Weekly Numbers November 10-16

[ChristineR]

Clearly I was not awake last week when doing the numbers.  Made several errors.

Sales are terrible for me for this time of year.  I have a hunch people are waiting to see the deals next week and on.

Mercari
$59.50
Poshmark
$237.00
eBay
$372.17
Total $668.67

Also the cross posting software I have won’t auto end and relist listings older than 180 days so I had to go back and manually end and sell similar.  1) I somehow lost 50 listings, which makes no sense; (2) it totally screwed up the listing alignment in Nifty.  Then I created a small group of duplicate listings on Poshmark – totally possible, Posh doesn’t block duplicates like Ebay.  That was easily unwound and I was able to realign and fix mostly everything in Nifty (email customer service only – no phone option).   I was also able to get Posh to send a report and fix the duplicates on there.  What a mess.  I probably can figure out the missing items on Ebay and repost them from Nifty but that will take some time.

In the meantime, the post office decided not to scan tracking any more from the bin in the lobby.  They also do not scan in my mailbox.  So unless I wait in line I’m not getting a scan sometimes for a 1+ days after drop off.  Also they seem to be taking a couple of days to move out of my town after drop off and about half are arriving late per Poshmark (they notify you about everything).

I dropped my Ebay stock in my retirement account since they had a good recent run up chatting about their AI, which personally I haven’t found very helpful yet and since my sales are so bad (plus other things going on).  According to podcasts, Ebay did get a bump from the price of precious metals going up and some stronger sales in their focus categories last quarter.

But, just going to keep plugging away and hope sales pick up.  I have half a bin of Christmas stuff left to list next.  I’ve cut back a lot on sourcing and thrifting.   I hope you all are having better luck than I am.  🙂

[Timo]

@christiner:

It’s frustrating when post office issues add stress to running your business. Based on our similar experience, we found a great solution: try dropping your packages off at a different, nearby post office branch.

The post office for our specific zip code had (and still has) this problem, with items not showing scans until the next day, even when the packages are left on the counter area designated for drop-offs.

Beginning durng the pandemic, we started taking all our packages to a different post office location that is still close by for us. We typically ship six days a week and average three or four packages per day.

This much friendlier post office does a remarkable job with prompt scans of packages left on the counter and has friendly clerks who accept and scan items right away when there is no line. You might find a much better experience if you check out some of your other closer post office branches. You can use the official USPS Location Finder to view other branches near you.

I hope there is another branch convenient for you. And even better, you may find some new thrifting locations near it.

[ChristineR]

I have a couple within 10 miles. One of them has an at counter bin you can drop them in and it is our regional facility – it is the furthest from my house but things probably would move faster after that.  Saw yesterday that they are raising ground by 8% in January (retail rates).  I wonder what will happen to Ebay and Poshmark label prices with that change.

[ChristineR]

So yesterday my daughter had an appointment near post office #2.  Buyer asked to cancel today but I dropped off the package yesterday.  Since there is no tracking scan again she doesn’t believe me.  Ugh.  I’ll check out the machine at my nearest po.  They don’t have one at #2.

[Sharyn]

My post office has a self service machine where you can scan the packages yourself and then put them in a drop slot. They have a small drop slot and a large one, although really large packages won’t fit. I can also put the packages on the counter after I scan, and they will take them in the back when they are not as busy.

[ChristineR]

@Sharon is that the same place where you can buy a label or a different station?  That would be awesome but the guys haven’t mentioned it.  Fed Ex got one of those drop stations recently, which is awesome since they are chronically understaffed.

[Sharyn]

@ChristineR – Yes, it is at the same machine where you can buy a label or stamps. I had to ship a package today, so I snapped a few photos, see the link below. You should be able to scroll through them. The machine does ask a few questions about hazardous materials. I didn’t photo every screen, but they are self explanatory.

https://imgur.com/a/scanning-self-service-station-P2EpmoL

[ChristineR]

Thanks.  This is a much larger set up but I will definitely check ours out.  It woukd be awesome to be able to get s scan on myself.

[ChristineR]

On a positive note, i think it has been worth it to cross post, especially on poshmark.  I have sold new, preowned, and vintage.  I haven’t posted a lot of my really stale stuff on there yet but I think I sold one or two old vintage listings.  Sometimes things sell quickly.  At least for now, they have a really good deal under 5 pounds shipping and they are moving away from the annoying sharing stuff.

[Timo]

@ChristineR: I almost forgot how much grief my post office is saving me with their good service. Sorry not all post office locations are this good. We are way past due to drop off some treats or donuts.

It seems that eBay has cycles and we seem to be in a grumpy buyer cycle right now.

One other thing that I do promptly for each order is send a ‘ship notification email’ thru eBay that has the tracking number. My Sixbit software (highly recommended) makes this very easy. This cuts way down the number of buyer inquiries about shipping, etc. Yes, I know eBay sends buyers some emails about this activity too.

@Sharon: As far as the ‘self-service’ scan, I would definitely try that as well. It seems that I heard somewhere that the scan is not as good as an ‘acceptance’ scan and that not all seller platforms consider it to be such. So it depends if eBay likes it or not. In any case, it should help with the grumpy buyers.

 

[ChristineR]

Hey all, post office #1 guy told me yesterday that I can get a scan out of the machine but I had to choose a receipt or it “didn’t count”.

[Sharyn]

True, to complete the process you have to ask for a receipt. I always ask it to print. You can have it send you something via email, but then you have to type in your email address.

[Author]

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