Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Thanks for the tips, guys/gals. I am going to look into some of the auction houses around here and pop in for a sale or two of each one to see how they operate, the kind of stuff they have and how the crowd looks/buys and try to find the best one or two and go from there. I am also going to start hitting an auction on Saturday’s after yard sales for the box lots. I have yet to get over 1000 listings on ebay due to stuff selling and not having the time to source for more than 5 hours a week. I want to be pumped and primed for Q4 and really start pushing to see what I can do.
I still have the dashes as well. Other things I have noticed: impressions in my store are at 0, I have handling time set for 1 day on all my items, yet when they sell several will not say ship within 24 hours but will have the ship by date a day later. There are probably other things that I have not noticed, but it seems everything (sales, offers, questions) are slower than normal, even for this time of year.
Thank you everyone for your advice and encouragement!
I’ll keep everyone updated as I tackle this adventure! I have a ton of stuff to list and a whole weekend to buy stuff, so I’m going to stay busy (which will keep my mind off smoking 🙂 ).
Thank you for the anecdote and vote of confidence, Retro! I really am looking forward to it. As a matter of fact, I am listening to a podcast and taking some photos from the weekend haul.
I truly don’t. I am trying to be courteous and give them some notice, just as they gave me. I don’t think I will deviate from my plan. I’ll either work it out as is, or just cut ties. All the cards are on the table anyway.
Yeah, it was made for me. I had an inkling that this was coming due to a couple of odd events about 6 weeks ago. It would have happened then, I am sure of that now. The automation project was pushed back, so then too was the meeting.
I certainly will, Jay!! It was hard not to smile in the meeting. Just have to get through these couple of weeks. I am working from home right now and I have not received a response on the email with my notice. I have 4 days of PTO due to me and I requested to use those Thursday – Tuesday with a week from Friday being my last day. They could deny me (my back-up is off until Thursday, so I doubt I will hear anything today) and pay me out or let me go with my plan. If they deny me the PTO and plan to pay it out so I have to train people, I will have to think about it. We have a monthly management meeting, that I am a part of, on Monday and I will absolutely not be going to that.
So, it ended up being an interesting outcome to this story. I walked in yesterday and held off on talking to my manager. There were some things going on and I wanted to see how they played out before I approached her. Around midday, I was summoned to a meeting room and in there was: my supervisor, her boss, her boss and the head HR lady. Well. I knew exactly what was coming. They are eliminating my position due to automation and I, being the junior employee, will be let go. So, Jay, there was a severance offer, but I found it laughable. I would have to stay on until November 15th and also avoid any pitfalls that might get me fired (which I would assume would be really ramped up in that time), all for 1 whopping month of severance pay. So I said the hell with it. Didn’t do anything the rest of the day and placed my two week notice in as I was walking out the door.
I am looking at this move with optimism. I’ll get to work FOR myself 100%, work ON myself, reset my daily routine, ramp up scavenging for 4th quarter and live for me and the now.
Joshua
Thanks Jay and ebaymom. We will see come Monday.
Retro –
It’s not the company as a whole, just the department I am in. I am one of the highest paid in the department because of the kind of work I do. Most of the dept is button clickers, hence the automation (that should have happened years ago anyway). I can and do add a lot of value because I make it possible to get rid of others or cut the time it takes to do remedial tasks. I work hard to not work hard. I have achieved about as much as I can in my position. I’d rather leave than doing button clicking work, which is part of the threat I have received since “I don’t have anything to do besides browse the internet”.I might mention that, Jay. The issue is none of my department is contracted (I’m in operations, not IT as I probably should be). The only contractors I know of are in development and they are all overseas.
This cumulative SNAFU over the past few weeks along with seller unfriendly implementations are really ripening the landscape for a new platform to swoop in and set a new (online selling) world order. Nearly every empire is to blame for their own death spirals and as we’ve seen (especially in the social media area aka MySpace) the digital world is not immune either. If I were eBay and its investors, I would be worried.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I am going to go in Monday and talk with my senior manager about the issues and see if there is a possibility of severance pay. If not and there is no commitment to changes or finding me something besides “dig a hole and fill it in work”, then I will put my two weeks in. From there I plan on really ramping up ebay and maybe look at other venues to sell as well. I’ll be free to yard sale on Friday’s and Saturdays, flea market Sunday’s and thrifts and auctions through the week (setting a day or two aside for listing).
I would also like to continue my education, whether that be casually on my own or through a reasonably priced program. I have plenty of data to use and practice with thanks to reselling.
Jay —
That is the conclusion I am coming to myself. I have heard you all and others mention it before: Why wait until your old to retire and do what you want? I could be dead by then and all of that would be wasted. I enjoy a challenge and that is another reason I am despondent with my job. It no longer challenges me. On top of all that, I would be in control of myself. Meaning I would have the time to work on me as well as my business.Inglewood —
I am not concerned as much about the money. Again, it is just me. I have a healthy chunk saved and could easily pay off my vehicle right now. That would leave only the house to pay for, which of course, has its own equity.I’ll address line by line:
— I am hourly and have to clock in and out. Most of the time I am sitting doing nothing at home unless I am working listing on ebay, which tends to be 1-2 days a week if I have a heavy load. I have to be near my computer, logged in and ready if there is something to do.
— Even though I am hourly, most of my job is on auto pilot. The one day in the office is getting worse.
— I am saving quite a bit. The $30k I have in cash is saved from selling on eBay. It is my “business” account and I rarely dip into it for anything besides business expenses and taxes.
— Yes, my slowest month this year is currently June and I will still gross over $3k. I scavenge on Saturday’s at yard sales in the summer/Fall/Spring and maybe 2 hours at a couple thrift stores after work. Winter I would be freed up to do more auctions and thrift stores during the week.
–I currently smoke, but doing the business full time would be extra motivation to quit. I have quit in the past and know I could do it again. Plus, I would be out of the house more (finding stuff to sell and busy listing that stuff, so my mind will be kept off it). I already have an ecig with several months of juice on hand to aid. I am not lazy, nor a hoarder. Everything I pick up is listed on ebay. I have no death piles (only stuff I have deemed not worthy to list for whatever reason that is a now a flea market pile). With the 40 hours I am currently spending on the FT job, I would have as finding more stuff, listing and looking for new opportunities.
— Not mentioned, but I would also have the time to study my profession and keep learning outside of work (I am not learning anything now, anyway).
