Warning: Plenty of Sarcasm Ahead

I forwarded that last email from eBay's legal department to eBay's spoof team the other day. I got a most informative response back from them today:

Thanks for forwarding the information in this message to wlmailhtml:{FD125A45-F992-41C7-A2B8-C9DB1078E68A}mid://00001023/!x-usc:mailto:spoof@ebay.com.
We take reports like this seriously and appreciate this kind of feedback
from you. Most likely, the message you received was not sent to you by
eBay.

"Most likely."  That was helpful. Thank you, eBay spoof team. If it truly wasn't sent to me by eBay, then I'd really like to re-register that domain name. "Most likely" just isn't a good enough answer for me. I'd rather not take their "most likely" as gospel truth, re-register the domain name, and then get sued for it. I emailed them back and told them so, but I haven't heard back from them. I'll just call eBay's Trust & Safety number tomorrow and find out for sure.

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Remember the buyer of that Ralph Lauren shirt I've mentioned a couple times? The one who told me there was no need for me to open a UPI case against him because he was planning to pay on Thursday? Guess what today is. Guess what didn't happen today. I'll give him another day or so, but then I'm opening a case. I'm so disgusted, because I really wanted that sale. What on earth possesses people to make offers on something they have no intention of actually buying? Ugh.

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I had a very helpful buyer make me an offer today on a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes. Allen Edmonds can go extremely high in the right condition. I have one pair listed. They're far from like-new, but they're in really good pre-owned condition.

I have them listed for $149.99obo. I know full well I'm not going to get that amount. I'd be happy with half of that. But the offer I received today was for $25! With this message: "very overpriced considering the sole modification and the condition of the structure"   Thank you, sir. I appreciate your opinion.

Obviously, I declined. I'd like to clarify that the "sole modification" would be my use of sole dressing to improve the look of the shoe. I'm not sure what he means by the "condition of the structure," but I didn't care enough to bother finding out. Someone who's picky from the outset doesn't need to be buying things from me. So I blocked him, and that's something I rarely do.

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February's sales were so strange. I'd have a week of crazy-high, soaring sales. Then I'd have a week of practically nothing. It's been sluggish lately, so I decided to run a 25% off sale through Sunday night. That's only 3 1/2 days. Hopefully it'll be just long enough to clear out some old inventory and increase my sales a bit, without taking too much of a hit on my profit margins.  I put 445 items on sale - ALL my shoes, all my old junk stuff that I'm sick of looking at, and all clothing 2 months or older.

*****We now interrupt this scheduled blog post to inform you that Mr. Ralph Lauren just sent payment for his shirt. I guess I kind of owe him an apology, but not a very big one, because he wasn't nice, and he waited until the very last minute... Carry on... ****

So about the sale ... It seems to be working so far. I've sold a couple things since the sale started. Like these Doc Marten sandals that I've had since September.

And this "dull-colored" Chadwick's blazer (a brand I won't bother with again).

And these equally bright Clarks.

My profit on those stunk. I paid way too much for them to begin with. I offered free shipping, and they were 25% off. So I ended up profiting something like $7 on them. And to make matters worse, my sister-in-law had picked them up for me. She gets 25% of my net profit on anything that she picks up for me. So I ended up with around $4. Oops.

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One last exciting tidbit before I sign off. On February 15, I received a $100 offer on a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo men's wing-tip shoes that I've had since last summer. I accepted the offer, but the buyer immediately wrote that he didn't read the listing closely enough, and they aren't the right size. I'm pretty sure I ranted about it here... I was annoyed, but whatever. I cancelled the transaction and relisted the shoes.

The other day, I got a new offer on the same pair of shoes. This one didn't even require a counter-offer! I had them listed for $169.99obo, and the offer was for $130. Plus shipping. SOLD! He paid the next day, and I shipped them out this morning (insured, of course). Woot!

I love finding Ferragamos. They don't sell quickly at all, but they are worth the wait. I've sold 2 pairs of them now - one for $150, and this pair for $130. Out of curiosity, I checked he buyer of this pair to see what else he's bought on eBay lately. This recent purchase tells me that he's a classy chap indeed: