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This is the 1st Quarter thread for 2021. Post your Challenge numbers here for the week starting Monday January 4, and ending Sunday January 10, 2021. Numbers must be posted on Monday 6, 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, January Challenge Info:
This challenge starts on January 1st and runs through 31st.
Pick one box from your Death Piles. Size and content/quantity therein irrelevant. List EVERYTHING in that box. This 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… have Option D: All of the Above! So whatever would qualify as one, shall we say BATCH of items, will be considered one 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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Remember this? I posted it a while back, but to start the New Year off on a good beginning, I thought I would repeat it for your convenience. It may help you set yourself up for success.
8 Easy Steps to Eliminate Your Death Pile
1. Remove all items from your listing area except for the one item you’re listing. Have a dedicated listing space
2. Have a small “List Next” pile
3. List daily. Consistency trumps speed
4. Set up a listing sprint. 30/60/90 minutes – whatever works for you
5. Combine your listing practice with something you enjoy
6. Do not listen to content while you are listing
7. You don’t have to stop buying. All you have to do is list more than you buy!
8. Set up accountabilityIt’s your lucky day: #8 is covered right here in this thread!
Our very first Pop Up Challenge for 2021 is to create a dedicated listing space! It can be a table or bench in the corner of a room, or an actual dedicated space. Clear it entirely! You want nothing to distract you. Have it ready with a background for photos, some lighting, some measuring tools so that you can take dimensions and weight, and your SKU method. Once you’re done, post a photo for us all to admire! Uploading (a) photo/s gets one point! (This Challenge is about getting us all on the board. A good start!)
Those of you who remember I have an entire cabin, don’t feel jealous of my space. You don’t believe the chaos I have to clear up to score MY point! LOL
As a start to the year, this “pop up” challenge is going to run for the month of January, to give you all time to get it going. Post photos on or before January 31st.
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YEARLY GOAL NUMBERS!
In the Spreadsheet, I have a column with your total listings to date, and another that has your goal number. This number is calculated by multiplying the number of weeks of the year by the number of items you want to list per week. A goal of only 20 items per week will get you listing over 1,000 items this year! Please let me know what your goal is, and you can then motivate yourself to keep it up. Suggestion: look at last year’s goal and be realistic for this year.
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Good morning, all! Happy Monday! We had snow over the weekend and insanely cold temps (for Texas!) It supposed to be bitterly cold at night for this week. Brrrr!
Starting off my new year with my target: 15 listings. And with two sales, a sewing machine that sold the same day I listed it (on Bonanza!) and my first sale now that my eBay store is open for business again after 3 weeks Vacay.
Wishing you all a good week!
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I had 21 new listings last week. I nearly completed 1 death pile box, but I can’t log it yet. I have already sold a couple of items out of it for a total of $50. As Julie B says, there is gold in them piles we just have to mine it.
Speaking of Julie B., she’s on fire that is a lot of listings! Good job!
Everyone have a great week!
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20 for me this week. I had a CRAZY amount of distractions so I am actually pretty happy with that number. I think I want the same goal as last year….40 listings a week. I was about 10% shy of hitting that magic 2020 listing goal number last year so I think I can accomplish it this year.
I’m about a third of the way done with a death pile box and hope to report next Monday that one box is finished. I thought I might get 2 or 3 done this month but it really depends on other factors. How’s everybody’s sales? Mine are really good right now and it’s keeping me burning the candle at both ends. People must be spending their $600 stipend.
Wow Julie…way to start the year off right! Very inspiring!
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What a great start to the year! Everyone’s on the board! Fantastic. Spreadsheet updated and I guess it’s no surprise that Julie wins this week! 😀
All weekly goal numbers have been updated, but I have a problem with the numbers for Utahbill and Libby. You gave me an ANNUAL total, and the weekly numbers cannot match that total as a whole number. I put it in as the lowest whole number, so the annual total is going to fall short. Let me know to adjust as you see fit.
Sharyn, we use the term Death Pile for anything that is sitting in our to-list pile that has exceeded what may be reasonably considered an acceptable time frame for listing, plus a buffer. Each person’s time frame is different. Someone like Libby, for example, may receive a trailer load of goods at a time, (or an entire household of stuff, as she works on consignment) so her listing time frame might be a few weeks. I buy stuff on sourcing runs, and enjoy our local thrift store which is only open on a Saturday. So it would be quite reasonable for me to say that my listing time frame would be one week: clear each week’s sourcing before I go out next week. However, as we learned during the pandemic, having a buffer of stuff to list for the weeks when we can’t go sourcing would be a good idea. How big of a buffer is also a personal factor. Libby might want two trailer loads as a buffer because she lists high numbers. (Sorry to use you so much, Libby, but you’re the biggest lister here!) I have the space to rack up an entire month’s worth, but you might not have a lot of storage, so you only want to have a week or two. Therefore, each person needs to work out for themselves what is Current Inventory and what is Death Pile inventory. Not as helpful as an actual number, but hopefully the explanation will allow you to create an actionable timeframe.
Have a good week, everyone!
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Urk! Sorry! Spreadsheet link!
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Gotcha, Amatino. I think you once had a challenge where the death piles had to be around a year old, but I can work with this better (not that I don’t have stuff older than a year 🙂 ).
I also want to thank Amatino for my challenge gift I received yesterday! This will be great for future online auction pickups. It might not show so well on the photo, but the ends of the shoes and hat are little balls! So cute!
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I listed 21 items.
I completed two death piles. One was the one that I finished up from last week, and the other was a pile of stuff that I accumulated in my dining room.
I’ve started on a bag of ties that I’ve had for about a year and a half. The problem is that I have a bin in the garage that I really need to tackle. Even if just to bring it in and clean up the items in it. These are things that require testing and research, so I grabbed an easy to do ties. BUT the ties don’t make much money, while this box of electronics will do much better even in parts/repair condition. I am posting this to keep myself accountable.
Finally, there was also a photograph your setup challenge. Here is mine. It’s in the hallway from the front door to the kitchen, so I have to put it up and take it down as I need it. I’m doing those ties, so the lights are set up high because I am photographing everything against the white poster board. On other occasions, I bend the poster board so that I can photograph an item against a white bottom and background.
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41 listings for me this week. I’m still working on the one death pile box and have 15 books left to list before I can count the box as emptied. I’m hoping to get those done today since there’s no shipping today because it’s a holiday.
Sharyn it’s so much fun to see your set-up. It makes me want to share my space too…perhaps in the next week sometime.
Stay safe everyone.
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37 listings for me. 0 death piles completed.
Congrats to everyone who completed a death pile this week. It feels great to get through those!
I was distracted this week because I started this terrible, awful, no good Whole30 diet challenge with a bunch of people from my gym this week. It requires so.much.cooking. I don’t recommend it and I’ll never do it again, but I’m committed to finishing out the 30 days. I’m blaming it for why I didn’t list much the first half of the week. Almost all of my listings are from the weekend.
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I listed 17 this week, mostly at the beginning of the week, which was fortunate as, by Thursday, I was too sick to get up and do anything. I’ve had 2 COVID tests now in 2 weeks, both the Standard tests, not the Rapid Results, and both negative. The doc said if it’s not COVID, it’s probably just the Common Flu. First time in my life I’ve been happy to be called “common”! 😀
My “box” for this month is a trolley full of sewing machines that have been waiting months to list. I’ve got 3 left to finish up for the January challenge, hopefully I’ll get them done on time. Great going for all of you who have already finished boxes! It does feel good, doesn’t it? With me actually making my weekly listing goals, I’m hoping to make a dent in my Death Shed, which will probably keep me listing for years!
Congrats to Sharyn for being first on the board for the January Pop Up Challenge! Not for nothing are you the Challenge winner for last year! I love your set up. I’ve been thinking of changing my photography set up from a booth to a lighting space. That will be sometime in the future, though.
Empathies, Julie B. A good diet can be a blessing. A bad one is a horror of epic proportions! Wishing you the best for the next 30 days.
Spreadsheet updated. VL takes the win, putting herself on the board with a point. Nice going! We’re doing really well so far, folks. Today, however, is the traditional Day of Quitting New Year Resolutions. Did you know that? But you’re not a quitter! I’m sure you’re all going to keep going because you’re AWESOME LISTERS!
Happy holidays, Utahbill! Looking forward to those numbers when you get back!
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Hey, VL, thank you. I am feeling a little better now. I was so sick last week that I didn’t work until Thursday! If it’s just flu, it sure was a whammy! I’m up and feeling much more myself today, which is great. Not 100% though, still coughing and feeling a little weaker than normal, but on the mend. yay!
I worked on easy-to-list sewing patterns to get 15 listings up this week. I was determined to make goal and these patterns have been sitting waiting for me for weeks now, so I’m clearing one death pile box (a tray, in this case) as I do this. Still don’t have one completely empty box to report as I have 2 sewing machines to list and this tray of patterns will never be emptied by the end of the week! I’ll be sure to get those 2 machines up so that I can at least say I’ve done one! 😀
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I’m on the board for the January Pop Up Challenge.
Here is my dedicated listing space. I put up a before photo that was after six weeks of clearing/tidying/rearranging (can you imagine how bad it was? LOL) and the after photo, which is how it is supposed to look. The items on it are the things I photographed today for listing this week.
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@Amatino –
I am totally jealous that you have a separate building just for eBay. I remember all the photos you posted during the construction and after final completion.
I want to know if you have a background for your items, or do you just photograph against the wood surface?
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Spreadsheet updated, Julie B wins again this week. Are you and VL going to be racing this year? LOL. Good luck to everyone! Remember, Libby cannot win this year. If she gets the highest listing number for a week, she will only get an Honorable Mention. So the field is OPEN!
This is the last week for the January Challenge AND the Pop Up Challenge. The January Challenge is to empty a Death Pile box. Now, folks, it doesn’t say “list” a box. You may find that some of the items in the box just have no value and have to be junked, or sent to Goodwill. You could sell them on Facebook, or your grandson could stroll through and yell “Cool hat!” The goal is to empty the box. NOT by moving it to a new box, no cheating! But the items need to move out of your possession, either virtually, by being listed, or by physically leaving your property. Also “box” is a term to cover one batch of items that you have been storing for a while, whether it’s an actual box, or a tote, or a hanging rod in your closet. So, go ahead, empty one “box” and clear some space. You know the universe needs you to make space for it to fill again, right? *wink*
For the Pop Up Challenge, you need to create a dedicated listing space. I did have a quiet mention that some folks are not happy to share photos. Understood. If you don’t want to share your photos, but you did create a dedicated listing space, please post about it on or before Monday to get your point.
January challenge and Pop Up challenge both end on Sunday, you need to post about them on or before Monday to get your points. Winners will be announced Tuesday.
Anyone keen to take the February Challenge?
@sharyn Will reply separately re backgrounds -
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Sharyn, sorry for late response. It has been one hell of a week!
In the “After” photo of my listing space, you can see the black edge on the left of my photobox. It’s an Amazon box, all white inside, but as you can see here, I use black felt when I need to photograph light colored items.
Larger items that cannot fit into the photobox, such as clothes, are photographed on the other side of the room where I have set up a small photobooth. I have a clothes rack like this one over which I have draped fabric as a backdrop. I have some lights that I use to illuminate. Everything I’m using in this set up, from the rack, to the fabric, to the lights, is thrifted, or on a massively discounted sale. I paid only $10 for the circle light and only $30 for the mannequin, which has an offset base so that I can put trousers on it. Oh… the foam board is Dollar Store. I paid full price for that. $1 for two boards.
When I have light colored clothing items, I roll back the white to reveal a dark suede type fabric ($7 for 5 yards at a thrift store) for that backdrop.
If I need to do flat-lay, I either put the board on a table and photograph against the wall, or use two boards, one as a backdrop and one as a base and I place it against the window for ambient light. For very big flats, I have a sheet of white oilskin fabric, which is rolled up under my listing table, and I put that on the floor in front of the photobooth.
My plan, eventually, is to get some proper photography umbrellas, because the lighting in the cabin is pretty low for photos, which I will use for the photo booth area. I’ve also been seriously considering getting rid of the photobox and clearing out that whole space to make it an extra large photo area, then wiring lighting under the shelf for downward light, and mounting lights on both sides, to turn that entire space into an oversized lightbox. I will flood it with lights and add huge diffusers. That whole space is about 5 foot wide by nearly 3 foot high and nearly 3 feet deep. You can see the space a little better in this photo, from when I was first setting up the cabin.
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LOL. Libby, you’re the Listing Queen. We have to give everyone else a chance to win just once every two years! 😀 You’ll get an honorable mention every week you top the pops, though!
It was a really rough week for me, so unfortunately I only managed 7. Will try to make up the shortfall, but I have to drive down to Corpus for two days for non-eBay work (juggling 4 businesses has its negatives!) and dance classes recommence this week, so I’m going to be a very short on time.
The spreadsheet will be late due to me being away, sorry!
Don’t forget – log all your DP boxes today for the January challenge, and tell us about your listing space and how you set it up for the PopUp challenge. Photos not necessary unless you want to.
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February Challenge: Paper
In the absence of any volunteers for the February Challenge, we’re going back to the most popular challenges for last year and taking #2 in the list: paper.
The 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 February…first, second and third place.
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I had a light week as well with 9. I had too many non-eBay related stuff going on. I have eBay and a part time job, but then there’s the family thing.
My total for the death piles is 3. I did start working on the one I pulled from the garage, but didn’t get that far.
@Amatino – Your setup is incredible! Just having something outside the house is very cool, but then your space is super nice and large. I know you’ve mentioned your perfectionism/OCD when it comes to photography, but I found the diffuser to be unhelpful because I want as much light as possible. I stopped using the third light that goes in front of the item because I kept tripping over it and having to replace the broken bulb. Those bulbs aren’t cheap. I’m sure you can figure it out, though. -
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33 listings. I started but did not finish a dp box – rats.
I think I’ll kill February’s pop up challenge because I’ve found a honey hole for sourcing good books recently. I’ve probably listed more books in the last two weeks than I’ve listed in the last 2 years combined.
Have a good week everyone!
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Yippee – the Paper Challenge! Paper is my favorite challenge – I’m a heavy sewing pattern lister. Although not big money makers, they are easy to photograph, list, store and ship – I love that!
Amatino, I have a suggestion for a pop up challenge: New ideas for monthly challenges. Points awarded for the most new ideas generated. Then we could all vote on which to implement – or you could just randomly pick one to use each month. (I’m not sure we have enough popular challenges from last year to make it through all of 2021 without some new ideas…)
I had 10 new listings for the week. I’m not claiming a second death pile point because the second bag I emptied wasn’t crammed full. I’m going to consider that some of the stuff from the second bag could have been crammed into the first bag. So now I’m 100% sure that I’ve emptied one crammed full death pile container. Better to err on the side of caution.
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Listed 20 items this week.
I finished a second death pile box of small art work. I had cherry picked it already so not thrilled with all of the contents and condition issues.
I’m so jealous of you all who have dedicated Ebay workspaces. I’ll circle back around later to look at Amatino’s photos.
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Listed 35 items this week AND finished two more death pile boxes, which brings my death pile box count to 4. Really happy about that. Only about a kazillion more to go! Which brings me to my big big project for the week…..once and for all getting on top of the garage. Or at least being able to walk around and through the garage. Last year was crazy for me and when things get crazy I tend to toss things and shove things…well the garage was a disaster. We’ve spent the last 3 days working our way through everything and now it’s all neatly on shelves, or in precision stacked piles and marked properly and you can walk around the whole place and man am I tired but man it feels good. I know the two crucial things, what’s there and where it’s located. It’s a really big deal for me.
I am also super excited about the paper challenge! I now know where there’s three boxes of sewing patterns so I too will be listing them like crazy. Last year the challenge fell on a month where I wasn’t listing much but this time will be different.
I like the idea of a pop-up challenge for new ideas for monthly challenges. I also like the idea of repeating 2 or 3 of the very most popular challenges throughout the year. I certainly would be up for doing another death pile box challenge this summer or fall.
Hope everyone has a great week, and Amatino, hope you have a MUCH better week than you have been having.
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ChristineR – updated for last week.
Wow, what a rollercoaster! Libby wins the week – but she can’t – so she gets a GOLD number with a blue background for an Honorable Mention, and the win goes to Vintage Lacy, who is now tied for points with Julie B! Nail-biting race this week! LOL. Keep it up! I really enjoy these jostles at the winning post!
January Challenge: Death Boxes!
Wouldja look at that! You folks very kindly aligned yourself into order of winners! I know I said I’d do the winners by random selection, but I was expecting folks to go to town with this challenge and I’d have to choose from the entire group. Instead, the person who listed the most, listed exactly the number for first place. The person who listed the next highest, listed exactly the number for 2nd place. Our 3rd place winner, you guessed it, listed precisely that number! Does it end there? Oh, no! Our participation points go to the folks who were kind enough to list their own numbers too! Looks like 2021 is just 2020, but old enough to drink! ROFL. Congratulations, everyone!Sharyn and I each get one point for our listing spaces, and VL gets one point for spending 3 days sorting out her garage. It’s not a listing space, but it sure does contribute towards listing!
Pop Up Challenge: You have the weekend to throw out ideas for monthly challenges. Think up as many as you can and toss them up. I’ll create a poll and the top three winning ideas will take the challenge prize and be added to the monthly challenges.
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Sorry! Spreadsheet link for you.
As far as I know the link stays the same, so you can just go back to a previous link if I forget to post it one week. If it doesn’t, let me know and I’ll be sure to update it.
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I’ve already got 7 challenge ideas so I’m posting them now before I forget what they are – lol!
1. Plastic: List anything primarily made of plastic or resin.
2. $49.95 And Up: BIN’s listed for over $49.95 asking price. For auctions if the item sells for $49.95 or more it counts.
3. Needs Work: List items that require extra attention before you can list them, e.g. major cleaning, mending, counting, testing or repair.
4. Multiples: Listings with multiple quantities offered for sale.
5. Colorful: Anything that is extremely bright colored or multi-colored.
6. Seasonal: Anything listed with one of the following seasons in the listing title: Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer.
7. Holiday: Anything that fits the theme of a specific holiday.
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I have three challenge ideas to start with and I too don’t want to forget them!
1. Travel—-anything to do with travel or featuring places away from you. Books, maps, luggage, anything with the name of a place on it. The books can be fiction or nonfiction, for example a novel set in Italy or Florida. There could be room for creative justification, as well.
2. Color Choice—–pick a color on the 1st of the month and get points for listing anything primarily that color. Excludes black or white, as those are too easy. The item could be more than one color, but the primary color must be the one you choose. For example, if you choose the color red, a blue plate with red flowers doesn’t count. A red plate with white flowers, or a white plate with red flowers would count.
3. Heavy Metal–anything that is primarily made of metal. Jewelry, trays, kitchen items, electronics, and so forth.
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Queen Libby, if we don’t have you to look up to and inspire us, who will? You’re our goal, our target, our role model. “One day,” we say dreamily, “I’ll list as much as Libby!” Don’t stop feeding our aspirations, never feel embarrassed for excelling. You’re our star in the East, and we’re going to hook up our chariots and chase you like Romans in the arena! 😀
So says I… who managed to list an incredible one this week. Aren’t you all impressed? I’m sure QL is quaking in her boots! ROFL
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44 listings for the week for me. 19 were for the paper challenge. I’m having fun gearing up for the paper challenge this month. I did so dismally last time we had it, and especially after I did some serious smack talk! Ha!
I have three more ideas for the ideas challenge:
1. MCM challenge–mid century modern challenge. List anything from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. You could also get creative and list items that are vintage inspired from that era. As long as you can justify it!
2. Gift challenge– list items that could be a gift for someone else. This leaves many possibilities in lots of categories. Or, ahem, something that you have been gifted! (this would not include items given to you to list.)
3. True Scavenger challenge– list items that you have found for free. Or things that you have been given to list….as long as you didn’t pay for an item, it’s a true scavenge. It’s free money, time to list it!
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Hey, Amatino, you did better than me! I had my first 0 listings week since maybe my last vacation. My problems had to do with too much going on outside of eBay, having a difficult to pack sale, and having to plan my next load to list. I did finally look through a large haul of linens, so that will help me for this week.
I can’t win the challenge award this year for the same reason as Libby can’t win the listing one, but I’m willing to throw in ideas! I’m partial to the items requiring testing or repair. I still have silver plate flatware and jewelry to list, so shiny or silver color stuff is good.
Trying to come up with something different, how about items made in another country (other than China, which is too common)? Or items made in the USA.
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Good morning all! What an interesting week. QL clocked in with an eye-popping honorable mention! And VL and Julie B are still in the lead, with JB juuuuust edging out VL for the win!
Looking at the spreadsheet, it’s only week 5 and I’m 20 listings behind schedule for my annual goal. Sheesh, it clocks up fast! But there’s nothing like seeing your numbers to let you know why your sales are low, is there? LOL
Pop Up Challenge Winners! VT raced to an early win with 7 ideas, and VL managed to almost match her with 6. Sharyn takes 3rd place with her 4. (No, Sharyn, you can’t win, but you can place.) And JB gets a participation point. Great work, everyone!
I will post the poll below. For practical reasons, I’ve shortened the answers. Scroll up to read them in full before voting. You may vote for as many as you wish, but please vote for at least one. There were a total of 18 suggestions, but one was a duplicate (both Sharyn and VT mentioned cleaning/mending) and one was almost a duplicate, so I’ve altered it slightly (VL said metal and Sharyn suggested shiny or silver.)
Spreadsheet updated. I’ve hidden a bunch of columns so that it’s easier to read across to the challenge sections. I’ll unhide them as we progress through the year.
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For some reason, it’s refusing to load the poll into the page today. Here’s the link instead
https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=6022a7d4e4b01140b9f9c506
Voting closes next Monday
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Happy Monday, y’all.
52 listings for me this week. I finally got into a death pile so hopefully the listing frenzy continues. I almost stopped after 40 listings this week but then I remembered that Vintage Lucy and I tend to list about the same # as each other each week so that motivated me to push thru and list more! I never thought I was a competitive person before, hehe.
13 listings meet the February challenge.
Have a great week everyone!
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Julie you are so funny! Apparently we are motivated by each other because I have a nice big number to post too. It was greatly helped by the fact that we had a big ice storm come through for part of the week and I didn’t leave my house for several days. Charlie’s from Michigan and knows how to drive on ice so he was kind enough to take my shipments to the post office each day. There was over an inch of ice on the local roads and I don’t do ice. I also really wanted to get caught up and ahead of my goal for the first time this year.
70 listings for the week. 35 were for the paper challenge.
Hope everyone has a great week.
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Whoa! You ladies are phenomenal! It’s so funny to see you two duke it out. 😀
Oh, JB, it’s Vintage LACY, not Lucy. Although I’m seriously lazy and tend to shorten everyone to an acronym at some point bc it’s easier to type in “short” hand. LOL
We are all feeling motivated, I guess. Not only did I manage to list my weekly goal of 15, but I listed an extra 5 to try to make up some of my backlog. AND of those 20 listings, a whopping 19 counted for the paper challenge. Some days I scare me!
Now, as you all know, I live in Texas. So it’s a major shock to the system to wake up to this
We have a new foster dog at the moment, and it was her first time in the snow. It went something like this:
“Yay!.. wait… oh HECK no!”And did you know that dawn and sunrise are not the same thing? I did not. Dawn and daybreak are the same, also called First Light. It occurs about 30 minutes before sunrise which, according to the meteorologists, is when the sun actually crests the horizon, like this:
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23 new listings for me, I also exceeded my weekly goal of 10. 15 of those listings met the paper challenge.
This terrible weather is great for listing apparently. We’ve experienced high temperatures of zero here in Colorado and lows in the minus numbers. It’s warming up though; I’m going hiking tomorrow, Friday and Saturday this week.
Amatino: the dog tracks making an abrupt u-turn in the snow is a great photo – it kind of says it all!
Wishing everyone a warmer week ahead!
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Amatino – I really enjoy your sense of humor and writing style. I wouldn’t be surprised if writing was part of your career at one time. I did hear about the snow in Texas. Crazy. In NJ, we’ve had several snow and wintery mix type storms. The past two winters have been very mild. Last year, we didn’t have any snow at all. The one nice thing about this month is that I am starting to do some summer vacation planning!
Anyway, I managed 11 listings this week; mostly linens which take longer (for me).
Nothing that met the challenge. As I mentioned previously, I don’t have any paper stuff in my unlisted inventory.
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LOL, thanks Sharyn. And yes, I did have a business as a freelance writer for a while.
I understand that all you Northerners are used to this weather. In Texas, however, the only reasons we have ice and salt is to mix with our Tequila.
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She’s ba-a-a-ack! WHAT a week! No power, no water, no work. Although.. that could be a small semantic issue. We worked HARD! Running around a ranch sorting out the necessities in record cold is quite a lot of work, it turns out! We’re lucky that we have a wood stove and wood, and two trips out to the wood splitter ensured that we could burn all through the power outages, but our outdoor critters needed food, water that didn’t freeze, and warmth, and that was a major undertaking each day. However, we were able to make do with our rainwater tank and our wood stove. I feel bad for the city folks who were without water, heat, or power. That must have been brutal!
VL and JB made me laugh this week with their personal Battle for Supremacy! VL got a convincing win, so now they tie for points. It’s going to be a grand year, I can’t wait to see how this plays out. *fetches popcorn and gets cosy* LOL Spreadsheet updated.
On to our Pop Up challenge.
Tie for first place were Made in the USA and Needs Work, with 14% of the votes. Second place went to Metal, taking 10% of the votes. If you looked at the spreadsheet, you may have noticed that I had already populated the months with the Challenges. I’ve added Made in the USA to the July spot, and Needs work has gone to the August place. I’ve changed the Gold Challenge, to Gold, Silver and Other Metals in April.
The spot for third went to no less than 6 different options, each scoring 7%. One of them was “another country, excluding China” but I’ve made an executive decision to not use it, as we already have Made in USA. One was Specific Holiday, another One of the Seasons, so I’ve changed the May Challenge from “Halloween” to “Specific Holiday/Season” and you can insert whichever holiday or season you like. This also wipes out the Christmas in July category, as you can use Christmas in the Holiday challenge.
Personal Items got into the June slot, the MCM Challenge bumped out the repeat Textiles in March (because Textiles in September makes more sense, as so many folks are going back to school. They need curtains, bedding, etc.) And Travel went into December. This was the only way I could fit in all the categories.
Everything else was voted at 3% or less, so they didn’t make it into the running.
Glad to be back. Hope everyone else had a good week and see you all Monday!
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So glad you are able to stay warm Amatino. Sure have been thinking about you this past week. One of my friends moved from Portland to Austin last summer and boy have they been struggling. She says she didn’t sign up for this when she agreed to leave the Northwest for Texas!
When I looked at the spreadsheet all the monthly slots are so jammed together (at least for me) that I can’t read any of the headers. Would it be possible to do a list of the monthly challenges below on the spreadsheet, or perhaps on a post in list format here? It would be so helpful to plan ahead.
Glad you are back!
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Amatino –
I was so thinking about you, and I’m so glad you are OK. For my part time job, I had a telecon today to discuss some questions with a vendor. Ends up that the vendor is in Texas, and the lead engineer still did not have power at his home, so wasn’t able to join the call. The sales guy said that he would have to reschedule for next week.
He said that the lines to get in the grocery store could be up to 2 hours of waiting, and then you were only allowed to buy one bag of stuff. The shelves were nearly empty.
I recall that our grocery store lost power, so had to close, when Superstorm Sandy hit here in NJ several years ago.
You are definitely more resilient in the country. I’m glad to hear that you had a wood burning stove. The temperatures were around 55F when Sandy hit, so we were cold, but not frozen.
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Thanks for the kind words, folks!
@Sharyn, 50s I can handle. It was when it hit MINUS SEVEN that I got a little miffed! LOL@VL, your wish… etc…
Jan – Death Box
Feb – Paper
Mar – MCM Challenge
Apr – Gold, Silver & Metals
May – Specific Holiday/Season
Jun – Personal Items
Jul – Made in the USA
Aug – Needs Work
Sep – Textiles
Oct – Paper
Nov – Death Box
Dec – TravelI will, of course, do a monthly update on what the challenge is and the parameters of each one. And I can add the monthly challenge information to the TELC information page, if you’d like, so that you can just search for and refer to it whenever you need to. The link to the info page will be at the top of each quarterly thread.
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Added to the Rules and Info page, found here
Favorite the thread and you’ll be able to access it any time from your profile.
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Kicking off the week’s numbers with my first zero for the year. Sigh…
We’re still without water and trying to resolve our problems as well as a neighbor’s. However, I’m back at work this week, so I’m going to make a push to list a lot and catch up some of my numbers. Y’all keep your fingers crossed for me: No more calamities this year, I got them all out the way in the first seven weeks!
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And we all thought that 2021 would be a better year.
I listed just six.
Linens take so long to photograph & list, but they do generate more interest and faster sales. I washed some over the weekend, and then I will be done once I list those. I want to list something easy and fast after I’m done, just because.
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Thanks for putting the monthly challenge list together Amatino.
17 for me this week. 0 met the paper challenge. I had a horrible week having to put my 18 year old cat to sleep. I had him for over 40% of my life. I spent the second half of the week doing absolutely nothing except grieving, eating & watching comedy stand up specials to help cope. I’m feeling better today and have started listing again this morning.
Here’s to all of us having a better week this week.
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@julie-b I am so sorry for your loss. It is devastating, I lost my old man chihuahua in October and I am still struggling 🙁
It sounds like it was a challenging week for everyone. I didn’t even post last week because we were shoveling and out and deicing, and it is still coming . . . we have water and power though, so I am not complaining, just sending prayers out to those of you struggling.
As for last week, I listed 39, and no paper.
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Julie so very sorry to hear about your cat. It’s absolutely wrenching to lose a beloved creature that’s been such a big part of your life for so many years. My heart aches for you.
Amatino- my gosh woman you have been through the wringer. Here’s hoping for brighter days ahead, and very soon! Thanks so much for listing out the monthly challenges for the year. With everything you have going on I really appreciate the extra effort.
As for me, 60 listings for the week and 40 were for the paper challenge. I’m focused on beating my goal each week so I can build up some reserves against the chaotic last third of the year. From September on, it seems very difficult to hit that 40 each week I need so I’m hoping to be really far ahead by the end of August. On a brighter note, the reason September is going to be a bit crazier this year is that Charlie and I finally set a wedding date and we will be getting married the last Saturday in September. Just starting to work on the details now.
Truly hoping this is a much better week for everyone!
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Kicking off the week’s numbers as it’s ffff—-how late? on a Sunday night and I’m exhausted. I’ve got a ton of stuff to get through tomorrow so figured, as I’ve just finished my last listing for tonight, I’d get this done early.
As of this morning, I had listed one item. Closing off tonight, I’m up to 18 of which 13 are paper.
It has been one heck of a week and I’m done in. Our well is toast, so we’re “on the list” for a brand new system. Tomorrow I have to beg the specialist to squeeze us in for an estimate because the insurance closes the claim after 10 days of inactivity, but the chances are fairly high we will not have it done until the end of March. If then. Of all the conveniences of modern life, I miss indoor plumbing the most! I’ve spent a lot of time this week hunting for somebody to fix the well, hunting for plumbing supplies (sold out all over the State, we’re getting stuff shipped to us from Michigan!), and trying to find workarounds to handle the myriad issues caused by not having running water. As well as the normal fun and games here on the ranch!
Our dog passed away suddenly at the beginning of the year and we’re fostering a fearful cutie. As I’m listed as a “don’t do puppies” she was sent to us as a middle-aged girl who sleeps a lot. In the shelter, maybe. Here, she’s a teenage tearaway who chews everything and has more energy than a Duracell battery. She has annihilated the hubs new slippers (he wore them once), a cushion, her own dog bed, the corner of the cat condo, my sneakers, one of my rubber mud boots, a baseball, another pair of the hubs slippers (old pair) – pretty much anything that isn’t nailed down. We’ve installed a baby gate at the entrance to the hall so that she can no longer steal clothes out of the laundry hamper, pillows off beds, or shoes out of the closet. She has eaten eggs out of the nesting boxes and killed one of the chickens. (We suspect the chicken was in the nesting box, pecked at her, and she snapped at it in fright.) It’s like having a toddler in the house. When it goes quiet, you know she’s up to no good! On the plus side, I’m really effective at Imminent Death discipline, so she generally only makes a mistake once. Unfortunately, chewing everything in sight, including my fingers, does not constitute a mistake. My old dog is thrilled. He’s never received so many chew bones in one day before!
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Thought you would enjoy this picture of what happened when I went to class (the foster dog is the brown one)
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Amatino, I’m so sorry to hear about the continued problems caused by the (not so) great Texas freeze. Wishing you back to running water ASAP. It’s amazing that you are able to list at all with everything you’re dealing with. But we don’t call you “Our Fearless Leader” for nothing!
I managed 10 new listings for the week and made my goal, but no gold star for extra effort for me. 9 of those listings met the paper challenge. My recount for my paper listings for the month is 53 (I had missed 2 paper items in my total for week one).
VL: Congratulations on setting the date!!!
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Thank you everyone for your condolences last week. It meant a lot.
Amatino – That dog is so happy to finally be in a home, she just can’t contain herself. 🙂 She must have been depressed while at the kennel. I love the before and after photos, hehe.
55 listings for me, 5 were paper.
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So much going on with everyone here. I started out writing condolences/congratulations/empathy, but I figured this would get too long. Just know that I read each post and feel for each one of you as if I knew you IRL.
I listed a measly 5 items this week. Again, they were all linens, which take longer, plus I was busy on my day job. For a mental break, I got out the rest of my whiskey pitchers, which I bought 1 1/2 years ago, and I should be able to list them quickly. There’s over 40 of them, and I have a goal of listing them all this week. We’ll see as the day job is still busier than normal.
So happy to have moved out all those linens, and, with the whiskey pitchers out of the way, I actually have some room in my basement! I decided to go to an outside auction on Saturday as a way to do something fun. I promised myself to be careful as I still have plenty of unlisted inventory. I won only one bid of $5 for some artwork:
uh oh
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Holy cow Sharyn, that’s a LOT of artwork. Especially for $5! I hope there are some gems in there. But even if not, you can’t go wrong at that price!
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VT – It was so funny, in a way. I think that the auctioneer was getting tired and didn’t want to deal with breaking it into lots. At first, people selected one or two pieces, and he would auction just those. That creates “perceived” value, I think, and the prices went up to $20 or so. Then, when he wasn’t getting much interest right away for the rest, I raised my hand, and he didn’t even bother looking for another bid.
Last night, I started dusting them off so that I can bring them into the house. Of note, one was a signed print commemorating the release of a US stamp. I have to check if the signature is the artist who designed the stamp, but I assume it is. There is a commemorative plaque with pennies and nickels that were made during WWII with steel and other metals that weren’t being used for the war effort. There are some decent paintings with really fancy wood frames. I haven’t looked at everything, especially the ones in the bins, but I’m sure there are other stars in there. There are some so-so paintings & prints that have sell-able wood frames. There are some nice prints or needlepoints that will be better sold without the frame. Yes, I will make some very decent money.
Finally, there’s the flea market stuff that I’ll probably give away for free on the local freecycling Facebook page.
Even funnier, though, someone came over to me and bought an old photograph in a frame for $5 (bringing my total to $0.75 for the buyer’s premium). Then two other people gave me extra art they had bought and didn’t want.
I’ll be losing that freed up space very soon.
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Yes, I’ve done that with needlepoints in the past as well.
I’ve also seen listings for a group of older wood frames just for decorating. It’s a relatively new trend using empty frames.
https://www.decoist.com/empty-frames-decorating-ideas/?chrome=1&D2c=1&A1c=1
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I listed 1! I think that might be my total for the month, actually. Plus I relisted something that was returned like a month ago. I’m on an upward trajectory, ha.
Amatino, it’s a good thing that you have such a wonderful sense of humor – that will see you through! I hope everything gets fixed soon.
Sharyn, that’s an amazing haul for 75 cents.
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MARCH CHALLENGE!
Haha! You thought I forgot! Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor lack of water will stop me from laying the next challenge upon you. (Power outage might, for lack of internet, but I gots me some power!) 😀
Our own VL brought this one upon you folks. You also voted it up, so now you gotta bring it!
MCM challenge–mid century modern challenge. List anything from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. You could also get creative and list items that are vintage inspired from that era. As long as you can justify it!
Challenge ends on Wednesday March 31st.
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I only listed two items last week. I just started a new Camp Host job in a somewhat remote area, but surprisingly the cell phone service is good enough to use my phone as a hotspot. So, I will be undertaking the mobile listing challenge again. Wish me luck.
Have a great week everyone!
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Wow, Sharyn, that is a seriously fabulous haul…I am so jealous! We did make it to our first estate sale in a long while, on Saturday. Professionally run, so most prices were too high for picking but even so Charlie got some vintage books and I scored an old chicken feeder and a few dibs and dabs. I am seriously chomping at the bit to start going back to the bins and it should be safe in another month or so. Y’all mentioned needlepoint and I wanted to add to pick up any crewel work you see. Even the garish crewel work from the 70s is getting really good prices….it’s a thing right now, as well as old baskets, especially ones that can be hung on the wall. It’s all part of the MCM that the hipsters are crazy about.
I listed 45 items last week and 35 were for the paper challenge. I believe my final paper challenge number for the month is 129. Looking forward to the MCM challenge!
Hope everyone has a safe and good week ahead.
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Sharyn, you had me snorting tea all over my monitor. Do you know how much work it takes to clean up??? What an incredible haul. I love it!
Welcome back, JR. Hope your life evens up so that you can list more.
Congratulations on the new job, Utahbill. I may have a camera app recommendation for everyone later this month that might help you list more.
Spreadsheet updated. Julie B wins this week, bringing her tie for points, yet again, with VL. This is SUCH fun! Loving it!
On to our February Paper Challenge!
VT, you have been dethroned as the Queen of Paper! VL clocked in with an astonishing 129 items! VT, as the First Princess, came in with 53, and JB and I tied for 3rd with 32. Congratulations all! Points on the board.
I have to admit I’m a teeny bit stumped for the March challenge. I don’t know much about MCM, so I guess I’m going to be learning something new this month! Anyone want to post tips about what would count as MCM?
Spreadsheet updated. You will see a new column at the far right. This is the difference between your stated goal for the year and your actual Year to Date numbers. If you are negative, you have listed more than your goal for the year. If you are positive, you have a little catching up to do. If you want me to change your goal, let me know.
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13 new listings for me, none met the MCM challenge.
I got the J&J vaccine on Saturday. The hospital that hosted the vaccine event sent an email afterwards that said the J&J vaccine is fully effective 2-3 weeks from your vaccine date. So as of March 27th I’ll be shopping like a maniac. I can’t wait!!!
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LOL! Shoppers Anonymous meets on Mondays! 😀 Congratulations, VT. I think most of us are feeling the need for some not-retail therapy!
JB’s post about productivity interested me a lot because I posted a similar question, worded differently, on another group I belong to. I got 10 points from that very busy discussion and, so far, 10 points from JB’s post on this group. If you guys want me to post the points in bullet form, let me know.
I introduce with that information, because I’ve been putting these tips to use, along with my eBay bestie who is the most motivating friend, and it shows in my numbers (and my sales!) Last week I managed to list a whopping (for me) 22 items! Of those, if the criteria is that you list items in the period 1930-1970, an astounding 13 met the MCM challenge. I was lucky, because a lot of them actually had the dates printed on them! Books with publication dates, or pottery where the person was kind enough to put the date on the bottom. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a clue! LOL
We are still without water, but our neighbor’s house, half a mile away, has limped back into productivity. We’re the unofficial caretakers and they invited us to use their guest cottage for our daily showers. The hubs has been repairing sections of piping there and we were able to go for a shower for the first time three days ago. Bliss! He still has some cracks to repair, but the solution at the moment is turn off the lines to everything but the guest cottage, and then only turn the water on for our shower and off again when we’re done. He’s trying to fit in repairs between our busy work schedules, but as the neighbor’s don’t think they’ll be back until April, we have time. And I’m so grateful for hot showers!
Wishing you all a great week! And say thanks to whatever deity you believe in for indoor plumbing!
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I listed 42; mostly the remains of a whiskey pitcher haul from Sept 2019.
There is a difference between mid-century and mid-century modern (MCM). Depending on how it is defined, something from the 50s through 70s may or may not meet the criteria. It has to do with the style as well as the age.
For instance, I sold a few of those whiskey pitchers pretty quickly. The ones in first link below could be consider MCM. I think that they have that look, or close enough. The second one is more old fashioned, but I think from the correct time period.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184699347218
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184692200039
So, could someone provide a bit more clarity on what is MCM for this challenge? Does it have to have that modern sort of look?
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I had 0 new listings last week. I was pretty busy getting set up and used to the routine of the campground I am at. The good news is despite the remote location I have good enough internets service to list. So, next week I hope to post a better number than a big fat 0.
Have a great week everyone.
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Congrats VT on getting the vaccine! I was lucky enough to get my 2nd Pfizer shot last week and am chomping at the bit to get back out picking. Charlie gets his 2nd shot this week and we are planning a bin celebration soon……the trifecta of bin runs, hitting all three in the Portland area.
Amatino I would love for you to post bullet points on productivity. I need all the help I can get!
Sharyn, you are correct in that MCM and mid-century are two different things. When I suggested the challenge I had in mind a challenge of listing items from a certain era, so my calling it MCM was an attempt at a clever name. As far as I am concerned, anything listed from the 1930s through the 1970s counts towards the challenge. I hope that clarifies things for everyone.
I concentrated on vintage sewing patterns and old books and was able to list 18 items towards the challenge, out of a total of 40 for the week.
Hope everyone has a great week!
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Thanks, VL! Congrats to you & Charlie on getting your vaccines also. Thanks also for the MCM challenge criteria update. I’ll have to look to see if any of my listings last week did meet those guidelines. I was thinking it would be as Sharyn thought, items with MCM style only.
I’m even more excited now because I just read the new CDC guidelines which state that the J& J vaccine is completely effective after just 2 weeks. So my shopping commencement date has now been moved up to March 20th! I’m also thinking about a bins run. We have 3 in the Denver area. I have a favorite location though and I’ve never been to one of the locations here due to others saying the picking is super aggressive there. Luckily that location is the farthest from my house.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week!
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46 listings for me. 0 for the MCM challenge.
Amatino – I can’t believe you’re still without water! I have well water too so when the power goes out we lose water because there isn’t any other way to pump it out of the ground and into the house without good old electricity. The longest for us has been maybe 2 days. I was the biggest baby about it the entire 2 days, I’m sure. Fingers crossed you get water lickety split!
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VL – Thanks for that clarification! In that case, I count 29 for the challenge!
Amatino – Sucks that you still don’t have water. I’m guessing that every plumber in the area is working 80 hour weeks, so hiring one to do the work for you would be a challenge.
I’ve been waiting to signup for the vaccine. I can wait for others to get theirs first. However, I did go to an outside auction on Feb 27 (where I got all that artwork). It was a bit crowded, and maybe 30% wore masks, so I’ve taken a risk here and there. I should sign up now, so that I’m in line come later in the Spring.
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Sharyn, I’d say it helps to sign up way in advance of when your age category is expected to be eligible for the vaccine. My hubs signed us up everywhere months in advance of our group opening up and we got the vaccine one day after our age was eligible.
It’s also a good idea to sign up at as many locations as you possibly can. We signed up at over a dozen different places but we still have only heard back from the hospital where we actually got the vaccine. No word at all from all those other locations where we signed up. But hopefully with so many doses becoming available now vaccine appointments will become a lot easier to obtain.
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Water – we had a plumber out. He said we need a well specialist, it’s way over the paygrade of a mere plumber. Most well specialists aren’t even taking calls any more, but the one we did get put us on the list. We MIGHT (is there a giant version of MIGHT anywhere?) get our pump and switch replaced by end of March or April, but the tanks etc. will be about six months’ wait. Or so.
COVID – I’m allergic to the flu vaccine and I have anaphylactic reactions so they’ve told me no dice. I have to develop herd immunity the old fashioned way. 😛
Spreadsheet updated. And how! First up: JB takes the win, moving into the lead on points. And secondly; I finally got around to pulling up the spreadsheet via the link instead of on my PC and see what you mean about the headings being smooshed, so I have copied the monthly challenges below the points section so that they’re easy to find and see without having to track down threads here on the forum.
Finally.. dun dun dunnnnnn…. new pop up challenge! PURSES! Bags, handbags, totes, cosmetic bags, wallets, duffle bags, suitcases, briefcases, messenger bags, hobo bags… they all count. But for brevity, I’m gonna stick with Purses! It’s the Pop Up Purses challenge! You have until Sunday to list list list. Final numbers must be posted on Monday with the usual. Winner on Tuesday.
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Happy Sunday, y’all! I’m going to be leaving very early tomorrow and out all day, so I’m posting my numbers today in case I don’t make it tomorrow.
Listed 15, deliberately listing my weekly goal. I worked more hours in my store than I have in ages, but didn’t manage to whack the listing numbers. Difficult listings this week!
Of the 15, 4 fell into the MCM challenge, and 5 were in the Pop Up Purse challenge. I actually created 19 bag drafts, but it was a heck of a week and I didn’t manage to list any more.
Still no water. I’m getting very good at being an authentic 1800s rancher wife! LOL
Wishing you all a great week.
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“1800s rancher wife” LOL! Sorry for your troubles Amatino but at least you’re keeping a sense of humor about it. Running tap water is going to feel so luxurious after all of this.
50 listings for me. I spent 2 days at an estate sale buying the most epic haul of my life. I won’t have to thrift for several months so I’m expecting my listing numbers to go up, up, up for awhile.
0 for MCM and pop up challenge.
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15 new listings for me, 2 met the bag pop up challenge. None for MCM.
I’m about to attempt walking my orders to the mailbox, we had 20″ snow this weekend. It’s gorgeous, but I’m happy we didn’t get the 60″ of snow that was originally predicted.
Julie B: Congrats on the epic estate sale, how fun!
Amatino: I’m so sorry about the continued lack of water on the ranch. You’re a trooper.
Wishing everyone a great week ahead!
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I listed five. One for the purse challenge (I actually went in my closet to find something so that I could participate 🙂 ), and one for the MCM.
My day job has been very busy lately, so I haven’t found as much time for listing.
Julie: What fun, and good luck with that haul! I’ve just started to list the art from my haul a few weeks ago.
Amatino: I was in a Zoom meeting with the vendor from Texas I mentioned a while back. He mentioned as much about not being able to get a plumber to come in and that the plumbing isles in places like Home Depot are bare. Ugh, I hope something works out soon.
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Julie congrats on the epic haul! You say you won’t have to go picking for several months…but will you be able to stay away? (grin)
VT my youngest brother lives in Colorado Springs and he’s SO over the snow. He even mentioned moving to Florida some day when he retires from teaching years from now.
Amatino, let me add to the general hand-wringing over your water situation. But I did want to ask…..just what DOES an 1800s rancher wife wear?
Our bin adventure was a huge success yesterday, although we ended up not doing the trifecta of all three bins. After the 2nd store Ruby the minivan was full and we were tired and triumphant so we decided to get some Vietnamese sandwiches and call it a day. I had some MCM items lined up to list last night but I got caught up in my new haul and listed some new patterns instead, some of which listed for very nice prices, as they turned out to be both popular and rare. I love when that happens!
60 items for the week, 1 for the MCM challenge and none for the purse challenge.
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VL – I’m glad to hear your bins trip was a success! I’m eagerly planning my own return to the bins.
I’m envious of your rare patterns find! I haven’t found many patterns at the bins, but a nearby thrift always has them for around $1, and our craft resale shop sells them for 50 cents. My best find so far was a Vogue Issey Miyake pattern for $1 that has an $80 eBay sold comp.
Gotta love that!
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VT – that Vogue pattern is an awesome find! I always pick up Vogue patterns when I see them. I sold one this past weekend for $39! Finding patterns at the bins is hit or miss. I only pick them up if the sleeve is in good shape and the tissue is factory folded/uncut. Since I pay perhaps 30 cents each, I can afford the uncertainty of which ones will sell for decent money. There’s idiots on ebay selling patterns for 99 cents, which I don’t understand the logic of that at ALL. The better ones I found yesterday will sell for $15-18 each and that’s a nice chunk of change.
Keep your eyes open for Renaissance costume patterns. I found half a dozen of those at the bins two summers ago, and they all sold for $20-24.
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Welcome back, JR! Glad you made target this week!
JB – awesome haul! But… you know you’re gonna go out again, don’t you? LOL
Thanks for the water wishes, everyone. VL, she wears this…
(You thought you had me, didn’t you! Hahahahahahaha!)
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Spreadsheet updated and VL wins, taking us back to a tie. I feel like I’m at Wimbledon! 😀
Pop Up Purse challenge: After spending an entire day rearranging the shed to find my box of purses, because I knew I had one!, I won my own challenge with 5 listed. VT takes 2nd with 2, and Sharyn gets third. No participation points this round. Obviously not a good pop up! I’ll have to come up with something better for the next one.
Don’t forget the MCM Challenge! It’s easier than you think. List anything dated between 1930 and 1970 to get on the board!
Have a great week, y’all!
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Hey Y’all,
56 listings for me. Clothing takes a lot of time to list but I found a hack that is speeding up my process slightly – I’m taking measurements while photographing the clothes and writing the measurements directly onto a whiteboard which I take a photo of to include in the listing’s photos. In the item description I simply say, see photos for measurements. This probably saves me a couple of minutes per listing over how I was doing it before. Hopefully I’ll also get less questions now from buyers who ask for me for measurements even though it was already included in the item description. I think most buyers look at all photos but not all buyers read the description box.
0 for the MCM challenge.
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Hey folks! You’re all so very productive! And so am I, with a whopping ONE! Yup, one listing, and for once, not my fault.
My eBay account appears to be on hold. I cannot list anything and have worked through mutliple CS Reps to try to resolve this. I do not have any holds or suspensions on my account, I’m in good standing (still TRS) and there are no VEROs or any other reason. It just keeps giving me an error when I try to list something! I’ve cleared my history and cache, and even completely uninstalled and downloaded my browser from scratch. I’ve tried 3 other browsers. I’ve tried 4 different computer and my phone.
It started on Monday. That was my one listing for the day. All the other listings that I created that day have disappeared, never to be seen again. None of my drafts can be edited, saved, or listed. The CS rep’s response was “oh, that’s concerning!” Ya think?
This has been accompanied by no sales. From sales every day to zip, zilch and zero. I was so excited to get two sales through yesterday and logged in today gleefully… to no avail. I still cannot list. We start with Customer Service log #5 today. Sigh….
Guess I should just work on taxes this week. 🙁
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Amatino – Holy cow, that sucks!
I’ve heard of some issues on eBay lately. They must be messing with the software. For a few hours this morning, I could not get into my listings on the website. Some “talk” online was that they were having server problems.
You should try eBay for Business on Facebook. They seem to be more responsive at times.
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Amatino, I started having trouble listing yesterday and it continues today. I even updated the software, etc on my laptop. But today I got an error message from ebay that said, “it’s not you, its me. Our servers are down” Or something to that effect. Hopefully that’s the same issue you’re having and it will be resolved post haste.
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@Sharyn Been working with them on FB and via the phone from the Contact page. I’ve tried EVERY way that doesn’t involve getting on a plane and traveling west so that I can knock on office doors! LOL
@Julie No, unfortunately not. This started last week, the server issue is this week. However, I take heart that more people in the FB group are logging the same problem/s, so perhaps it’s not just me! -
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Sorry for the delayed spreadsheet. On top of all my other hassles, my computer went to PC heaven and my wonderful hubby gave me an early birthday present of a new computer. My birthday is next Friday, so it was nearly two weeks early, but I care not. This is one of those computer/monitor in one, so minimal items on the desk. The monitor is huge and it’s also a touch screen. Interesting things happen when you forget and touch it for some reason! LOL.
However, having a NEW computer as opposed to upgrading my old one meant that absolutely EVERYthing had to be loaded from scratch, including programs. Ye Olde Computerre had MS Office 2016, back when it was possible to “own” a package and so there was an entire brouhaha as I had to create my MS account. I discovered my email addressed had been hacked who-knows-when and belonged to somebody in Europe and I had to get it back. Yada yada… it took me a while to get set up. Eventually I had to register it on another account and, well, long story short, I have access to Excel again. With errors! Sigh.
So, spreadsheet updated, and VL wins the week. Yay!
Final week to post your MCM numbers. Remember, March ends on Wednesday, so you have to post your final numbers by COB on Thursday.
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21 new listings for me. None were MCM. But I’m feeling pretty good about getting 21 listings up considering how the week went.
Monday brought another Colorado mass shooting. This time in the town where I live. I don’t often shop at the grocery store where the 10 people were murdered, but I have shopped there before. Then on Thursday we found out my husband needs spinal surgery. Yikes.
Wishing everyone a safe and healthy week.
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Happy birthday Amatino, here’s wishing you a much more peaceful and serene year ahead, filled with joy and laughter and all the simple pleasures life has to offer. You deserve it. Boy do you deserve it!
VT, sure was thinking about you last week, with the mass shooting. My heart goes out to you and your town.
As for me, I spent most of the week at my dad’s beach house down in southern Oregon. It was the first time I’ve had more than a day or two away from home in more than a year. It was lovely but it went by way too fast! Back home and trying to get back into gear. It’s a struggle.
No listings for me last week. Hope to do a few more MCM before the month ends.
Hope everyone has a good week ahead.
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VT, sorry about your hubby’s surgery. Sending him best wishes. And I’m glad you weren’t at the shops when the shooter was there! Horrible times!
VL, thanks! Lucky dog! Next time make it two weeks! LOL
After further investigations, no word from eBay on what happened to my account. It just died, no sales, no listings, nothing. However, it’s back up, got a couple sales in, and I can list from scratch, but not from drafts. All told, it appears that 19 of my listings have vanished without trace. Abducted by aliens or something. What? It’s 2021. Of course it’s going to be weirder than 2020!
I managed to get 5 listings up in total in the last couple days. I didn’t realize what a privilege it was to have drafts and had built my entire listing sequence around them. Now I have to have all my photographs, information, research, title, keywords, measurements, all at once. And then do the entire listing in one go. It has slowed me down something fierce!
This week I’m working to get my taxes finalized, and then will try to make up some of my lost listings. According to the spreadsheet, I need to create 59 listings to catch up. Maybe not in a week, but I’ll do my best to claw my way back to being on schedule! 😀
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@Amatino – Really? You can’t create drafts? And they can’t fix that? Some server somewhere had a really bad day, and you were on the receiving end.
@VT – That really hits you when something happens so close to home. Good luck to your husband on his surgery.
Anyway, I listed 12 last week. We had family over for dinner on Sunday evening. Part of my clean up plan was to list a few things so that I could bring them downstairs. Worked.
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So sorry, I forgot to post this as promised a while ago:
eBay Unpacked! How to List Faster
Okay, here’s what I got from the Facebook responses, in a nutshell! I ended up with 10 points.
1. Find like items
1a. By type: e.g. all books, all vases, all shoes
1b. By background color:
– everything that is photographed on a white background;
– everything that is photographed on a black background
1c. By photography medium
– in a lightbox
– on a stand or in the open
– on a mannequin2. Batch up the work
2a. Photos
2b. Research
2c. Measurements
2d. Create drafts, etc.3. Allocate “days” to “batches”
E.g. photos are done on Mondays. Research is done on Tuesdays.4. No descriptions
4a. 4-5 lines of bullet text only
4b. Keywords are picked up in Item Specifics5. Photos
5a. Get a good cell phone camera, use square mode
5b. PhotoRoom app to erase background
5c. Mark flaws on photographs, e.g. use a pencil or take close ups
5d. Don’t spend too much time on photos.
5e. Take “enough” photos – not too many, not too few6. Know your niche
Look up the prices of items BEFORE you go sourcing, learn to recognize items that are good buys. Also learn to recognize items that are bad buys7. Research
7a. Put a time limit on research. After 10 minutes, set the item aside and research something else
7a-1. Research should be faster for low-dollar items.
7b. Use downtime to research items that are time consuming
7c. Beware of procrastinating when you should be researching
7d. Beware of the “rabbit hole”
7e. Add a column to your merchandise log for research results, so logging and researching is one task8. Time
8a. How much time you have available will impact how much you can list
8b. Time yourself – how much time do you spend on each section?9. List your best items first
10. Consider getting rid of MOP* items rather than listing them.
Listing low dollar items takes time away from high dollar items*Oh, forgot to tell you, MOP is my acronym. I know it’s a common term, but Death Piles just doesn’t gel with me. I know why they’re called that, but who wants to deal with something deathly? I renamed mine Money Opportunity Piles. I have MOPs everywhere! 😀
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Sorry I have been AWOL for a few weeks the new volunteer Camphost job has been time intensive. A couple from Florida have just arrived to help out. So, I should have more time now and can take another crack at mobile listing. Any way my listing counts for the last few weeks is 0.
Amatino- Getting a new computer always is a love-hate thing isn’t it?
VT- So sorry about your husbands surgery. I hope it all goes well.
Regarding the shootings, I met a LEO who is camping here who knew the officer who was murdered. Such a senseless tragedy.
Good sales to all and happy listing.
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For the MCM challenge, I listed 36 items total. Of those items, one requires justification. I listed commemorative cap sheet for the 25th anniversary of the 1969 Mets World Championships. So, it was made in 1994, but it was all about something that happened in the MCM challenge time period.
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Wow, I can’t believe I’m the first to post so late in the day! 21 new listings for me. I believe April is the Gold, Silver and Metals monthly challenge but I haven’t listed anything that fits that category since April 1st.
Listing this week might be limited for me. We’re trying to fit in as much travel as we can before my husband’s surgery in May & I’ll be out of town for the rest of this week. I did try to work ahead by creating drafts but I’m not sure if that will convert into new listings while I’m out of town.
Wishing everyone a good week!
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Listed only one last week, and I’m going for a justification claim: it’s a yellow duck – that’s “gold” right? Kinda? LOL.
Back in the saddle this week, and I started listing again today. I still haven’t tested the drafts feature to see if it’s working yet. I’m just grateful that I can list, even if I have to do it all in one go. I worked out that I will have to list about 14 items a day if I want to catch up in one week. Nearly 4 weeks behind schedule! Bah humbug! But the weather is great, I’m healthy, and I can list, so it’s a triple win here. I shall list as much as I can and be thankful for every one that’s over target!
Wishing you all a terrific week. I’ll post the MCM challenge winners tomorrow with the spreadsheet update.
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27 listings for the week, which is less than I expected to do but I just couldn’t get back in the groove of things after the beach trip. My body kept saying…wait aren’t we still on vacation? Add to that a holiday weekend with a wonderful long-awaited visit from Seattle family and it just didn’t happen. No regrets. One for the April challenge.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead.
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Welcome to April and the new Gold, Silver, & Metals challenge.
Winners for March’s MCM Challenge: first place with an impressive 36 goes to Sharyn! VL almost made it, but has to settle for silver with 34. I managed 17 giving me the bronze, and VT got one point because she made it on the board. Great job, everyone.
Spreadsheet updated and JB moves into the lead with her win this week.
Now, I’m seeing a drop off in enthusiasm. Not so much participation in the monthly challenges, apart from the Core of Four (Sharyn, VL, VT and me.) Do you folks want to keep doing them, or drop the challenges? Shall we have more pop up challenges? Trying to encourage you all to list more, not nagging! 😉
Have a great week, everybody!
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Good morning Elves! (Voice from “Charlie’s Angels instantly pops into my head! LOL)
Listed 19 last week! I really hoped to get a few more done to catch up my shortfall, but as I made my goal AND a couple extras, I’m happy with achievements. Only one qualified for the Challenge, unfortunately.
Wishing you all a great week!
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75 for me! That is the most I’ve ever listed in a week. AND I did my taxes yesterday. I think having an upcoming vacation on the calendar that I have to pay for, plus the thought of having to pay my own self employment taxes this quarter for the first time motivated me to list, list, list!
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Congrats on great numbers Julie and Amatino! I too have a great number to report…there must have been something in the air! 93 listings for me last week and 4 for the monthly challenge. I was super motivated after the last 2 low/zero weeks, and I also discovered that a stash of vintage fabric I had was going for a mind-blowing $50 a yard. I started listing it in half yard increments for $25 and people were buying it as I was listing it so I just kept going. One customer dropped $150 for 3 yards. Then a day later she spent $100 for 2 more yards. Yowzee.
I also have been out scavenging….estate sales and bins, so I’m motivated to try to list it as it comes home. All in all a very motivated week.
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15 new listings for me. I listed all 15 yesterday after getting back from out of town. Despite my good intentions I didn’t list anything while I was away. But the drafts I prepared before I left really helped me out with listing yesterday.
I visited some thrift stores while I was out of town and I have plenty of items to list this week. The weather here is back to chilly with snow and rain expected all this week, so hopefully I’ll get a good amount of listing done while stuck inside.
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Some great numbers this week! VL takes a deserved win, and the ping pong between her and JB continues. LOL
Glad you’re back, JR. And I hope you had a great holiday, VT.
Wow, VL, what a score! $50 a yard! Sheesh!
It seems like folks are struggling with the monthly challenge, so I will elucidate to help you with logging a few more for this month. The challenge is
GOLD, SILVER, & METALS
The color gold or silver, in any form, and any metal, whether ferrous or not. Chrome, bronze, brass, iron, cast iron, aluminum, gold, silver, steel, alloys, magnesium, copper, zinc, titanium, tungsten, nickel, cobalt, tin, lead, are all metal. Silicon is a metalloid. Adamantium, unfortunately, doesn’t exist, but if you find something with it in the title, go for it! Things made out of metal include cookware, frames, jewelry, kitchen utensils, cups and dishes, medical implements, car parts, electronics, plumbing, décor items, handles and knobs, tins, coins, appliances, musical instruments, locks and keys, pins and needles, paperclips, nail clippers, pens, rulers, exercise weights, screws, nuts, and bolts, hinges, medals, chimes, computers and tablets, typewriters, cables, climbing and camping equipment, badges, buckles, eyelets, fire grates, clock pendulums, scales, measuring tape, weapons, spectacles, watches, buckets, golfing equipment, hairdryers, lamps, water bottles, lighters, speakers, mailboxes, sconces, guitar/violin strings, toys, candlesticks, whistles, bells and gongs, signs, vases, and zippers.
It doesn’t have to be all metal or all gold/silver to qualify.
That should help, right?
Fun fact: The reason that titanium resists corrosion is because it instantly reacts with oxygen, creating a really thin, hard barrier that protects the metal. If you scrape off the barrier, a new one instantly forms. It’s kind of like it’s self-healing.
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