I haven't been posting a lot here. My goal is to pick one Vintage Ad listing from each day and feature it here, but the reality is... more likely going to be twice a week. It's not that eBay isn't going well. Actually, it's been doing great recently. I'm still working part time at the paper, but getting ready to transition to full time on eBay. For some time now, it's been mornings at the paper, and afternoons on eBay. Recently, normal life has been taking more of my time, and eBay is suffering a bit for it.
Most of those things should be slowing down over the next month or so. Bit by bit we're catching up on out-of-the-house tasks. I've taken a week of unpaid vacation for a trial run of "life after work." Aside from a couple of hiccups, it's going great. My best afternoon ever, I listed 10 Vintage ads. Usually it's closer to 6 or 7. On Monday, my first full day, I got 13 +1 for the day. The +1 is a result of lots of discussion and planning. I love listing vintage ads, but they sell really slow. Monique usually lists the 'normal' stuff, or the extreme items that are bigger ticket than our usual run.
So our compromise plan is for me to list one item per day, of ordinary things. Traditional items, like toys, gadgets, things from garage sales. Since we're also trying to minimize, I've been using my +1 to list things I love, but don't need need to keep any more. Collectibles that are great, but that have been stored in boxes, kept in the shed, not where they can be appreciated. My first +1 this week was a 30-year-old Trigun action figure. It's difficult to let go... but he's been in storage so long I forgot I had him. Same with the Snake Plissken Escape from LA action figure, and the Classic Batman. Not thrilled about selling them, but it's time to be harsh. If they're not on display and being appreciated, it's time to move on.
In the meantime, the rest of the day is for vintage ads. Monday I listed 13, which is 3 better than my best until then. Yesterday was the 4th of July. Listed my +1, got a few non-eBay things done, talked with friends. This was not according to plan, but we knew up front there would be days that wandered adrift. Today, did the +1, and 16 ads! Again, a new personal best.
Even better, Monique's eBay store and mine are both doing very well. eBay's been slow for a while, so it's great to see Monique's listings do well. Her store is our mainstay. The ads I post are slow sales, and I've been focused on building quantity, and reputation. I try to be very up front with condition, and go for overkill with the careful packaging.
Also, and I can't find anybody else selling ephemera who does this, I scan both sides of the magazine page (or pages), and include the images. Even if there are no ads on the back side, it makes sense that people would be curious about both sides. In some cases, there are very cool ads on BOTH sides. Depending on just how cool, I'll either feature a main one, but still describe the other side, or split the title between both ads. This includes creating a custom thumbnail for the lead image. If it's a two-page ad, that means I'm actually scanning and describing four pages. More, in some cases... Garcia fishing/hunting equipment had a 6-page ad rambling through an Outdoor Life magazine!
I do worry that maybe this extra effort is a waste of time, but if I was my own customer, this is what I'd like to see. Full disclosure, no questions, and the comfort of knowing exactly what I'll get when I buy. Plus, who knows which ad's going to sell? If I only featured one side, I might be choosing the wrong one to list.
Back to the job transition - I've been with the paper for 15 years. About a year ago, it got to be too much and I dropped to part time. Over this last year, working with Monique in the afternoons has been really great. We laugh, joke, ask each other's opinions on the things we're listing. We're spending more time together, and I've seen a shift from high-stress to being happier. Our income is minimal, but as long as we keep pushing on eBay, things look pretty good. At this stage, leaving the paper to work full time with Monique feels like a natural progression. A positive direction for us to move in.
The only downside is the friends I'm leaving behind. After all these years, many of my co-workers are good friends (more like family), and I'll miss them. Monique suggested once or twice a month that we can bake cookies for me to take to the office, giving me an excuse to hang out and keep in touch. All my co-workers like the idea. If you've ever tasted Monique's cookies (including the holy grail... homemade Macarons), you'd understand why everybody thinks it's a great idea. :^)
Even with that, I struggle at the thought of not getting to see everybody as often. It's going to be difficult to leave that part of my life behind. But more so, exciting and fun to be working at home, spending most of my days with Monique (and our puppies). We keep talking, making plans, trying to balance work versus 'retired'. My main goal is to work hard, but happy. Not to be rigid with our planning, but responsible. To know that some days we'll be working more, and some days we'll have unplanned time off. I want to leave the work stress behind, and enjoy life as much as possible. It's a work in progress, but we'll figure it out. It's honestly an exciting time, and I'm looking forward to it.
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