OK the title may seem self-evident and obvious but, I was confused and to be honest, scared of the daunting E-bay business model. I didn't know how I was supposed to advertise, what kind of pictures I should post up, if I needed a certain kind if 'rating' to sell anything, how hard it might be to find someones address and package my stuff.
Well now, I honestly wish I had just asked my co-worker who is a semi-pro (hundreds-to-thousands-sold-a-month) on E-bay for help.
A few weeks ago I sold my childhood playthings, a huge set of G.I. Joe's, through a 'brick& mortar' e-bay re-sale store. They did all of the marketing, photography, packaging, etc...in exchange of 33% of the profit ( or so I thought) from an eventual sale. Now I at first thought 'hey 33% is not that bad of a surcharge for ignorance'.
So I waited, and then I waited and then I waited some more, all the time figuring 33% is an OK bullet to bite - but not much more than that.
When I got tired of waiting, and had time to complain, I went into the store which I dropped my childhood playthings off at and asked what was taking so long.
The guy at the counter - the same fidgety, gloomy guy who I dropped the things off with initially - stood there and said "well your 4 weeks of waiting is about average, your check for 55% of the value has been issued"
THAT's right after looking down at the even smaller print it appears there are 5-12% of additional fees on top of the stores cut.
So not only did i have to wait 4 weeks to get my money, I paid about 45% of my profit for the privilege of being ignorant.
That's why next time I sell something online I'll be selling it myself. Sometimes ignorance can be blissful but, in this instance it just kept getting more and more expensive.
Showing posts with label rip-offs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rip-offs. Show all posts
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
June 2007 Net worth, and other news...
So I went to www.networthiq.com/ and set up a 'Net Worth Account" and it almost made feel better about the fact that the Amusement Park won the battle of the budget yesterday.
Assuming, I posted the link correctly, it appears that my net worth is somewhere about $1,000 more than I was expecting it to be based off of my original Guesstimate of $4-5K.
Yesterday, though me and my girlfriend went to an Amusement Park and brought with us packed lunches and snacks in a large book bag in order to avoid paying for much past admission. Of course it appears that this particular Amusement Park has gotten wise to this frugal practice; as we attempted to get in line for our first ride we were immediately stopped and informed that 'no backpacks or bags' are NOT allowed in line. Seeing as we did not want to walk all the way back to the entrance and then through parking lot in order to put the bag back. we decided to use the convenient, 1-time use lockers for $2 a pop.
We rode a couple other rides without the bag and then we both got hungry. So we went back to the locker - had our packed lunch and brought some packed water bottles along with us for the wait. We then dropped off our bag again for another $2 and proceeded to ride some more rides for a couple hours. My girlfriend paid for parking($10) and gas($27) - I paid for admission($60).
Towards the mid afternoon - early evening- My girlfriend mentioned that she was hungry, I mentioned that I was again broke, and she quickly mentioned how she paid for parking and gas and the park food smelt 'really good'. Of course I gave in and regrettably went to the ATM where I was quickly charged with a $2.50 for the 'privilege' of using their ATM (I guessing my bank charged $2.50 as well for going outside their network) and taking out a whopping $20.
We went to get her a turkey leg for $5-something and a burger and fry combo for me for 8- something - when tax was added I had just spent nearly $15 for quite possibly the worst burger I've ever paid for. At which point I began to get upset because I knew my bank account was quickly approaching the single digits. We headed back to her place shortly after this.
I was grumpy the whole way home but luckily, we talked about it and I brought up the fact that her father had mentioned a dowry/bride price last time I emailed him. She said she had explained to him and her mom that that's not the way we do things here in the USA and she would have a talk with him and let him know we (I) won't be paying any 'bride price' anytime soon - if at all. That took a lot of pressure off me psychologically.
I also made a guesstimate calculation (in my head) on whether I can pay off my credit card debt by the end of July. - It turns out I can, If I knock my money market savings down to just under a thousand dollars. I don't think I'm comfortable doing that though but, we'll see.
Assuming, I posted the link correctly, it appears that my net worth is somewhere about $1,000 more than I was expecting it to be based off of my original Guesstimate of $4-5K.
Yesterday, though me and my girlfriend went to an Amusement Park and brought with us packed lunches and snacks in a large book bag in order to avoid paying for much past admission. Of course it appears that this particular Amusement Park has gotten wise to this frugal practice; as we attempted to get in line for our first ride we were immediately stopped and informed that 'no backpacks or bags' are NOT allowed in line. Seeing as we did not want to walk all the way back to the entrance and then through parking lot in order to put the bag back. we decided to use the convenient, 1-time use lockers for $2 a pop.
We rode a couple other rides without the bag and then we both got hungry. So we went back to the locker - had our packed lunch and brought some packed water bottles along with us for the wait. We then dropped off our bag again for another $2 and proceeded to ride some more rides for a couple hours. My girlfriend paid for parking($10) and gas($27) - I paid for admission($60).
Towards the mid afternoon - early evening- My girlfriend mentioned that she was hungry, I mentioned that I was again broke, and she quickly mentioned how she paid for parking and gas and the park food smelt 'really good'. Of course I gave in and regrettably went to the ATM where I was quickly charged with a $2.50 for the 'privilege' of using their ATM (I guessing my bank charged $2.50 as well for going outside their network) and taking out a whopping $20.
We went to get her a turkey leg for $5-something and a burger and fry combo for me for 8- something - when tax was added I had just spent nearly $15 for quite possibly the worst burger I've ever paid for. At which point I began to get upset because I knew my bank account was quickly approaching the single digits. We headed back to her place shortly after this.
I was grumpy the whole way home but luckily, we talked about it and I brought up the fact that her father had mentioned a dowry/bride price last time I emailed him. She said she had explained to him and her mom that that's not the way we do things here in the USA and she would have a talk with him and let him know we (I) won't be paying any 'bride price' anytime soon - if at all. That took a lot of pressure off me psychologically.
I also made a guesstimate calculation (in my head) on whether I can pay off my credit card debt by the end of July. - It turns out I can, If I knock my money market savings down to just under a thousand dollars. I don't think I'm comfortable doing that though but, we'll see.
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