Journals from a newbie online reseller

Note: I'm receiving emails to purchase items scheduled be sold the in store that have been photographed on this site. This is a tough decision. Not because of inventory, I've loads of it. I'm uncertain of resale ethics. [Head in hands.] Add to this, I'm struggling with the eBay interface to list items and it might be another week before items will be available. I need to think about this. In the interim, if you're really, really interested in an item, if your soul is telling you it's from your past life, feel free to email me (Contact Section in right column) and I'll keep you posted as to what I decide about pre-store sales. I completely understand the rush of seeing something rare and original. In the meanwhile I'll confer with a few experts.

Day Seven at Camp Four, Final ascent to build the eBay store
Sunday, October 9th 

Advanced Warning! High Drama Comedic Alert!

After many failed attempts to achieve ownership of an Active eBay Store going solo, I enlisted a guide to help in the final ascent. I ceremonially burned the hair pulled from my head in exasperation from former efforts in the back yard sending smoke signals to the Online Store Gods to right me in the quest. I shouted nasty words into a large, vintage Atlas jar, so they could never escape into the world and buried it in the backyard with a Haz Mat symbol affixed. Piper, my youngest daughter, hung prayer flags. Instead of oxygen tanks, I choose a three-buck-chuck Cabernet.

Hope to list, vintage Kokeshi couple. They've been together a long time.

My new partner, Mr. Golgihtly, sherpas over 20 years of software engineering from coding to development to consulting to training. He even dabbled as a value added retailer for leading E-commerce software firm for a few years. I thought him formidable to this task.

Mr. Golightly currently travels on business. Our time, limited. Saturday was out for precious family time. So there it was, six hours to achieve our goal today, Sunday.

It wasn’t easy, even for Mr. Golighty. EBay, perhaps I’ll feel differently after we’ve established a deeper rapport, but I believe you’ve knocked three years off my life setting up an online store. Intuition is not your middle name; I’m not even certain it’s a branch on your family tree. Your little help character, whose given name I cannot say without screaming, was zero help. She was like the SNL Flight Attendant Skit with David Spade and Helen Hunt. We type, “Am a registered seller, want to set up store.” Your help person basically replies, “Buh-bye!” Perhaps you should change out her graphic rendering from a svelte woman to, oh I don’t know, Death?

I can NOW announce I have an active eBay store, Shopping Golightly! I was able to pick color preferences and load a photo and started to feel real accomplishment.

Store now active, I wanted to list a few items just to get my feet wet. Alas, it appears that learning to list will be as hair pulling as learning to set up a store. Thankfully, I’m blessed with extra thick hair. Much of my life this has been an annoyance, but I now understand why I was given this head of hair, to survive my beginnings on eBay without going complete bald by my own hands. I’ve the items, the photos, the product descriptions, the pricing. I’m ready, just not capable.

Next time you visit eBay, send a salute to the person who built that online store from which you are making a purchase. You will never know their pain, what they lost (hair, teeth, fingernails) or what they gave up to get where they are.

Sure, online stores are easier to arrange than a store sitting on real estate. No zoning, no issues with leases, no building maintenance, staff, fixtures, etc.

However, an online store isn’t as easy as the average person might think. Guess this goes back to the old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

EBay, this is not intended to knock you but, is there a reason it has to hurt so much? It is to weed out the non-motivated sellers? Let’s reconcile! Flowers might be nice. You have my address.

Hard Lesson 1: Stocked online stores are not garnered in a few hours, even if you have the merchandise surrounding you in your office.

Learned: Quintuple the hours you think the time setting things up will take and then times it by 50 and add 243 minutes. Be well stocked with tissues for tears. Move the coffee maker to your office, preferably on your desk so you need not get up, or just drink from the carafe.

Vintage wooden nursery light. Pink bulb sets a wonderful glow.

Wow! How am I to manage my time?
Monday and Tuesday, October 10th-11th

I tried to list again on Monday. No dice. So I continued to catalog and take photos.

Reality smacked me on Tuesday; my personal life and family life a disaster. When was the last time I bathed? I was fairly certain the girls were at school. A volcano of laundry had erupted in the upstairs hall. What? Out of crème for my coffee? This neglect is serious! I checked the bank. Phew! Bills had been paid, we get to keep the house.

Lesson 2: I thought time management covered because I do not plan to add hours to my weekly thrifting routine (might be laughing at those word in a few weeks). I had not really thought about the added hours of listing, photographing, researching, shipping…

Learned: Start logging hours to truly get a sense of what an online store earns per hours and chart the times I work to figure if that schedule makes sense for my life.

Question to self: Which makes more sense to earn extra income for my family? An online store? Higher end part time job? The ideal answer is employment by The City of Denver's Economic Development Office in further growing a Denver re-use market. I know former Mayor Hickenlooper read my plea. His Assistant was kind enough to email me that she placed that letter upon his desk. I was honored she took the time to write, perhaps she thrifts too. But all I heard back was the sound of a cricket. (We actually do have a pet cricket. He has one leg and Piper could not stand to leave him outside.)

Hope to list. Baby Sofie on top, not for sale.
She's sitting on a book, she doesn't weigh that much. The scale is accurate.

Aside from that, Mr. Golightly and I agreed before we even married that I shall be the primary parent and must to be available to our daughters first. I naively thought the older they grew, the less they would need me. Not so. It’s like a Nanny McPhee situation, they actually need me more. So I must factor in parenting time as well. Up until know my work has been volunteer, people have more understanding when you have to miss a meeting or need more time on your deliverable. I don't think paying customer will be the same.
 
Question to readers: What are you thoughts/experiences with online selling?