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Thanks Jay.
“I really think the American psyche is scarred for all time”
I don’t think so. In the immediate wake of 9/11, people where I worked were saying “I don’t think I can ever go the mall again. I hear they are going to target malls next”. Some of them said this for months, but eventually, they were back shopping in the malls. They also said “We weren’t united before this happened, but from now on, the USA will be united forever!” I said then “Sorry, nope, we’ll go back to being divided” And we did (which is to say, we went back to normal, for better or worse)
So, while some things will change, many will not. After a disruption of this magnitude, some people will want major changes, but others—probably most—will just want to get back to whatever they consider normal.
But first and foremost, we’ve got to get through this. We aren’t out of the woods yet. Things have the potential to get infinitely worse.
Life is filled with paradoxes, isn’t it? For years, we’ve said that we have way too much stuff…now we are simply thankful that we (the better half and I) have enough inventory to last us a long time, even if our sourcing were to dry up completely after the “all clear” is sounded.
But if we didn’t have all this stuff, I frankly wouldn’t be too concerned. This country is awash in stuff, and it isn’t all going to go into some unapproachable black hole. Also, quite frankly, scavengers tend to be a resourceful lot, and if one source vanishes, we’ll find another one.
I’m expecting yard sales to resume, thrift stores will re-open etc. Even before this happened, my area has seen an increase in consignment shops and “vendor malls” (like antique malls, but anything and everything, from really well made crafts to over-priced yard sale junk.
I think IF this ends in a reasonable amount of time, we will go back to some degree of normal pretty quickly.
You can search all the ebay marketplaces, so the main site, plus Germany, UK, etc. But that’s it, no Amazon, etsy etc.
It’s eBay. The logo is ebay. I think the logo had been eBay originally, but somewhere along the line they changed it to all lower case, while noting that the spelling of the name itself had not changed. I remember it as one of those things corporations do when someone has too much time on their hands.
Yes, in that case, I think it’s just a “bot” programmed to look for mask. But some of the other examples I’ve seen, it’s hard to use that explanation. And ebay seems to be sticking to its view that they can take down ANYTHING they deem overpriced. It definitely does NOT have to be an essential.
I’m afraid this is rapidly becoming a real problem with ebay. While new laundry products can be considered essentials, there obviously are not that. But ebay has been taking down all sorts of stuff, including collectibles like new Disney Minnie Mouse ears, because the price is “too high”. I think it may be competitors reporting stuff, I don’t know. But if ebay doesn’t place some limits on it, they are going to drive away sellers like never before.
This was the response a seller got when he asked about it on the ebay for business Facebook page:
“…our price gouging policy applies to any item listed on ebay, it doesn’t have to be an essential item…as ebay does not allow pricing that is inflated above typical selling prices, if we find that a listing has an unfair price, the listing can be removed….”
Now, this is just my opinion, but that is way too broad and way too vague, but there it is. Be careful listing anything, because pretty much anything might be taken down.
My county here in PA was put under a Stay At Home order yesterday, but my postmaster smiled and took my package today. These are stressful times for everyone, including postal employees, and I suspect your clerk was simply misinformed. Of course, if scheduled pick up works for you, I’d stick with that, but if not, I’d try going up the supervisory chain at your local PO.
First I’ve heard of that. My county here in PA is now under a Stay At Home order, so I guess I’ll find out what my local post office says next time I drop off packages. I think you ran into a very misinformed postal clerk, but keep us posted and best of luck….
Jay, yes, the Announcements Board is good, just mentioning this because it is a new, separate Community Group focused on the Virus that pulls in all the relevant announcements as well as seller discussion (most of which can be ignored LOL).
I’m as baffled by you with the toilet paper thing. I think its mostly herd instinct…people hear that other people are buying toilet paper, then they rush to buy toilet paper.
Just a heads up: ebay has added to the list of Prohibited Items. Here’s the most current list of virus related prohibitions. These items are not just items that cannot be sold for excessive prices, they are items not to be offered at all:
Masks, including N95/N100 and surgical masks
Hand sanitizers, gels
Disinfecting wipes
Toilet paper
Baby Forumla
Baby wipes
Tampons
DiapersHere’s the actual text from ebay:
“Since early February, we have prohibited products marketed with the term “coronavirus,” which violate our policies against making unsubstantiated health claims.
Beginning on March 5, we implemented a ban on certain items listed on our site, which includes blocking new listings and removing existing ones that sell: masks including N95/N100 and surgical masks; hand sanitizers/gels; and disinfecting wipes. This week, we expanded the restricted items list to include toilet paper, baby formula and baby wipes, tampons and diapers, which will only be permitted for sale by business sellers in a fixed price format. In addition, we have added a price gouging reporting tool, allowing people to report items that violate our policies in real time.
We also continue to quickly remove any listing that mentions COVID-19, coronavirus, 2019nCoV (except books) in the title or description, and users who search for such items on our site are shown an informational banner with a link to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. We have been communicating these updates to our sellers and directing sellers to our Disaster and Tragedy policy.”
Based on what I’ve read, it is best not to mention Coronovirus, fever, etc, at all. The bots don’t always do a good job of distinguishing. Don’t, for example, run a “cabin fever” sale.
I know many here aren’t fans of ebay’s Community Boards (the Selling Board, in particular, is mostly a waste of time right now) , but I do strongly suggest that sellers keep up with the announcements about the Virus , ebay is collecting them all in one place:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/COVID-19-Community-Hub/gh-p/COVID19
I may give it a go. Not too long ago (but before this all started) I tried running about 100 auctions of older inventory…think I sold maybe two items. BUT….I agree with you, there could be more interest in it now.
Same here. I regularly donate newspapers to them, and they use the papers to wrap fragile stuff at checkout. But just took a load of newspapers to the recycling bins yesterday, because GW isn’t taking donations now, and I don’t have unlimited room to be storing stuff.
Gonna be a strange new world for a while….
I agree with the basic sentiment, a situation like this presents opportunities as well as risks. Here in central PA I can’t do my regular sourcing because all the thrift stores and antique malls are closed down (some of the malls are trying to sell stuff online with local pick up, but I haven’t seen anything at bargain prices so far). I might try buying on ebay, etsy etc, but I’m really under no pressure to do so. We have plenty of inventory here to list and with the 50,000 free listings through March and another 50,000 in April, listing is basically free (except for the store subscription, which is offset by shipping supplies and the reduced FVFS and postage savings).
One thing I’m hoping to do, beyond listing and reorganizing my shipping and photo areas, is to spend some time thinking out of the box as to what else I can do to increase sales during this time.
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