A couple of the sales I have made have only occurred because someone was brave enough to ask me a question.
Take the case (mentioned a few days ago) of Sandra in New Zealand. She was brave enough to check with me and see if I would be willing to ship an audiobook to her, even though I had the book labeled "US only". If she hadn't, if she had just seen that and though "oh, well" - then no sale.
Today a gentleman in Texas (heya, Eddie!) emailed me about some Who's Who comics I had up for sale. I had the entire 26-issue set up as 13 2-issue "items", at $8.00 apiece (not a bad profit for a $1 cover price book). The online price guide said they were valued at $4 per issue, and I figured what the heck - if they don't sell, I can always lower them later. Eddie emailed me and said he really needed issues 21-26, but wasn't able (or willing, I suppose) to spend $4 per issue to get them (he had just gotten 1-20 for $0.99 + $7.00 shipping - but he realized that was a helluva deal). Would I go to $2 per issue? So, I did a little market research, seeing what others were asking for them. Mine weren't the priciest (some went up to $6 per issue in fact), but they were above average (many were asking $0.99 per). Now, I think my comics are in extraordinary condition - and I get compliments in feedback all the time about how I am undergrading them when I call them only "Near Mint". But, it seems I could be a tad lower. So I lowered the price of all 13 sets to $5.50 per set (that's $2.75 per issue for those of you who are divisionally challenged) and contacted Eddie letting him know. "Even if it's not low enough for you, thanks for pointing out a place where I could be more competitive."
Well, not only did he buy the three sets he wanted at $5.50 per, he also bought the Who's Who Update '87 issues 1-5 for $15, and the Who's Who Update '88 issues 1-4 for $12. Not a bad order all in all. And all because he was bold enough to ask if I'd be willing to go a little lower on the price.
So, the moral? If you see something you like on eBay (especially if it's from me), but you think it's too high a price, or it doesn't say I'll ship it to you, or maybe you only want one issue out of a set that I have up together...well, just ask! The worst that will happen is I'll say "thanks, but no." And you might just end up getting what you wanted!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Commenting is now easier! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.
Okay, I know that I have some regular readers out there (friends and family for the most part, naturally) as well as the occasional from the link at the store, or the "next Blog" button on Blogger, or some bizarre random Google search. I just wanted to let you all know that I've now made it easier to leave comments here if you'd like. I didn't realize that I had this set to only allow Blogger members to comment. I've now set that to "anyone", so you need not sign up to leave a comment.
I do, however, reserve the right to review comments before they get posted! No comment spam here, thank you very much!
I do, however, reserve the right to review comments before they get posted! No comment spam here, thank you very much!
I've just discovered how to turn on titles! What fun!
The 5th Horseman by James Patterson, Gone by Jonathan Kellerman, and False Impression by Jeffrey Archer - three more audiobooks Dad dropped off (via my brother, who has a voice lesson with him every week) to add to the store. Now up for purchase if you'd like :-)
Other than that, not too much to report today, I'm afraid. Well, besides one massive sale. A gentleman from Illinois (howdy, Kyle!) bought 91 cards from me (as 80 "items" - 6 were multi-card sets). He says he hopes to be pleased with the cards, and if so, will return in June or July to buy more. Glad to hear it!
One problem with his order, though - and it's now the third time I've experienced this problem, but I don't think I've ranted about it here as yet (and if I have, it darn well deserves another rant anyway). For some blasted reason, eBay will not let me combine more than 40 items together in one order, meaning a customer like Kyle needs to get two (or more, even - Mr. Tree from the UK a few weeks back got three!) invoices, and needs to pay twice then if they're using PayPal. A minor inconvenience? Sure. A loss of $0.30 for each additional payment to PayPal fees? Yes again. An all around royal pain in the arse? You betcha!
I think I'll drop eBay Customer Service a note and ask why they have this setup. It really makes no sense to me.
And on a complete tangent - I was thrilled and amazed by the wonder that is the internet yesterday. For some reason I had been telling my older son about a silly skit/song/skit thing I heard long ago in high school called "Boot to The Head" by the Frantics. I finally said to myself: "Self, you ought to be able to find that on the internet." So, I Googled "Boot to the Head" and what do you know? The first hit has a transcript and downloadable mp3's of the thing. If you've never heard it before, give it a listen. It's freaking hysterical.
Then I remembered trying to explain to my eldest and my wife (who had somehow never heard it) about Abbot & Costello's famous "Who's on First" comedy dialogue. So, I Googled that as well. Had to go to the second hit to find an mp3 of it (the first had only the transcript). Also worth a listen if you've never heard it.
Okay - that's my plugs for this time around. Shade and sweet water! Okay, one more - lots of Elfquest comics available in the store!
Other than that, not too much to report today, I'm afraid. Well, besides one massive sale. A gentleman from Illinois (howdy, Kyle!) bought 91 cards from me (as 80 "items" - 6 were multi-card sets). He says he hopes to be pleased with the cards, and if so, will return in June or July to buy more. Glad to hear it!
One problem with his order, though - and it's now the third time I've experienced this problem, but I don't think I've ranted about it here as yet (and if I have, it darn well deserves another rant anyway). For some blasted reason, eBay will not let me combine more than 40 items together in one order, meaning a customer like Kyle needs to get two (or more, even - Mr. Tree from the UK a few weeks back got three!) invoices, and needs to pay twice then if they're using PayPal. A minor inconvenience? Sure. A loss of $0.30 for each additional payment to PayPal fees? Yes again. An all around royal pain in the arse? You betcha!
I think I'll drop eBay Customer Service a note and ask why they have this setup. It really makes no sense to me.
And on a complete tangent - I was thrilled and amazed by the wonder that is the internet yesterday. For some reason I had been telling my older son about a silly skit/song/skit thing I heard long ago in high school called "Boot to The Head" by the Frantics. I finally said to myself: "Self, you ought to be able to find that on the internet." So, I Googled "Boot to the Head" and what do you know? The first hit has a transcript and downloadable mp3's of the thing. If you've never heard it before, give it a listen. It's freaking hysterical.
Then I remembered trying to explain to my eldest and my wife (who had somehow never heard it) about Abbot & Costello's famous "Who's on First" comedy dialogue. So, I Googled that as well. Had to go to the second hit to find an mp3 of it (the first had only the transcript). Also worth a listen if you've never heard it.
Okay - that's my plugs for this time around
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Okay, which do you want first - the bad news, or the bad news?
First off, only two of my auctions for this week sold. Not terrible news, but I thought I had picked items which would draw attention to themselves, and through them, the store. Doesn't seem to have worked so well. Of course, the holiday weekend may have had something to do with it.
Secondly, and most depressingly, is the fact that I was wrong, which is to say I was originally right, about the listing fees. I am in fact getting zapped for $0.03 for each store listing every 30 days. I guess eBay was just a little slow in charging them. This means that since I've got over 2000 listings in the store now, I'll be eating not only the $16.95 monthly fee for the store itself, but also over $60 in listing fees! Ouch! I need to keep a very close eye on the sales over the next month or two to make sure that this store is in fact paying for itself. I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't - I've put a lot of work into all these listings!
Well, hopefully something good will come from that eBay reseller marketplace. I wish more then ever now that I'd won that lot of video games a few days back!
First off, only two of my auctions for this week sold. Not terrible news, but I thought I had picked items which would draw attention to themselves, and through them, the store. Doesn't seem to have worked so well. Of course, the holiday weekend may have had something to do with it.
Secondly, and most depressingly, is the fact that I was wrong, which is to say I was originally right, about the listing fees. I am in fact getting zapped for $0.03 for each store listing every 30 days. I guess eBay was just a little slow in charging them. This means that since I've got over 2000 listings in the store now, I'll be eating not only the $16.95 monthly fee for the store itself, but also over $60 in listing fees! Ouch! I need to keep a very close eye on the sales over the next month or two to make sure that this store is in fact paying for itself. I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't - I've put a lot of work into all these listings!
Well, hopefully something good will come from that eBay reseller marketplace. I wish more then ever now that I'd won that lot of video games a few days back!
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