In hindsight, it was foolish to volunteer to sell a bunch of a friend’s stuff on eBay. I only say that because it’s harder than it sounds, it’s not as profitable as you might think, and it’s, frankly, a pain in the ass.
Some of the items I tried to sell were QVC Christmas figurines. Pretty, but not all that expensive. One listing included a pretty nice nativity with about sixteen pieces. When it didn’t even have any views last fall, I deeply discounted the asking price.
In November, I got some interest. One potential buyer wanted to buy several items together to save on shipping costs. No problem. We worked it out, I gave her a good deal, I boxed it all up and sent it out.
A month later, I got a message. “Oh, one of the shepherds had a broken head that had been glued back. Disappointed.” News to me. Everything was in the original form-fit styrofoam packaging. Was it that big of a deal?
I offered to send her other items that would match the set. I just wanted to clear my shelves. Plus, my wife had said, “If it doesn’t sell, it’s going to the thrift store.”
She didn’t want that. She wanted some kind of refund. One of sixteen pieces was damaged. You only paid about $25. What do you want? I offered her some other pieces I was trying to get rid of. Nope. She wanted cash. “How about $5?” Deal.
So, she got a sixteen piece nativity. She got it for $20. A repaired piece? I’ll bet almost everyone has a piece of their nativity that has been glued back together. And I’ll bet you put it out every year and don’t even think about it.
The good news: I’ve got almost everything I tried to sell off my shelf. Some I sold. Some I donated. Some I threw away. All that stuff found a home somewhere.
Waite for it... 