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As time goes by and more scientific studies are available, I gather that surfaces aren’t that much of an issue as air spread of the virus. However, I still take extra care with everything that comes inside my home, especially food.
Also, new, faster spreading and more damaging strains of the virus keep showing up and vaccine protection against those has to be evaluated.
The long term effects of the virus, even on people without symptoms is still being evaluated as well.
As someone living in Europe, I really envy the comparative swiftness of US’s vaccine deployment. It will definitely have a huge and positive impact. We are struggling with vaccine availability.
That being said, I will still be taking extra care even after I get my vaccine (don’t know when that will happen yet as I am in my early 40s without health issues)
I always use 2 n95 masks when going into closed spaces and avoid staying long. Masks help but are not full proof.
These are pretty standard in Europe I guess.
I grew up using all sorts of different flatware, china, knives, glasses, cups, etc meant for different sorts of beverages and food. I don’t have as much variety as say my parents or in laws but I still have lots of stuff and I like it that way.
I find this to be second nature to people with some degree of education/ pedigree 😁
haha
Just added it as a tag on Etsy on some lovely scandinavian ceramics hedhehogs.
Maybe now’s the time to try and sell that crochet bedspread that I do not plan to use at allHi, I sell on Etsy but I had never heard of Reverb. Sounds and looks great (just took a quick look), thanks for sharing.
Hi Jay
My guess is that maybe you didn’t give Etsy the chance it deserves because Ebay was working great for you. I’ve tried both Etsy and Ebay at the begining but I liked Etsy best (mostly because the interface is nice and neat and fees were way lower than on Ebay then), so I focused more on it than on Ebay. I never invested much time in staging the photos or special packaging or things like that that you seem to associate with Etsy. On the other hand, I describe really well the items, take really true to life photos and make a point of having excellent comunication with buyers. I have lots of repeat buyers. It works for me
Maybe instagram could be a good outlet as well?
If you feel like you have something relevant to say at this point in time many people will certainly relate
Have you thought about trying Etsy? I think you may find an audience there because there is so much diversity and politically motivated messages seem to be very well represented.
Ryanne I totally understand your infatuation with all things cameo. The well made ones are truly things of beauty. Even as a child I would covet my mother’s wonderful cameo ring.
Maybe they fell out of fashion but I’m sure sooner or later they’ll be back. I know I use my cameo pendant from Pompeii. And vintage jewelery… just gets more vintage! as the lovely Etsy jewelery seller on the forum wonderfully put it. Even if I have to wait a bit more to sell some things I like I never regret an experience and eventually everything sells.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Regarding deliveries, I still find there are significant delays especially in the US – things seem to sit forever at the airport until they are scanned and tracking resumes. Buyers get really puzzled with the time things go untracked but are generally really patient after I explain it to them. Etsy buyers are the best</p>So sorry to hear about your experience. Corporate jobs can be soul crushing. I think many people are pretty good with self motivation. They/we do it for ourselves. However, if promises are made and not kept… it poisons everything.
2 years ago I got a “big promotion”. It came with a prestigious job title, team, red carpet, recognition, lots of responsibility and added workload. The €€€ part of the bargain never really came through – just some fringe benefits.
The result is that I’ve accepted a better paid position at another company… and I hope it proves to be a wise move. So… maybe they are doing you a favour.
Rationally, keeping my job is what makes sense, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to be 100% dedicated to my own thing. Besides, money could be better…fringe benefits are really good though
Concerning what I do with extra money, I expand my inventory (my “business model” is based on high COGS, so no death piles around here for sure) and stash away the rest (meaning I invest it). No consumer debt here, just a smallish mortgage considering loan to value ratio and also at a 0% interest rate (job perks on top of really low/negative interest rates in Europe)
Hi and thanks for another “episode” of the podcast.
I love to hear it during my workout/ walks or while doing chores. It’s like an ongoing conversation with people that are “the same kin”, though on my end the conversation goes on mostly in my mind 😀
Etsy life has been good. Packing is starting to feel like it really takes up much time (I sell mostly breakables). September is the third month this year – all after the pandemic started – that my net profit reselling online was at least as high as my full time job monthly pay (net).
Even though I think a lot about going full time reselling and get quite tired from corporate life sometimes, I get so many good things out of it (great health coverage for me and my family, steady payment, a great car (soon), a sense of social engagement, a job where I keep learning things and get to do some interesting stuff, some great coworkers including the team that I supervise, a CEO I really like and trust, etc etc), that I simply don’t think like I can act on my desire to leave. Also, I feel like we need at least one person with a steady job in this household (I’m that person).
Regarding your journey of setting up a coffee shop, I am really enjoying hearing everything you have to tell. I would even like more detail 🙂 I am a coffee lover and that adds to the interest.
On the topic of combining Ebay selling with the coffee shop, I don’t think I would mix those 2 businesses. My two cents (or more…):
– You should definitely think of different ways of upselling your core product (coffee) by adding as many extras that add value to it as possible and people are willing to pay for (different kinds of toppings, organic and non dairy milk, etc etc)
– Simple food is a must have – locally made focaccia, sandwiches, cake, cookies, normal or bite sized cookies to go with coffee, etc
– High quality chocolate is a great pairing with coffee. Chocolate is in itself a whole line of business/ knowledge so maybe you could make a partnership with someone that is already into it. You could offer/ make it an extra – a bit of chocolate on the side to go with an espresso is something that makes the experience more interesting
– I would use interesting objects from the Ebay business in decoration and rotate them as they sell (think a shelf full of interesting cool and good looking vintage stuff). I do that at home – I have a constantly renewed gallery of stuff
– As you live in a touristy/ outdoorsy area with passersby besides the community people (hiking, camping, trekking, fishing, etc seem to be big there) you could sell stuff related to the region landscape and lifestyle – t-shirts with good quality and design, enamel mugs, thermo coffee cups, hats/ caps, etc
– Organize some workshops on theme – tasting coffee, visiting the roasting grounds, etcCan’t wait for you to go live and tell about this new chapter! Jay was kind of worrying that if the coffee shop fails, then it would publicly fail. I can’t say that wouldn’t add a bit to the pain if it happened, but most of all what I would keep from that is that you’d gave it a shot in a way well thought through and that sometimes things just don’t fall into place as we’d wished they would and that’s fine. I know you won’t be caught without a plan B if that should happen.
Hi again, thanks for taking the time to provide such a detailed explanation. I can definitely see why it makes sense – especially digital marketing wise – with such different business frameworks to juggle.
