I like online selling and buying. I like op shops. The whole reduce, reuse, recycle phenomenon is great and takes us all back to times when this was the "normal" way of life. The world has come full circle with families everywhere doing it tough right now.
My family is like most in today's world I think. We have the gadgets like mobile phones, Xbox, Wii, Nintendo DS, LCD TV and all the paraphenalia that comes with it. This has grown over the years. As the kids have gotten older they have received a mobile phone to keep them safe (naturally not all of them have one yet lol). We originally had a Playstation 2, this got swapped for a Wii. They all received a Nintendo DS for Christmas a couple of years ago when we were planning our trip to Queensland as a means to keep them entertained on the travel there and back (worked a gem I must admit and still does on long car trips!). Mr14 then bought himself an Xbox as that is what all his friends had. Well that then started a trend as my 3 other boys then all saved up their pocket money and birthday money for a whole year to buy themselves one too. So yep our house has all the trappings of this century, along with a couple of laptops and 2 desk top computers. And you know what......I hate it all lol, I truly do. Hubby is right into the electronic age with the kids but I yearn for the simpler life, life before computers and gaming consoles. Don't get me wrong, I love reading blogs, I love shopping on Ebay and Quicksales and I love playing computer games occasionally, but I hate all the electronic equipment that litters the house, the tangled mess of cords everywhere which make it very hard to clean behind cupboards etc etc etc. It goes against my "simple living" philosophies. Makes me wish I had just put my foot down and said no to the multitude of Xbox consoles our house now contains. Yes it has given each child a possession that they had to learn to save up for and yes they all share their games around but personally, I hate it.
This brings me to the point I am trying to make (I know this is so longwinded lol). I think I am like most people and feeling the overwhelming need to declutter our lives. We are a "step family" with two families becoming one due to divorce etc. Therefore we have the two houses becoming one scenario happening which as you can imagine brings alot of clutter, along with 6 children and all their clothes they outgrow, toys they outgrow and just life in general.
I have boxes and boxes of items waiting to be sold online. This all takes time of course. I list a few bits and pieces on Ebay and the rest goes on Quicksales because it is so much cheaper to sell there. I used to love Ebay but for selling I don't any more. I will tell you why in an example.
A couple of weeks ago I listed some women's clothing which I had brought from an op shop (I know I actually paid for more clutter to bring into the house lol but I fell in love with these things). They were nice items which I saw potential for selling on Ebay and I thought "why not". One was a designer denim jacket, a pure linen skirt and another name brand skirt. I listed these 3 items at 99 cents as per Ebay's free listing offer. They got lots of lookers but sadly the two skirts sold for just 99 cents each and the jacket sold for $1.04. Naturally, as they were sold on Ebay Paypal was used to pay for them. Now at the end of these 3 transactions, between the Ebay and Paypal fees and the cost of the items, I am left with....wait for it......NOTHING! I have actually ended up 47 cents out of pocket. Yes I know I should have put a bit extra on the postage cost to help cover the fees, but at the end of the day I am an honest person and I hate postage costs as it is. I like to give my customers a good deal. Sadly when using Ebay a good deal comes at a price. I don't go out here to make a fortune, I'm not trying to become the next Ebay Millionaire (although that would be nice lol), but I really don't think that there is such a thing anyway. Think about the fees I paid to Paypal and Ebay and think if you were selling $1,000,000 worth of stock each year, think how much money you would pay to these two companies in fees, it is just down right scarey!!
I know Ebay is a company and companies make money but I truly think their pricing needs to be made fairer. There is a point where it becomes a rip off and I think for the small time seller, it has reached that point. Ebay has the monopoly on online selling businesses. That along with their Paypal company makes them millions of dollars each year. The denim jacket I mentioned may have only cost me about 10 cents in Ebay fees but it cost me 68 cents in Paypal fees. Fees which come off the total cost of the combined sale and postage! It is just beyond a joke. It isn't so noticeable when you are selling things for $15-20 each but when you are selling at $1 it just isn't fair.
I truly believe that Ebay has become a place for the big boys of online selling and us little stay at home mums just trying to make a few extra dollars towards our families budgets are getting pushed out.
What do you think?
I apologise that this was so long and I probably really should go back and make it all make sense but today I am just a little disheartened with my whole "lets make a bit of money to help out the family budget". Today I feel like just sticking all my boxes out the front with a big "FREE" sticker on them just to get rid of the clutter once and for all!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment