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:

Catching Up

Good news! I've apparently satisfied whoever it is that has accused me of "willfully infringing" on eBay's trademark. I still haven't heard back from eBay's spoof team about that email, but whether it was from them or not, I heard back from whoever wrote the original email:

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. We appreciate that you may have registered the domain name with the best of intentions and without full knowledge of the law in this area.   

We will consider this matter closed as long as the domain name remains completely inactive for the remainder of the registration period. Please be reminded that you should not sell, offer to sell or transfer the domain name in the meantime.

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter and wish you the best of luck in your future business endeavors.

Pfft. Whatever.

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I had an unpaid item case open this morning against the buyer of my fugly Ralph Lauren paisley shirt. Anytime I accept an offer, I immediately send an invoice. There have been times where my buyers never received the notice that I accepted their offer, so I always send this invoice just to be sure. Then, if they haven't paid by day 3, I send a reminder invoice, letting them know that a case will be opened against them after 4 days, and that if they need more time, please let me know. I didn't hear back from my buyer after either invoice, so on day 4, my unpaid item assistant automatically opened a case against him. Several hours later, I received this message from him:

Im paying on thursday no need to open a case, sorry for the trouble. Thank You

I was so tempted to write back and say, "Actually, yes there was a need to open a case. That's what happens when you don't communicate."  But considering it's an almost-$50 sale, I'd like to keep on good terms with him, so I wrote back and told him that the case was opened automatically, but that Thursday would be fine. We'll see if he comes through.

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Yesterday morning, I had a potential buyer message me about a pair of NWT navy blue Talbot's wool slacks.

She wanted to let me know that she's been looking for these pants for a long time, but has only ever found them in black. She really wants to buy them and will pay for them on March 2nd, and please don't sell them to anyone else. So I removed the immediate payment required from the listing and wrote her back, telling her she can go ahead and click Buy It Now and confirm the order, but that paying on the 2nd was fine. I explained that doing it this way will remove them from my store so no one can buy them before her. Well guess what? She was too slow. :-(  They sold this evening! I'm thrilled that they sold. I do feel a little bad, but what was I supposed to do?

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Sold some more play food this morning - the beverages this time. I didn't doubt that it would sell well, but I never dreamed it would sell as quickly as it has! I have sold 5 of my 8 lots for a total of $44.95!

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Back in August, I bought a couple box lots of board games at an auction. It worked out to 33 cents per game. In one of the boxes was a Jenga game. I checked completed listings on eBay, and the whole game wasn't even selling for $5. But then I noticed that one other seller was selling it off by the piece, as replacement pieces. Brilliant! I decided to do the same. I have been selling them for $1 a piece. So far, I have sold 22 of them! So if you can find it cheap enough, and you don't mind sitting on the listing for a year while they sell one piece at a time, go for it! Just don't undercut my price ;-)

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I recently cleaned out my own sewing pattern collection. I've only got 25 of them listed, with lots more to go. I'm encouraged that they've started selling. I sold 2 of them over the weekend. Hopefully more will follow...

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My ears have improved a lot today. I've only had one dose of Motrin, so I consider the day a success! Of course I'm keeping up with my antibiotic drops (in both ears now, because my "good" ear started aching this morning), so I'm walking around in a fog of silence, with drops and cotton balls in both ears. My poor family ... and the poor boy at Subway this evening. I had to ask him to repeat everything he said. For 5 subs. Maybe he should speak up, and I wouldn't have had to be so annoying.

What a Difference a Day Makes

I have done a 180° and I couldn't be happier!  My last post was a bit of a downer. But listen to how my weekend has shaped up:

• My ear has improved markedly. I'm not even close to completely healed, but at least I didn't spend all day in bed today.
• My in-laws took all the kids yesterday, and my husband was in school all day, so I had the house all to myself from 10:30am to 7:30pm. The quiet and rest did wonders for both my health and my frame of mind.
• Based on several comments here, I am really starting to think that the snotty emails I keep getting from eBay about my domain name registration are probably fake. I talked to eBay yesterday and the customer service rep asked me to forward it to their spoof team. I haven't heard from them yet though.
• The situation with our mysteriously missing computer files has been solved. I still don't know what happened, but I discovered that for some random reason, ALL of our personal files managed to spontaneously hide themselves. Once I figured that out, it was just a matter of going in to the Properties on all of them and unhiding them. It was all still there! All my business data, all our family photos - everything is back!!

So today, the sun shined a little bit brighter :)

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Sales-wise, it was a fairly steady weekend. I wouldn't have wanted to be any busier. My husband was a real trooper helping me get my stuff packaged. Poor guy, I bet he made 9 trips back and forth between my eBay room and my bedroom, bringing my merchandise and packing supplies. And he struggled through printing labels. So it's good to know he can handle things in a pinch. I don't know what I'd have done without him!

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Remember this Ralph Lauren shirt I sold?

It's looking like it's probably going to turn into an unpaid item case. Ugh. What a disappointment. $44.75 for a shirt that I paid $1.20 for?? I hope he pays, because I think the case will automatically open tomorrow.

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I was thrilled to see these Borns go.

I've had them since October 2010! I'm surprised they took so long to sell.  They're a little on the cute side. Far from my personal style and taste, but I thought for sure someone would like them. Good riddance, I say.

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Speaking of shoes, I have gotten a LOT pickier about what shoes I'll buy for resale. I'm tired of getting burnt when old shoes break, so my new rule is - no shoes older than 2006. Even that's pushing it, but I'll give that a try and see how it goes. This is easy with Clarks, because the date is right inside the shoe. With other brands, I'll just have to use my best judgment. They need to look like they've only been worn a couple times. I really left a lot of good brands behind during my last road trip, because they didn't meet my requirements.

I have SO many shoes to get listed. Sigh. I have so much of everything to get listed. I hope to make my way through the stuff that I already have photos of. I have a basket of NWT clothing ready to go, and a bit pile of uncut sewing patterns. That should be plenty to get me started...

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I thought I might get a sale through Pinterest today. I had a pair of Borns returned to me last month because they didn't fit. In the month that I've had them relisted, I've got 10 watchers. That's a pretty good indication that they'll sell soon, so I thought I'd pin them. Within minutes, I got an inquiry from someone who apparently doesn't speak English as a first language :)   "Number?"  I assumed (correctly, it turns out) that she meant what size are they, so I replied with that information. She wrote back, "Big for me! Snif"  lol. Bummer. They'll sell...

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Oh! I started watching Downton Abbey this week. I love my Kindle :)  I got through the first season in a day or two. Now I'm making my way through the second season. I'm enjoying it. Thanks to all of you who recommended it!

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I'm off to try to get some listings up!