Kicking Facebook To The Curb (Almost)

Like most people, I spend too much time on Facebook. I was neglecting my own life in favor of people I haven't even meet. I could spend hours reading status updates, postings in groups, liking pages etc. Not only was I wasting my time, it was affecting my mental health as well. I spent days crying because I wasn't invited to a going away party for a coworker I hadn't seen in years. Jealousy would overcome me. You went to Outback again this week? Hmmm, I can barely afford McDonald's. Oh those vacay photos of you at Disneyland. How thoughtful of you to share when I couldn't take my kids to the county fair. You get the point. I know I have plenty to be thankful for, but Facebook was not helping.

I didn't want to remove my profile completely, so I am making it a little harder to access the page. I deleted the app from my kindle and removed the bookmark from my computer. If I have to type the address in, I might be more inclined to stay off of it.  I also did some friend clean up. If you can't take the time to like or comment on my posts, why are we friends? I removed some groups as well. Wasting time reading about other people's problems with Ebay wasn't helping me at all. I barely posted in those groups and when I did, I would only get one or two responses.

I always tease my sister about her not having a Facebook page but maybe she has the right idea. Guess I will see how long I can stay off it. Hopefully, I don't replace it with something else.

Do you have a Facebook page? Are you spending way too much time there?

Church Sale Finds and Where The Hell Did My Reading List Go?

Apparently blogger has decided I waste too much time reading blogs and removed my reading list. It's been gone for a few days now. I think I can still get to blogs off my blog list but who knows. I also got approved for adsense but can not figure out how to put them at the bottom of each individual blog. It's at the very bottom of my page and I doubt anyone can even see it.

Anyways, the church by my house had their annual garage sale. I was hoping to get there bright and early on Thursday but it was raining and I didn't go until 1. I was surprised there was still some good stuff left.

I've learned a lot about Little Golden Books over the past few days. Like for example, the copyright date does not help to determine edition. The copyright usually means the copyright of the story not the book.  The oldest books have the printing listed in the front. The next books, the A determined the first edition. It can be found on the last page of the book almost in the spine. A is first, B is second and so on. I do actually have some first editions but a lot of them are newer.

I was hoping to find some older Fisher Price sets but only found these.

I wish I had picked up the other bargain bags of toys because I think the floats to these Sea Ponies were in there.

a very tiny Popple

a sweet vintage baby doll

and some more books

I found out yesterday the church donated their left overs to the thrift store I go to. I'm hoping the doll house they had got donated. I asked my favorite clerk and she said she would keep her eyes out for it and save it for me.

Scarce Finds Slow Sales

Uggh I'm back to slow sales again. I can't seem to get off this roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Currently, I'm down. Tomorrow, the local church is having their annual garage sale and I'm hoping to sell some things today so I can go check it out. Right now, my paypal balance is below $10 and I still haven't paid my Ebay fees. I put my entire store on sale, hoping to sell something. Anything.

The last few weeks have been dismal at the thrift store. I'm trying not to buy low profit items but lately that is all I can find. I bought some bargain bags for Ryker and in 4 of them, were one Littlest Pet Shop figure. I thought I'd check Ebay to see if they were worth anything. Two of the 4 should bring good money. The other two, not so much.

I found one of those Leap Frog magnet sets. This one is the airplane.

This carry case had 14 vintage Highlight magazines in it. I wish they had all been from the same year though.

Another thrift store had 2 Care Bear sleeping bags. I only bought the older one because the newer one was priced twice as much.

Barney puzzle and another Snuggle bear. I wish the Snuggle bears would sell as quickly as they used to. Also I think the price has dropped.

and a vintage Strawberry Shortcake card game

All of these items are available in my Ebay store. If you see something you like, shoot me an offer.

Open Case Automatic Defect UNFAIR

On Sunday, I had a case opened against me for item not as described. I sold some color paddles at auction and the buyer claimed I only sent 11 instead of 12. I realize how easy it is for a buyer to open a case in the Ebay messaging system even if they did not intend too. If you select any of the first 3 topics (or something like that) it will automatically open a case. The only way to avoid this is by choosing OTHER. I had been writing on the back on my business cards for the buyer to choose other if there is a problem with their purchase. My business cards also have my email address on them to contact me as well. I was hoping to avoid a defect by having unnecessary cases opened against me.

Luckily, I had another paddle to send to my buyer. She received it today and left positive feedback. Unfortunately, she has not closed the case.

cheap auction that gave me a defect

Even though the buyer is happy, this case still counts as a defect against me. These defects can add up quickly and I don't think it is fair for Ebay to count it against you if you worked with your buyer and they are happy. Right now, I am at 4 defects because of Item Not as Described cases. Two are the result of one buyer claiming the art work I sent them was not a water color. I refunded half their purchase price and they left positive feedback. The other defect was for a flour container that the post office carelessly broke. Again, I refunded the buyer and they left positive feedback.

I decided I need to be more proactive in preventing these cases. I went to Vistaprint and created these stickers to put on the outside of my packages. If buyers are not going to read my business card and follow my instructions, hopefully they will see this sticker and contact me by choosing other. I'm a good seller and will take care of my buyer and I feel there is no reason at all for cases to be opened.

Do you feel Ebay's defect system is unfair? What proactive measures are you taking to prevent defects?

I Bought Dirt....And A Dead Spider

My hoarder side is starting to show it's ugly head. I bought dirt and a dead spider. Neither is worth selling on Ebay but I thought they were cool. The dirt isn't actually dirt. It is a sediment sample. I liked what was written on the bottle: Gathered from around the bones of ancient elephants, this vessel contains soils from the actual Mammoth Site sinkhole in Hot Springs, SD. May it be a reminder of the frailty of all creatures past and present.

The dead spider I'm going to make into a necklace for myself as soon as I get a chain. It even glows in the dark.

I found two more items I'm keeping for myself. A Mickey Mouse watch wall clock and a bubble gum machine.