Group to have a look and post your photos and let’s get the ball rolling.
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New rules post up. Add information or ask questions here.
Thread #1 is up. Post your numbers.
THIS THREAD IS CLOSED. PLEASE DO NOT POST HERE.
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