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This is the 4th Quarter thread. Post your Challenge numbers here for the week starting Monday September 28, and ending Sunday October 4, 2020. Numbers must be posted on Monday October 5, and then each week going forward. You do not need permission to join, just post your numbers and I’ll add you in.
For information and rules on the Challenge, go here.
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For ease of reference, October Paper Challenge rules, as posted by VT in our last thread:
October Challenge Info:
This challenge starts on October 1st and runs through October 31st.
The October challenge is paper. Anything made primarily of paper will count. Paper ephemera, books, magazines, paper party supplies like tissue paper decorations, invitations, stationery, sewing patterns, playing cards, posters, etc. Cardboard also counts, so board games would qualify for this challenge.
Points awarded for the most paper items listed during the month of October…first, second and third place.
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Thanks for all the kudos on the September challenges! They really helped get my listing numbers up and to clear up some items that had been sitting for way too long.
I have some outside interests that I have to focus on now, so I’m probably going to back off a bit for October.
VT: Question on the October challenge: If I list something that is in its original box, which is cardboard, does it count? I wasn’t thinking that it would, but I thought I’d ask.
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Pipe down, grasshoppers. *I* have already printed out 100 SKU labels for the paper challenge. One hundred! I has me a lot of paper items that could work for this challenge and I’m thinking this would be a great time to clear them! I have sewing patterns and magazines and those movie posters and books. When it was just sewing patterns I was like… um… but when VT listed everything that was included and I started looking around… I printed one century of labels.
I’m working on my last costume for the show tomorrow and then I’m ready. Hold my beer!
Gauntlet SMACKDOWN! 😀
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Last week we were traveling and settling in to our new gig as campground hosts. So, my listing total was 0. 🙁 This week I am going to start doing some mobile listing and have some numbers to post. Sales have been good and my son is shipping for me back at home.
Have a great week everyone!
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22 for me, 3 were paper.
@utahbill, I love the fact that you can go camp somewhere and run your business at the same time, good for you! -
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It was a shock to see my number was zero as I honestly thought I had done a couple listings in the beginning of the week. Obviously not. However, I have a really good excuse! We had our show this Saturday and I was frantically finishing costumes.
There are 11 dancers in this photo. Eight of the dancers are wearing made costumes, only 3 are wearing bought costumes. I made three of the costumes, but one of the dancers had a family emergency, so she couldn’t make it, and only two of them made it into this photo. The other six ladies all came to classes where I taught them how to make their own. Most of them made their own skirt AND bra or top, but the belts are purchased. The purchased costumes are back left (blue), very back right (green), and middle right (red) so that you can see the fantastic quality these ladies produced. The two I made are the pink and blue in the middle row, both wearing purchased coin belts. And, of course, I made my costume. (I’m behind the camera.) We’re waiting on the photographer for the show photos and I will share more when I get them.
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16 new listings for me, 14 were paper.
Sharyn: You are correct, the original cardboard box an item includes will not qualify it for the paper challenge. I mentioned board games because the game board itself is made of cardboard. Many puzzles would also work for this challenge, but wooden puzzles would not qualify.
Wishing everyone a great first full week of fourth quarter!
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Just received
JR – I have a spare room. Visit any time and come shimmy with the Babes!
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You ever have a week when all of a sudden it’s Sunday and you have no idea where the week went? That was my week last week. It completely got away from me. We live in crazy times.
20 listings for me and none were paper….but the month is young. Some pretty serious competition this month but I am up for it.
Love the pictures of the gorgeous ladies!
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Spreadsheet updated. Sharyn, you’re really on a roll ATM! You won this week, after a double win last month! Go you!
Y’all may have noticed that under the month challenge there is a number one as the month progresses. This is NOT the total items you have listed for the challenge – it is your participation point! If you mention in your weekly posts that you listed items for the monthly challenge, I automatically add the participation point. At month end, when the winners are announced, the points are amended for the winners to 4, 3, and 2 respectively. It’s basically a cheat for me to ensure that I don’t overlook anyone, but it has the side benefit that the Challenge Owner, WTMB, can then just look at the column for the monthly challenge to double check they have all participants included, if they want verification.
Don’t forget that I already have the Pop Up Challenge in mind for this month, but I plan to keep you all in suspense!
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We are into the final run of the year, only 12 weeks remain. It’s a good time to take a deep breath and revisit our goals for the last push.
To help you I have gone through all the numbers and worked out some averages. Below you will find your initial goal amount per week and your actual average listing amounts. There is also a total for the number of listings you will have to do for each week for the remaining 12 weeks in order to achieve your initial goal.
Now, with an average listing of 6 items per week, the likelihood of me achieving 23 items for the next 12 weeks is pretty low. So I either will have a huge shortfall at the end of the year (demotivating) or can adjust my annual total to either 6 per week (meaning I should definitely achieve my goal) or, if I’m looking to stretch myself a bit, t0 8 per week, so that I have a more achievable average of 14 to work towards.
Please advise if you would like me to change your goal amount for this last quarter.
Totals (in alphabetical order)
Amatino averaged 6 out of a goal of 10 per week, needs 23 per week to make goal
ChristineR averaged 14 out of a goal of 20 per week, needs 39 per week to make goal
Julie B averaged 17 out of a goal of 40 per week, needs 117 per week to make goal
Junque Redux averaged 13 out of a goal of 20 per week, needs 42 per week to make goal
Libby averaged 59 out of a goal of 40 per week, needs to take a freaking break! 😉
Sharyn averaged 14 out of a goal of 10 per week, needs a short holiday! 😛
UtahBill averaged 7 out of a goal of 15 per week, needs 40 per week to make goal
Vintage Lacy averaged 39 out of a goal of 40 per week, needs 44 per week to make goal
Vintage Treasures averaged 23 out of a goal of 10 per week, another over-achiever! 😉
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I love that you are a numbers geek Amatino…I am too. I had already run my own numbers to see where I needed to be. I also added in the fact that in December I am crazy busy shipping out orders and much less likely to list. December 2019 I listed a grand total of 21 items for the entire month! So I have adjusted my own personal goal for the next few weeks of 50 a week, if possible.
And….I listed 50 items last week so I managed to hit the goal. Only 6 were paper, so I want to do better on that this week. At least it puts me on the board.
It came up on Facebook memories that this last weekend last year I was busy setting up my show. A bit of a sad moment but I am cheering myself up by all this listing…it will benefit me down the road. Hope everyone has a good week ahead.
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33 new listings for me this week, 15 were paper.
Thanks Amatino for the weekly listing goals and actual numbers. Quite helpful since I’m terrible at even rudimentary math.
I do remember that I originally started the year with a goal of 39 listings per week to achieve 2020 listings in 2020, a great idea from (I think it was?) Vintage Lacy. But due to not being able to source as usual after Covid hit I lowered my listing goals to 10 per week. Glad I did so since I’d be (I think?) 640 listings behind at this point – LOL!
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11 listings this week.
I missed last week! Work is absolutely insane. But I’ve resigned and after Nov 6th, I will own my time!
Yesterday I had planned to list all day but then I rescued a puppy from a busy street and we had to care for it until this afternoon when the rescue shelter opens. Anyone with experience with puppies knows that you aren’t getting much work done when you have a young, untrained puppy in the house. 🙂
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I listed 14 items on eBay. One was paper.
@Amatino: I have a question. You can read about my deal with Swap.com in my podcast post. In summary, I shipped in a box of clothing to them at the beginning of March. Due to COVID and a warehouse move on their part, my items didn’t start to get listed until last week. So, they have listed 16 of my items. You can see most of them at this link: https://www.swap.com/shop/?uids=1015704035.You should see 14 because two have sold. If you click and more than 14 show up, it is because they have listed more items this week. If there is less, then more has sold. I will keep track of how many are listed each week. I expect that the rest will be listed this week or next. I have over 30 items left in their queue.
So, the question, do these Swap.com clothing items count as a listing? They don’t require as much effort as an eBay listing, but there is some work involved.
If they do, I listed a total of 30 items.
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Sharyn – according to Rule #1 you can list anywhere and it counts, as long as it’s not double-counted (Rule #3)
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Spreadsheet updated. Libby returns to the win with a vengeance!
VL, yay for numbers! Do you see patterns too? I often notice patterns in numbers. SUCH a geek, me! Sorry that you’re missing out on your show again. It will come back, once the crazy is over.
Julie B, thanks for rescuing the puppy! So many people reckon “someone else will do it” and the poor dog ends up getting run over or worse. Big RESPECT to you for making the time. And CONGRATULATIONS on moving onto a new phase of your life. Looking forward to seeing how it works out for you.
Utahbill, most folks would say “no listings, I’m away.” The fact that you’re listing while you’re away gives you major brownie points, in my book!
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Jump in! Post your numbers on Monday for the weekly challenge, and include information on how many listings are paper for the monthly paper challenge (go to the top of this thread for information on the monthly challenge and there’s a link in the very first post of this thread for the weekly challenge.) We also have pop up challenges occasionally, so you have to keep an eye out during the week.
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Posting early as I have a full day tomorrow and won’t have time to log on.
Total of 12 listings this week, all paper.
It’s been a busy off-eBay week with dance classes starting with not one or two new choreos, but THREE! Not only that, we have a new Skills Assignment for our Advanced group, so I’ve had to do the pre-class work for that, as well as some much needed admin in the business. Also, my local quilt guild contacted me and told me to hand over my (one and only) quilt. It’s actually the 4th one I’ve made but the only one still in my possession and they wanted it for their quilt show that started yesterday (Saturday.) Trouble was it’s actually my working quilt. It’s on the bed, complete with cats, tea or coffee spills, general life stuff, yeah? And it’s a monster, clocking in at 110 inches square. I had to wash, dry, and iron that baby, finding and clearing any stains or marks, and then I had to design and sew on a label on the back. I did indeed design and print (on fabric) a label for it, but I cheated and used Heat & Bond. Magic stuff! I dropped it off in person on Friday morning, and they managed to lose it by 4PM Friday afternoon. You can’t make this stuff up! We found it, and it was up and on display in time for the show’s opening on Saturday.
Oh, and Himself was most offended. “What am I supposed to sleep under?” he demanded. Of course, we don’t have a blanket in the house. Not one. Nope. Even though I only made the quilt this year. Seriously? You really don’t know how good it is to sleep under a real quilt (not a Chinese knock off) until you sleep under one. He obviously appreciates it. Woot!
This week promises to be hectic off eBay again, but I’m determined to do more listings. I’ve got a whole batch of stuff to do for the paper challenge and have in the last 10 days received or bought a bunch of Christmas goodies that have to go up soonest. I think I’m going to have to take sleep off my To Do list and move it to my wishlist. Sleep when you’re dead, they say. That might be a little extreme. I’ll just allocate it as “hobby” time. 😉
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crystalmoomom – Welcome! The challenges are a fun way to motivate oneself to list, at least for me. Give it a try!
Utahbill – I’m very impressed that you are mobile listing, I don’t even know how to do that!
Libby – You’re amazing! While injured you still get 54 listings done, more than I’ve finished on my best week ever. You’re my listing idol.
I finished 40 listings this week, 16 were paper.
The wildfire smoke here is so bad we can’t go outside at times – our AQI was 419 on Friday. It was like being fogged in, but it was dark in the daytime and ash was raining down. But being trapped inside does give me more time to list…
Now we have 2 wildfires within 12 miles of our house and we can see flames from our deck on our 3rd floor. The plus is that (as long as we don’t get evacuated) this should be a another good week to build up my store inventory.
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Well it seems I talk a lot of smack for someone who can’t seem to get many listings done. I am failing miserably on the paper challenge. I have a ton of it to list but more pressing seasonal items came first. Good thing we still have 2 more weeks.
28 listings…and a big fat zero were paper. I’ve been in the glumps because of my show. I’ll feel better this week I think.
Amatino, yes I see patterns in numbers, but then I see patterns in lots of things.
VT, so sorry about the smoke. We had a few bad weeks of it in September so I can certainly relate. Please stay safe!
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I was very busy last week with my part time job and our town’s freecycling event on Saturday. I delisted a number of items I don’t want to sell anymore. I am no longer running any auctions to get rid of uninteresting inventory (remember my challenge in the spring?) because of the higher listing limits that eBay now offers.
Anyway, zero for me.
I did start some listings this weekend in hopes of posting something, but the mobile app had a glitch where the photos were not uploading in the order I wanted no matter what order I selected them in. Now I have to go and switch them all around. Ugh. I hope that gets fixed quickly.
VT – sorry to hear about the wildfire smoke you have to deal with. Several weeks ago, it was a bit cooler and cloudy here due to the fires in CA. I’m on the opposite coast in NJ, so you know it has to be bad.
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Sharyn, check out Retro Treasures’ post under the podcast episode 484… he gave a workaround for the photo issue. It’s a few more clicks but it’s better than having to manually move all the photos around. Hopefully ebay will fix this issue soon!
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Hello!! I’m new to the group, but decided it’s good for me to get involved in a challenge! We will see how I do with following up. Not my strong suit!
So… a little about me. I do ebay full-time along with a few other “side hustles” as my friends like to call them. We have an airbnb next door and also just started our own auction company. So… those three things along with an amazing husband, three amazing daughters and a mediocre cat, keep me very busy! My husband helps a lot with the photos which keeps me hustling with listings lately. I also just hired a helper to started today. She will work about 6 hours a week taking photos for me. I’ve had helpers in the past and it makes SUCH a difference in what I can accomplish.
So, for this week we did 45 new listings. I think only a couple were paper. I really dislike doing ephemera, old photos, etc, so maybe this will help me get moving on some of those. Overall, very happy with my results this week. That’s a high number for me! Hopefully more in the future with my helper. We will see!
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Libby, sorry to hear you are hurt. Hope you feel better soon!
VT, sending you wishes for lots of rain (snow?) to damp down those fires.
Sharyn, my app is loading my photos upside down, or some other contortion. Driving me NUTS!
CrystalMooMom, welcome to the group. And you even did paper! Go you!
UtahBill, listing mobile AND paper. You rock!
Okay, folks, spreadsheet updated and Libby, sore neck and all, still nabbed the win! Almost everyone is now on the board with the paper challenge, how terrific is that? Great job, everyone, you are fantastic.
Last ten weeks of the year. Pull out all the stops, and then you can take a break after Christmas.
Go list, dammit!
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I would love to post a picture of my mediocre cat, but I don’t know how to do that. Just imagine a large white fuzz butt with a tilted head. That’s him.
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Here are the instructions to load a photo. I’d like to see that white fuzz butt with a tilted head!
https://www.scavengerlife.com/forums/topic/how-to-upload-a-photo-to-your-forum-post/
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Hi All, 67 for me this week! I am trying some time blocking techniques to try and balance work/family/house . . . I wonder how it will affect my numbers? I honestly don’t know but I am happy I am in the challenge because it will help me track. I didn’t have time to track paper but I don’t think I really had any to speak of.
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Hello Fellow Challengers!
40 new listings for me. 15 were paper. The smoke has been keeping me inside and listing, but now it’s snow keeping me inside and listing, we’re expecting 15 inches of snow by tomorrow. I’m grateful for the snow as it should be of some help with curtailing the wildfires. The 3 largest ever Colorado fires have happened in the last few months. Only 1 is out, we have 8 fires currently burning. One of the 3 biggest has burned 300 square miles and is only 4% contained. Due to that fire Rocky Mountain National Park is burning and is closed 🙁
Attention Challengers: We have through the 31st for the paper challenge. C’mon people! Everyone must have some paper items lurking around in those death piles. Back up that smack talk with action! (I’m looking at you Vintage Lacy – LOL!)
Wishing everyone a productive and profitable week with no natural disasters.
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I need that nudge VT….as I feel like I have lost my listing mojo, hopefully just temporarily. Way too much else going on. No paper for me this week but you never know, I might get some done in the final push. 35 listings in total, which this week, was an accomplishment.
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I listed 34 items this week.
My high numbers were helped by a huge lot of magazines I bought in an online auction last weekend. It didn’t occur to me that these magazines met the paper challenge until yesterday afternoon. Between the magazines and a few other items, I listed 19 paper.
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Oh man!! Only 8 listings this week! And that is why I need a helper. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to work last week and so on my own I failed miserably!! I still haven’t taken the time to read how to get my cat pic uploaded, but I figure it just builds the anticipation to disappoint you all later 😉 No paper either. Maybe tomorrow! If the helper shows up!
We did win some pallet racking and some great ebay items at a local online auction which we picked up last week. That was time consuming and very exciting. I LOVE auctions! If I figure out the picture thing I will post a pic of my favorite win. Should be listing those soon too. Peace out.
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Good morning great folks! Just got back from 4 days in the middle of nowhere (literally!) with zero connection to the outside world. The most modern technology available was electricity. The hot water was hot because it was a natural hot spring. I spent 4 days soaking in it like a hippo in a wallow. The happiest hippo on the planet, by the way! I would love to be brave and follow Utahbill’s fabulous example and say I listed on the road, but I get so carsick it isn’t funny, and no listing is worth that much upchuck. Only two listings for me this week.
Looking forward to hearing more about your new process, Libby. It doesn’t seem to have affected your numbers much this week.
Sending prayers that your fires are snuffed by all that snow, VT.
VL – we’re having the pop up challenge this week! That might help your mojo.
LOVE DEXTER! Such a cute kitty! What’s with the haircut? Is it just for kicks or did Dex need surgery?
Spreadsheet updated, Libby wins. Listing Queen!
Last week of the October Paper Challenge. Who wants November?
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THURSDAY THROWDOWN!
Pop up Challenge Day, and it’s all about numbers.
List like a demon, win the prize.
List anywhere: eBay, Etsy, Mercari, Faceboo;, but it only counts once. E.g. shirt listed on eBay AND Mercari counts as one listing. Actual listings count, not number of items. You have until midnight in your time zone. Post numbers tomorrow.
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Yesterday I was busy preparing and wasn’t really planning to do any listing. However, since you made it a challenge, I finished the magazine listings, which are quick and easy to do, plus one other (that had been started from the Wednesday Woes challenge). In the end, I created 12 listings.
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It’s November! The October Paper Challenge ended yesterday at midnight. Please post your final paper listings number for the entire month of October so the winner can be crowned – lol!
My total paper listings for the month of October was 71 🙂
Do we have a November Challenge? It should start today. Any ideas?
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November Challenge.
Got another surprise one for you this month. Tee hee hee!
Do you know anyone born in November? I have 5 ladies in my dance class alone! Well, did you know – most November babies are conceived on a popular celebration day. Can you guess it?
November Challenge is VALENTINE! 😀
Anything to do with Valentine’s Day: couples, love, hearts, red, pink, roses, jewelry (popular Valentine’s gift) or anything else you could justify as being part of the Season of Love! Borrowing JR’s great idea of “creative justification”!
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One day I opened a parcel to discover the most beautiful, heavy, beaded bridal dupatta (head veil.) It was gifted to me by a wonderful person who shall remain anonymous unless she wishes to identify herself. To my delight, the dupatta made its way into our recent bellydance photo shoot. Unfortunately, the ones with it as a wrap were deemed unusable by the photographer, but I did get a couple of photos with it as a backdrop. My sincere thanks for this stunning piece.
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I was very surprised to win the throwdown challenge! I think it was only because some people didn’t post.
I also started October with just a few paper items for listing, but I coincidentally purchased a large lot of magazines two weeks ago. They’ve been very easy to list, and I finished this week. So, my total is 54 paper items for October.
I know I’ve got competition! I’m sure one of the sewing and craft pattern gals in this group whipped my butt. Whatcha got?
For the November challenge, I’ve got some jewelry to finish up. Not much else in that category, but I also wasn’t thinking I was going to list much for paper. We will see …
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Sharyn: Consider it whipped! By me, I’m the sewing pattern gal 🙂 My 71 were mostly sewing patterns, although I listed some other paper items also.
It was evil of me to put up a challenge I knew I could list a lot of – but in my defense I thought some of us would also have lots of books or paper ephemera to list. Or magazines, like Sharyn!
I wasn’t able to participate in the pop-up challenge on Thursday, I had a lot going on that day. Hopefully Amatino will come up with another pop-up for us this month!
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Thus far the October Paper Challenge results are: 1st place – Me, 2nd place – Sharyn, and 3rd place – Amatino. If anyone else posts results above our numbers today I’ll revise. Today will be the deadline for posting your October Challenge results. Thank you to everyone who played along, these challenges really help get me going on listing!
I had 20 new listings for the week. I had a bit of a head cold and a busy week last week. I’m hoping this week will be a more productive one for me on eBay.
Wishing everyone great sales and happy customers!
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Thanks for all the compliments on my photos. *blush*
JR – yay! Someone else who hates clothes! And for the exact same reason. Those photos just kill me! I spent half of yesterday rearranging my cabin in the hope that I can create a better space for photographs. It’s amazing, I’ll move heavy furniture, unpacking and repacking to make it possible to move, but when it’s all done, I still don’t want to have to do photos. Clothes sell, for sure, but ugh! The photography!
Spreadsheet updated, Libby wins – and I have a challenge for you! There are 8 weeks left this year, and you only need 400 listings to hit 3,000 total. You gonna do it? 😉
Great week everyone! Go list now. Nearly there…
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I listed 38 last week.
While I didn’t really have anything specific for the November challenge, I did list a picture frame decorated with roses. That should count.
Last night, I gathered more of the jewelry I have on consignment. That should do well towards the challenge.
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12 for me, none for the November challenge.
We had a technology glitch and the tech who came out to check our lines suggested we replace our wireless router. Of course, that meant that every! single! item! needed an upgrade to the new system. Plus, my Fearless Other Half decided to make our wifi a hidden SID, which meant that each device had to be manually pointed to the new router. Eventually, His Royal Didn’t-Think-This-Through gave up on the printer and wired it into my PC, which means that he now has to print though my computer. I wonder how long it will be before that peeves Has-No-Patience beyond annoyed? And he had to open one channel for a couple of the other units to find because we couldn’t get them to connect. I honestly had no idea we had so many devices attached to our internet! Why-Do-I-Have-To-Connect-So-Many-Things is now complaining that it’s MY fault for upgrading the router instead of acknowledging that he’s paranoid and we didn’t really need a hidden SID. We live in the middle of nowhere, in a black hole with no cell or data signal within an eight mile radius, but yeah, let’s have a SID. Sure!
How long do you think I should let him calm down before I point out he still has to connect the Echo and our Home Theater? *wicked cackle*
Anyway, that kinda put paid to my listing for last week. Fingers crossed that my laptop works in the cabin, or All-Hell-Breaks-Loose will erupt like Mt Vesuvius! 😀
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Unusual absence of a few folks this week. Hope everyone is okay.
Spreadsheet updated.
Sharyn… guess what? You WON! This week you clocked in with the highest numbers!
Okay folks, don’t forget the November challenge. Find all those luuuurve items and list them. Remember you can come up with a Creative Justification for something. Have fun with this one!
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Created 24 listings this week. Should have been last month, they were mostly paper! LOL
Had two sourcing days this weekend and picked up some great mugs for the November Valentine challenge. Dunno what it is with me creating challenges for stock I don’t have. Sheesh! I wasn’t looking for Valentine stuff, I merely happened upon these mugs. Best part was when I went to pay and the lady exclaimed “Oh! I just put those out!” Score!
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I listed 26. These were all jewelry for the one family friend that I do commissions for. I took the photos in 2018, but ended up not listing them at the time. Long story. Anyway, they all meet the November challenge.
I did some significant sourcing last week with online auction pickups on both Saturday and Sunday. I’ve got to focus on getting these listed rather than continuing with smaller jewelry items, so I’m not sure whether I’ll be listing many more items meeting the November challenge.
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Thank you for your kind words VT. They mean a lot…..do you remember the episode of I LOVE LUCY at the chocolate factory? That’s my life right now.
No listings for last week. Hopefully I get some done this week.
I have 108 orders to get out today. Gulp. Wish me luck….
Hope everyone has a great week and please stay safe!
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10 new listings for me. 4 met the November Challenge (or at least I *think* I can justify them as meeting the November Challenge).
Julie B – congrats! I hope your first full time eBay week went well.
VL – I get the Lucy in the chocolate factory reference. Sounds like you are packing and shipping as fast as you can! Your sales numbers sound fantastic but all the packing and shipping work -not so much! I do remember from last year that 4th quarter is really busy for you. It’s good to hear that you are still having good holiday sales in these turbulent times.
Wishing everyone a good week and a Happy Thanksgiving!
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Good morning everyone! 9 new listings for me, and 2 directly met the November challenge (even has the words Valentine Gift in the title!) and one is my creative justification listing!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184542221287 I justify this as a Valentine listing on the basis that it could be a gift for your older beloved, or that you could buy it for yourself for Valentine because we all know that loving yourself is healthy and good for you! LOL
A cold front just hit Texas, so I’m writing this with frozen fingers. Sending WARM wishes to those of you who aren’t blessed with our great Texas weather! Well, sending warm wishes for a great week to everyone!
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I listed 26 items.
One met the challenge, and I’m going to throw in one creative justification. I listed a group of six pamphlets from the early 1950s about pre-natal, infant, and young child care. It all has to do with love, marriage, and family. Awww.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/184543534000
Of course, it is probably that child that held the online auction to move out the mother’s accumulated stuff so that they can put the house on the market …
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10 listings for me this week and none so far for the Valentine challenge. I have a few in mind for this week so I at least get on the board. It’s crazy time around here and certain to get crazier. I read that online sales are expected to be 30% higher this holiday season because of the pandemic. I hope that everyone benefits from that…wishing all of you lots of ka-chings! As for me, I had 3 Etsy orders to mail today, 23 Ebay orders, and 134 Amazon orders. Good thing I had Charlie to help!
Wishing all of you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
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Spreadsheet updated and I hope you feel better, Julie B, because you won the week!
Also, sales for me have been rock bottom even though I’ve been listing consistently every week for about the first time all year. I haven’t had a sale since Nov 19 (and it was an offer accepted) so don’t be discouraged. Keep listing and once the market pendulums back, you’ll have a lot to sell.
Sharyn, love your listing for the Justification. Seeing as the challenge was based on the fact that most November babies are conceived over Valentine’s, you’re spot on the mark! 😀
Wow, VL, great sales!
Okay, folks, six days left for the November Valentine’s Day Challenge. Anyone want to take December?
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Well this is a fairly stupid idea for the December challenge, but maybe it’ll spur someone to come up with a better one….
You’ve heard of Christmas in July, how about Independence Day in December? Anything patriotic (I think everyone in this particular thread is US-based, but if not, interpret that to your own national specification), red/white/blue, etc.
I don’t even think I personally have anything that fits this challenge, so if someone comes up with something else, my feelings will not be hurt 🙂
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10 listings for the week and 3 qualified for the monthly challenge…whew! Squeaked them in at the end…so at least I am on the board. My numbers are going to be low in December but I am game to do a red/white/blue challenge if everyone else is.
There were some really good challenges this year. I hope we repeat some of the more popular ones next year!
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Thank you to junque redux for thinking up our December Challenge! The challenge starts today and runs though midnight on December 31st.
As stated above: “You’ve heard of Christmas in July, how about Independence Day in December? Anything patriotic (I think everyone in this particular thread is US-based, but if not, interpret that to your own national specification), red/white/blue, etc.
Let’s get listing!
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Hey folks, congrats on getting though the month! Hey Ho December! Or should that be Sleigh Ho Ho Ho December?
Spreadsheet updated. Julie B, you won again! You’re really getting them out there!
JR, thanks for the Challenge! VT, thanks for getting it going. JR, if you would be so kind as to put together your rules for it? The last challenge of the year!
November’s Challenge numbers that I have per the posts made this month – if your numbers are incorrect or I missed you out, please let me know:
Sharyn 29 – Clear winner! 4 points plus one justification point
VT 7 – second place 3 points
VL, Sharyn, JR and I all came in with 3 each. However, both Sharyn and JR had fun justifications, so they get an extra point each: JR gets 3rd with 2 points
VL and I get our participation point.This year we have been slightly unusual in that we’ve had the weekly challenges, the monthly challenges, and the pop up challenges. After giving it much thought, I’ve decided to award two prizes this year. They will be called the Listing Winner for the weekly numbers, and the Challenge Winner for the monthly and pop up numbers. Aaaaand…. I have custom ordered the prizes. I hope the Winners like what I came up with! LOL.
Libby has been AWOL, but as she has racked up 34 points and we have only 4 weeks left in the year, I think we can safely call it for the Listing Winner. We still have the December challenge as well as any pop up challenges I come up with, so we’ll hold on the Challenge Winner announcement for now. Libby, please drop me a line at snratoni@yahoo.com with your name and address and I’ll pop your prize in the post. Congratulations!
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27 listed this week. I slowed down quite a bit from the prior two weeks. Dog had surgery to repair his ACL so I’m pretty much sitting as much as possible because the more I get up to photograph, put away inventory, etc. the more he gets up and walks around to follow me. I want him to rest and recuperate as much as possible.
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I listed 40 items this week.
I don’t have anything specifically patriotic, but I did list some red, white, and blue items. I’m counting things that are that single color (might come with other colors, but at least one is a solid red, white, or blue); not something with a design that has other colors in it. So, a white platter counts, but a white pedestal server with a fruit design on it doesn’t.
How about an item that is made in the USA? I assume not, but I figure I’d ask.
Does this all make sense? If so, I listed 6 items that meet the challenge.
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Just 1 for me last week. I don’t know if this week will be much better. I had surgery which is keeping me down.
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Just six for me, none qualified for the challenge.
@Sharyn, I agree with your justification on the color and I hadn’t thought about the made in USA bit, but let’s say that doesn’t count. -
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POP UP CHALLENGE!
The Chop Chop Challenge – list as much as you can, chop chop! You have all day tomorrow, from midnight to midnight! Just list like crazy! Post numbers on Friday.
This year’s prizes are custom made to order, with my personal final touches sewn by hand. Nobody else in the world has one. Libby won the Listing prize, but the Challenge prize is still up for grabs. You have the December Red White and Blue Challenge and whatever Pop Ups … er.. pop up (wink!) to make up your numbers for the Challenge prize. Go for it!
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I listed 24 items.
The popup challenge helped get the ball rolling with the first 15, but I had some challenges this week between my car breaking down (ended up replacing the radiator) and a bad reaction to my dinner on Friday evening.
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2 for me, thanks to the Pop Up Challenge.
Thanks, Julie B. We had a great time.
Sharyn – that’s rough! Hope both the car and you are doing better.
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@Amatino – Yes, the two of us are fine now. Just needed money (for the car) and time (for me). Thanks for asking 🙂
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Spreadsheet updated and VT takes the win! Go you!
Now, I’m going to do something odd here, but I’m using the fact that it is a Leap Year to justify it. Our year ends on Thursday, so most of the last week of December is in week 53. Next year, if I start at week 1 will end with 53 weeks, due to the strange set up of the dates. But hey, it’s 2020. Why shouldn’t we have a 53 week year? LOL.
This means that we have three more check in days for this year and for you to post listings for the Patriotic/Red White & Blue Challenge. I’m not going to post any more pop up challenges, as it’s in crazy season already.
So, three more Mondays! Make ’em count!
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I had zero new listings last week, but for once I had a valid excuse. I was recovering from surgery and then managed to contract Covid on top of it. The last ten days have been pretty tough, but I think I have turned the corner now. I’m feeling a little better every day now. In fact, I am going to list a couple of things this afternoon.
Happy Holidays to all!
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Utahbill…so sorry to hear about your health troubles! Please get well soon…sending you healing wishes from Oregon.
Amatino, I really like the idea of an “extra” week this year. It might even motivate me to attempt to get closer to my yearly goal, fingers crossed!
What do you think about doing a poll about which challenges were everyone’s favorites? A top five or six list, perhaps? Some of the challenges were really great, in my opinion and it would be fun and helpful to repeat them.
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Because of the snow storm that happened last week, I tried to get my garage clear so that I could actually park in there. No such luck, but I ended up listing most of the books I recently purchased in an online auction. I thought that would reduce the number of items in this month’s challenge, but I found two books based on US history that can be considered patriotic. Those two plus a blue item adds 3 to the challenge.
I listed 29 items in total.
Amatino – In looking at your poll, my May challenge of putting dead stock on auction really isn’t applicable anymore. The new rules allowing a huge number of items in the collectable category means that I’m not up against the 1000 items included in a premium store any more. I’ve been marking items I want to get rid of, and I’ll give them away in our town’s next freecycling event. Anyway, I had some good buys in November before the holiday frenzy started, so I voted for anything having to do with listing large items or moving death piles. I gotta stop sourcing and organize!!!
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26 listings for me this week. Orders will be slowing down finally so I have breathing room to get more listed, possibly, in our last 2 weeks of the year.
I saw this morning that I’m going to lose my Top Rated Seller status because of all the snafus at the USPS. Ebay shows me as shipping 34 packages late. 34! I’m having horrible problems with this over on Amazon too. After investigating I discovered that on at least December 8th and 9th my Portland Oregon postal distribution center sent crates of UNSCANNED packages up to the Kent Washington distribution center. Kent is a suburb of Seattle. And there they sat, finally getting scanned 6 or 7 days later. Words cannot describe my frustration. Customers are screaming at me, demanding refunds. And I can’t blame them.
That’s how my day is going.
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Just 12 new listings for me last week. Zero met the December Challenge.
Utahbill, I’m so sorry to hear that you caught the virus. I hope you are fully recovered and feeling well now.
Vintage Lacy, that is terrible that your packages went unscanned for a week. I would hope that eBay would look at your history and the fact that all those “late” packages were shipped on the same days and understand that it is a USPS issue and not your fault. It’s very unfair that you should lose your TRS status for a USPS issue. I know that the advice is to wait in line at the PO and get your packages scanned at drop off, but I’ve never been willing to do that. And I certainly wouldn’t do it now during a contagious pandemic.
I also have packages out there that were either never scanned or scanned many days late. Some of those have obviously been delivered since I have positive feedback on them. Luckily (?) I’m not a big enough seller that there are enough of these issues to effect my status (yet). I am thinking about refunding all the items that are still in limbo even though all my buyers (so far) have been really nice about the USPS issues. I just don’t feel right about my customers waiting over 3 to 4 weeks now for delivery. Some of the items are Christmas items which I don’t expect will arrive by Christmas.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas (despite the USPS issues).
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Thanks VT. The problem is that I’m doing 2 runs to the Post Office each day right now, and each run has several dozen packages. It just wouldn’t be physically possible to stand in line with them to get them scanned, even if I wanted to. I also couldn’t refund all the stalled packages….it would cost me several hundred dollars and I can’t afford that. I did discover that doing a text update on the tracking number seems to jolt most of the packages loose and get them moving faster. Squeaky wheel theory.
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Posting late, but I was able to list 21 items last week.
I am feeling much better and seem to have completely recovered from Covid. It feels great to be out of quarantine and able to run errands etc.
I’m beginning to work on my goals for next year, and one of the big ones is getting up to 1,000 active listings.
Have a great holiday everyone!
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@Utahbill, so glad you have recovered!
I’m at 0 listings for the last 2 weeks. Usually this is a slow time of the year for me at work and I can get more things done, but not this year.
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Hmmmm…. looks like the Forum doesn’t like me! It buried my Christmas joke thread and entirely disintegrated my message here!
Spreadsheet was updated before Utahbill posted, so I’m thrilled you’re on the mend! I’ll go update it with your numbers.
Congratulations Julie on a terrific milestone! I’m just under halfway behind you. My goal will be to make it there by next year!
VL, that sucks rotten eggs! Can you contact eBay and get them to fix it?
May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May your Zooms be happy and filled with laughter, and your rooms filled with joy even if they’re not full of people.
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Thanks VL for the text updates idea on getting packages moving. It seems to have worked on at least two of my stalled items. I already refunded one, but I’m happy that the buyer will still get the item.
I 100% agree with you on not standing in line at the PO to get packages scanned. I’ve never ever done that, even before Covid. I sell mostly low dollar items so my sales income wouldn’t be worth it if I had to add time spent waiting in line to get scans. If I added that time to my work day I’d make way more per hour working a minimum wage job than selling on eBay.
Happy Holidays everyone!
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38 listings for me this week – not bad for a holiday week.
I did some major retail arbitrage online shopping last night. I’ll be listing like crazy the next few days so I’ll be ready when the 100+ arbitraged items arrive at my house. I found deals online last night that were better prices than I’d find at thrift stores. I probably should have bought twice what I did but it’s scary spending that much money on inventory, especially during a pandemic.
Have a good week everybody!
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42 listings for me this week and 11 count towards the monthly challenge.
ebay now shows me as shipping over 50 packages late. I’m going to call them this week but I’m not holding my breath that it will change anything. Over on Amazon customers are filing A-Z claims against me and winning. In all my years of selling online I’ve never seen such a mess. It was a good Christmas season and things are STILL selling briskly but these shipping woes sure have put a damper on things.
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Just 13 new listings for me. None counted towards the December Challenge.
If no one comes up with an idea for a January 2021 Challenge maybe we should have it be whatever the most popular challenge was from 2020. And we’ll know what that was due to Amatino’s brilliant poll!
Thank you Amatino for putting in so much hard work this year to make this subset of the forum so inspiring and fun. Your hard work and dedication are very much appreciated!
Wishing everyone a productive and profitable week and may all your stalled packages be delivered!
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Thank you @Amatino! What a lovely gift to commemorate an interesting year. Thank you for taking the time out to do this, it is much appreciated. Thank you to everyone in the group for spurring me on, you are the best cheerleaders. Thank you!
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Thank you all for the interest in my Consignment Chats channel, we only have the trailer up (the first video launches this Wednesday). I appreciate the support, this is way out of my comfort zone, but looking forward to it anyway.
Here are the links, it will be on apple podcasts as soon as it is approved as well. Feel free to find us on Facebook or Instagram as well.
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I second VT’s idea of doing the most popular monthly challenge for January. In fact I vote to do it twice this year! The one everyone voted for was the GET RID OF ONE BOX FROM YOUR DEATH PILE. It certainly seems like a good New Years goal, so perfect challenge for January. And perhaps we could do it again in June or some other month later in the year too?
One point per death pile box gone? Or maybe random drawing for 1-3 place for those who participate?
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Thanks, VL! Since we’ve had no other ideas come in for the January 2021 Challenge I second “Get Rid of One Box From Your Death Pile” as the challenge for January 2021. If anyone has any objections speak up today or forever hold your peace!
The January Challenge starts tomorrow! I’ve never been so happy to kiss a year goodbye as I am for 2020. I’m sure lots of people feel the same. Here’s to a much better 2021! Happy New Year!
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Hear, Hear VT!
Although I won’t be kissing 2020 goodbye….I will be giving it a firm shove out the door! Be gone with ya 2020!
Happy New Year everyone……may 2021 be full of blessings for you and yours.
And a special thank you to Amatino for being our fearless and fun leader of the Listing Challenge!
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I second you again VL – kicking 2020 in the keister is far more apropos than kissing it goodbye. Also with you on giving thanks to Amatino for doing the work to keep this section of the forum going. Well done Amatino, thank you for a fun year of eBay listing challenges and inspiration!
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Beware of getting too excited about 2021. If you think about it, it could be more like this…
😀
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Amatino, A big thank you for all the work you did in this group, this year. This was my first year participating in the Listing Challenge threads. Posting my weekly listing totals to a group really did help me to list more! I also love that I can look at the Google Doc excel sheet to see how my year progressed, listing-wise. Thank you Amatino!
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Welcome to the group, JJCatfinder! I love your positive outlook. Those who know me know that I always try to find the positives in everything, but I’m always up for a giggle!
Julie B, VL, VT, and all others, you’re very welcome. I’m thrilled that you all find this little corner helpful and inspiring. On to greatness in 2021!
Next week… this week we’re still posting in this thread! LOL
December Challenge: JR – can you allocate winners for the December challenge? I’ve been running the numbers on the spreadsheet under the Dec tab so you can see who logged what. Everyone else had better check the spreadsheet to make sure it’s up to date with the correct numbers!
January Challenge!
Pick one box from your Death Piles. Size and content/quantity therein irrelevant. This goal is aaaaaalllllll about reducing the DPs. List EVERYTHING in that box. This month’s challenge is a lottery – for each box you empty you get one entry into the draw. At the end of the month, I will allocate numbers to each person and use a random number generator to draw first, second, and third places (although the same person cannot win more than one place), with one participation point to everyone who joins in the fun. Last day to post is January 31st, winners will be announced February 1st.
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Doesn’t the December challenge end on Sunday? It’s not a big deal for me because I don’t believe I have any more to add, but I want to make sure everyone gets their time in. My total is 13.
I’ll just add to what everyone else is saying. I love this little “corner” of the forum, and it does inspire me to list more. I enjoy the challenges, and I’ve changed the items I was going to list in order to meet them. Thanks, Amatino, for making it happen!
I certainly have plenty of death pile boxes for the January challenge!
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VT is correct. The December challenge ended on Thursday night, you were supposed to log your final totals on Friday. JR needs to let us know who the winners are.
The weekly numbers ends tomorrow, post your numbers on Monday, here, in this thread. The new year will begin on Monday and the new thread will start for posting the following week. I’ll get it set up on Tuesday or Wednesday so that there’s no confusion. There will also be a pop up challenge for you.
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That makes sense, thanks to you both for clarifying this.
It looks like Vintage Lacy is the December winner, followed by Sharyn, with the bronze going to Vintage Treasures. Congratulations to you all!
Honorable Mentions to:
Amatino, for being thread mistress and cheerleader/number cruncher extraordinaire
Julie B, for finding the courage to let go of an unrewarding job
UtahBill, for surviving all manner of tribulations and still listing in the middle of them
Libby, for starting a YouTube & podcast on top of listing like a fiend
Happy New Year!
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Aww, junque redux, thanks for the kudos for each of us! I’m so grateful for everyone who joined this thread in 2020; more people = more fun. You’ve all been wonderful additions and as always the original crew are the best too. Looking forward to another fun year with you all.
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I hope everyone enjoyed a great holiday season and is ready to list in the new year.
I had a total of 8 listings for last week.
I am bringing a box out of the basement that is in my death pile to list for the new challenge.
Question, what if most of our death pile is not organized in boxes, but is truly a pile? 🙁
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10 new listings for me.
Things seem to be looking up, I have 10 items to ship this morning; sales from Saturday afternoon until this morning, same as Julie B. January is usually a good sales month for me but I’m thinking the stimulus checks might be helping my sales.
USPS seems to be moving more smoothly, many of my long delayed packages have finally been delivered – although a few show as still stuck. So far I’ve only refunded one item, which was delivered the day after I refunded it. I’m waiting for cases before I refund on the rest since sometimes it’s just that postal scans are missing rather than the package itself. (I’ve received positive feedback for packages that don’t show scans as delivered – but obviously they were delivered.)
Utahbill – I also have some non-boxed death piles. In my case they are in paper grocery bags. I’m counting each stuffed grocery bag as a box. I would think if you scooped up enough death pile items to fill a box that would count as one box.
Libby – I watched your first YouTube episode, good job! Good for you for organizing the video project and putting it out there – I admire that!
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I’m going to quote Amatino from 12/15 regarding the end date of the challenge. This has nothing to do with the fact that I want the extra days. It is just that I usually am very forgetful, and here I actually remembered something correctly 🙂
Now, I’m going to do something odd here, but I’m using the fact that it is a Leap Year to justify it. Our year ends on Thursday, so most of the last week of December is in week 53. Next year, if I start at week 1 will end with 53 weeks, due to the strange set up of the dates. But hey, it’s 2020. Why shouldn’t we have a 53 week year? LOL.
This means that we have three more check in days for this year and for you to post listings for the Patriotic/Red White & Blue Challenge. I’m not going to post any more pop up challenges, as it’s in crazy season already.
So, we should have had through the weekend to add to the challenge. It wouldn’t have helped me at all; just demonstrating that my neurons are working correctly. LOL
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16 new listings for me last week. I’m hoping to kick it into high gear for the start of the new year. I’m glad everyone is doing well with their sales….mine have been really fantastic too. Keeps me hopping and bopping. I’m excited to get rid of at least a couple of death pile boxes this month. I’m not going to throw down any gauntlets though….I learned my lesson last year! Can I keep from smack talking? Time will tell. (ha!)
Update on the top rated seller late shipping fiasco…..ebay has now erased half the orders that were previously marked as shipped late, and this is without me contacting them. Apparently they are well aware of all the shipping issues and are making adjustments along the way, which is very reassuring. I won’t be losing my TRS after all. Whew. Yay ebay!
Hey Amatino chiquita……can we do goals again this year? It was extremely helpful to have the weekly tallies. I didn’t quite make my 2020 goal…..but I want to aim for it again this year….so if you are setting it up please put me down for 40 a week again. Mucho thanks.
I second VT in appreciating all y’all. It’s so nice to have a Trash Elf Tribe.
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Spreadsheet updated! The final update for the year! Julie B won the last week, go you!
Phew! So much to comment on here!
Thanks to JR for the Challenge results. JR, as Forum Leader, I opted to give you one point too, for being such a great sport and participator! That brings us to the end of the year and Sharyn wins the Challenges! Well done! Your prize will be on the way to you shortly, give or take USPS delays!
Utahbill, the goal is reduction of the Death Piles, and “box” is a term for categorization. Some folks have boxes, some have shopping bags, some have totes, some have drawers or shelves, and some have piles. Some… cough, yours truly, cough… can count Option D: All of the Above! So whatever would qualify as one, shall we say BATCH of items, will be considered one box?
Yay, JulieB, so glad your full time work is paying off!
Sharyn, your neurons are firing better than mine! LOL
VL, yup! I’m creating the new TELC spreadsheet, thread, and Rules post and will put it all up here shortly. Some minor changes to the Rules, so please do read through the new post. Unlike previous years, I plan to make the Rules post a permanent post that I just refer back to in the quarterly thread, not create a new one each year.
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@Amatino – You are so adorable.
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THIS THREAD IS CLOSED! Please post in the new thread listed above.
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P.S. @Sharyn Awwww… blush
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2020 Challenges Poll Results
In order of most popular:
June Empty One box (9)
October Paper (7)
August Textiles (6)
Jan One large item (4)
March Halloween (4)
April Gold (4)
July Christmas (4)
September Silver (3)
November Valentine (2)
Feb Green (1)
May Auction (0)
Dec Red, White & Blue (0)
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