Hey eBay sellers and welcome back. You have landed on episode number 86 of eBay the right way. The date today is November 9 2022. And I am your hostess Suzanne a wells. Today's guest is Becky from Arizona. Her claim to fame is selling the egg timer that looked like an egg for $100. That was the cover on the September 19 2022 YouTube video if you want to look that up and see it. Now, as promised, I am keeping the premium library students updated through podcasts and YouTube. So just a
quick note on that. Last week, I added another installment of the Halloween course. So there are five lessons now totaling one hour and 15 minutes. And yes, Halloween is over for this year. But as you should know by now since I'm constantly repeating it, seasonal items sell all year. The new lesson focuses on a brand you might not even know sells Halloween decor, and some of the items sell for over $200. These items have appeared repeatedly on the money making
Monday threads. So that was the inspiration for the lesson that people are finding these. There is also a new bulletin. This is where I am on camera talking directly to my students with updates, encouragement, and fines and sales of the week with teachable moments. The bulletin on November 4 includes analysis of the eBay announcement that came out on November 1 for the 2022 holiday update. And I found some incorrect information in that announcement and did some detective work to show you what
I found. That lesson is about 15 minutes long. So remember to check the monthly updates page in the premium library for what has been added and links to those lessons. Okay, now let's get into the conversation with Becky. Hello listeners today I have the very vivacious and talkative Becky also is the famous seller of the egg timer that looked like an egg. That was so funny. It's like people know you buy what you sell. Right? Well, we'll get to that. So how are you doing this afternoon?
I'm good. I'm good. We're in Arizona today. But it's a little overcast. We came here to get some sunshine. We're new snowbirds. And normally we live in Colorado. But here we are getting some sun and some warmth. I think I have that thing called sad seasonal affective disorder. It's
real. Yes, that is real. I get that too. And I actually put up my Christmas tree. I'll be doing that this weekend. Since we have an extra hour. You don't change your clock. But we do
helps. It helps. So that's why we we've we've slowly become to Arizona more and more and more often. And in February this February we came to Arizona and stay for a month. Oh and boy did I get some good thrifted and but I have to tell you something, I stepped in a divot in a parking lot and I broke my ankle and here in Arizona. I broke all the bones all three was really a deal. So we stayed here longer than expected. I had
surgery. I had a hot pink cast with the flamingo on it because whatever I go through, I try to make it as happy as possible. I was glad we got to stay here longer. We stay here just long enough that we bought a little bungalow, which we wouldn't have bought if I hadn't broken my leg and so are my my ankle. And then we left that They after we bought it and went back to Colorado, so it was like a big surprise when we got here. And let's see mid September, and we are just loving it.
Oh, good, good. I'm so glad but you said you were a southern girl.
I am. I'm from Texas. But I migrated up to Colorado when I for my second marriage, marry to Colorado guys actually from Oregon, but that's where we live and we've been married about 19 years.
Oh, wow. Good for you. Okay. Because you don't sound southern to me?
Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, there's a difference between Texan and Deep South and you are deep south. But do I
sound like I'm Deep South? Yes, you do. Really?
Yes. I love it. That's
what I don't you tell me I don't. But I guess it's all about your perspective, because there are people way more southern than I am a deeper draw.
Yes. And I can pick it up. I used to do traveling and speaking I love speaking in the south, but I would come home and I would, you know have that Atlanta, Georgia accent and stick with me.
Yeah, y'all. Y'all will not believe this.
Yes. Well, we use y'all in Texas quite a bit.
Right. Right. Okay. Well, we got the geography figured out. All right. That's right. So back to how you got started on eBay. What was the catalyst or inspiration for doing that?
Well, you know, married a second time. Oh, the second model has been so much better. I'm really just delighted with him. But we didn't have. I'm waiting
for that.
I listen, hang in there. Hang in there. I got a good one. So anyway, we were married son, he was a literary agent, I was a writer. So we had that in common. And we had kids in common, but after that, he was kind of a sports person. I'm more of a cook, a foodie, a reader, artsy craftsy. So we couldn't find a lot to do together on the weekends. But one thing we loved, that we both still love is going to antique stores. And then that led to
state sales. And to this day, our favorite thing on Saturday is, you know, we get up early and he loves He does. He's a left brain part of our marriage. So he does all the charting and graphing and knows where we're gonna go. And then all I have to do is get my coffee and hop in the car, we've had the best time seeing new places. And anyway, so that's how I began. And then I just kind of played with eBay a little bit and a little bit
more, a little bit more. And I've been a writer, a professional rider for 30 years, and I got tired of just thinking and sitting. My body was not in good shape. And so I needed to do something more and eat it does require that you move a little bit more. So I started getting sincere and ever tired from riding a year ago and went full time with eBay. Okay, so
back to your current husband. Does he have a brother?
Actually, he's married.
I should say and available, brother. Oh, yeah. Well,
I'm just going to keep my eye out for you. Find you a good man. Well,
that's that's the way it's going to come I think is through somebody I know. I had a neighbor in my last location in Georgia and he's late 50s. And he had five brothers. And they were all in public service either fireman, police officer, sheriff's office, ambulance driver EMT. So he has one of his brothers who's also a fireman. I was like, well, we'll help z is the event. You don't want to go with a fireman. You don't want to end up with a fireman because they
are crazy. I mean, they run into burning buildings on purpose.
They need a lot of adrenaline which cannot I would say just pick the kindest man you know, that was it's common to everybody. His contour mothers and the little kids. He's kind to the wider that kind of person just says a wonderful companion. And I've
learned this is totally off topic of Ebay. I don't know. But I've learned that you don't really know somebody until you watch them when they're angry. You know, you're gonna make them angry, but like how do they react in situations because if they're like a real jerk when they're mad, then that's going to that's going to be directed at you at some point. So watch, watch them from afar. It And then that that's a southern thing from afar. The house was on far
I'm tracking with you know, but just
watch that under pressure stressed out and see how they behave because you're gonna have to live with that.
Exactly. Yes. And if you're on a long road trip, you're gonna have to be in a car with that. And Greg, I have to say he has never, ever this is crazy to me never lost his temper. I've never seen him lose his temper. And that's unusual. But my dad was like that he never lost his temper. And just, you know, there are men like that.
Yeah, yeah, he's out there. So anyway, enough of my personal dating woes.
Okay. Back to eBay back to eBay.
You got into eBay to for a little something extra besides sitting all day. I can relate to that. And so what was the the thing that really got you hooked like the maybe the first thing you sold or something that was like, enlightened you to wow, this can really work?
Um, well, you know, I think the most exciting first thing I sold. And often, this is a little sad thing. But when you live in a certain part of the country, a lot of times there's a special thing that is only in your part of the country. And one of the things I found was this little it was just there like dancing Santa and Mrs. Santa, figuring. And, you know, you see those Christmas figuring all the time, but this one had a
name on the bottom. And it was simple edge, si M P IC H. And there's this family in Colorado Springs that have had since 1952, this little puppet theater. So I picked that up for a song, I got home and looked oh my goodness, you know how your heart starts beating? When you find out something's worth it was worth between 500 and $1,000. And so I, I sold it for about, I think it was about $700. And the fun thing was this family that had this puppet theater. And you know, they made
the puppets individually. So each one was an app, I found some more like little angels that they made. And I made $250 on their angels. They look like almost like paper mache little faces, but the bodies are made with cloth and so forth. And the woman who bought it from me, taught the little boys she was a teacher at retired and she taught the little boy or the man that owns the business when he was a little boy. He wanted to
have this special. Well, figuring it's called something like OB joyful, I think was the name of it. It was really sweet. It was that sale. There's several things that happen there. It was, it was a fun thing. It was a big sale. It was in my community, and it meant something to somebody. And I think the reason I do vintage is because of that, that personal connection. And yet, the other day, I was telling somebody, I'm
midwife memories. And I really think that's what you do when you sell vintage Jordans, which is my favorite thing to sell.
midwife memories.
Yeah, I like to midwife memory. So you take something that you just know that it's gonna belong to somebody. And I like that feeling like I take that, that I find that that I know there's somebody out there that wants and needs or remembers this thing. They might have had it when they were a child. They might have, oh, maybe use this particular spoon or bowl when they made something with their grandma, you just
don't know. And those are the kind of stories that you get back that that's when resigned vintage.
Yeah, I call that re homing. Just like that taking like you do with animals, you know, you take it, nobody wants his animal, it goes to the shelter. And then it gets re homed with a family that loves it and has a better life. Hopefully, and so I feel like that's what we do is we definitely provide a service when you do finding items and you don't get those heartwarming stories, comments on non vintage
items. Well, I mean, I'm sure you do, but that's where I get the comments and messages from the buyers is oh, I had this as a child or this was my My mother's favorite and she's gone now. And you know, I can have this and think of her. And it really does make you feel like you're doing something valuable.
It does. And I think your work needs to have some meaning to it. And that just, you know, writing was always meaningful. But eBay, it has to be meaningful as well. And when I get those little stories of, you know, I had this doll when I was a child, I've been looking for it forever. Thank you so much. It means so much to me. Or maybe like, I had one where the mother was in a nursing home, and she wanted to get the mother a doll she had when she was a child. Oh, and it was just so
comforting to the mom. So you know, you just never know. Yeah, I was just thinking, I bought recently, five cups off of eBay. Nobody else would think anything about him playing. But they were the cups that mine, my Nonie my grandmother used, I'm going to give it to my kids for Christmas. And tell her you know, tell them this is not nice cup. We call it non nice coffee. Nobody else would have bought those things, but they meant something to me. Right?
So you're on both sides of the situation there with providing items as well as finding items for yourself. Exactly. Yeah. Now, what kind of writing do you do?
Well as the past started, about, Gosh, and then, okay, I don't know how many years ago this is I'm terrible at math. But in the early 90s. I was living in a crazy situation. We had four children, we had taken them to live in a cabin, it was 835 square feet now 65 or 165 square feet cabin, and we slowly expanded it. But it was crazy. We lived in the country on the lake critters and I had all kinds of stories happening. And so to kind of make the best of a crazy situation. umur was
my coping mechanism. So I would tell stories, I'd write stories. And eventually my mom, I come from a family of female riders. So my aunt wrote was the first one, my mother was a rider. And so she co authored my first book with me that we sold, and it was called worms in my tea and other mixed blessings. Back. So back then I was Becky Freeman. And so if you look at the books, you know, that's, that's what they would be under. So wrote my
first book with my mom. And then she and I wrote one more book, adult children of fairly functional parents. And then I just took off mother retired, she went back to gardening. And I wrote and wrote and wrote, I wrote a lot of family gamer, personal stories. But that also required as you know, when you have a business that requires promotion, and so that meant I had to track back then it was traveling, speak and do interviews for us today that's turned into blogs and podcasts.
And you really, you know, authors I think have to work a lot harder now. So overall, Suzanne, I have written over 60 plus books for like traditional publishers. Oh, that's nice, published. And some of most of them, the first half of my career were my own. And the second half I started ghost writing and collaborating. But I want to tell you one thing, so I wrote my first book with my mom. And then this was so special to me. About I think is that five years ago, I wrote two books
with my daughter. One was I was called what we laugh, we cry we cook by Zod is out there was Zondervan with my daughter. And so it was just really special to me that my, my mom and I, she's the one who helped me get started. And then my daughter and I wrote a book together. We dedicated to my mother and she died the next year. So, you know, I just, it was really a special, special thing for me.
And then I started writing for doctors and therapists, you know, they speak in complicated language and details, but I'm interested in that stuff. So I understood a lot of it, but I could I was like a translator, I could take Dr. Ease and make it infotainment, kind of for the average person. So I wrote a book a few years ago with Dr. Earl Hinson called this is your brain on joy. And I've done some work with Dr. Ayman as a
researcher and writers. It's really funny to go from writing as a mom of four about funny stories, and then ended up writing about brain science. I mean, I'm just all over the map.
That is very interesting.
Yeah, I definitely
look up your books and see what they are. You know, I wrote a book last year a memoir. And that's the hardest thing you'll ever do. Because you have to relive everything.
Oh, and yours was a? I haven't read it yet. But I do know you lost somebody precious? Yes, you do go through it again. And don't if you don't feel it, the reader won't feel it.
Well, yeah, you have to have I wanted that emotion, because a lot of it is about his descent into addiction. And me being the I saw myself as an enabler, but I also saw myself as a protector. And that's a really fine line. So yes, I know, everybody eventually is going to have a loved one that faces addiction. Yes, at some point, and you don't really know what to do, there's no right answers. And a lot of it is a lot of it was about can I live with myself? If I do this, XYZ, whatever the thing
was set boundaries, and some and I can I live with myself
if I don't help him? Yes. How am I gonna feel about this in 10 years, you know, what, that's where I was coming from was I didn't want to regret giving up too soon. Or not being his support person, because he didn't have one, I just filled that role. So that that was a lot of the the anguish of writing that was reliving all these decisions I had to make that nobody knew about, I'm just living my life on the outside, I look like I got it all together. Yeah, we do
that, don't we? And intuitively, I just felt that people need to know this, they need to know that that's in front of them on social media, on TV, whatever it is, their lives are imperfect. Everybody's got stuff they're dealing with. And I've gotten such wonderful feedback, comments and emails from people that were like, I'm so glad you did this, because I went through the same thing. And I didn't know what to do, either. So I'm so
glad we wrote that. But I can't wait to read that. You don't know this about me. But my, my older, I have four kids, my oldest son is almost 40. And he was also mentally ill and, and had addictions and was homeless for a while. And, and I learned a lot about boundaries, and what to do and what not to do. And there's you know, it's really complex, and it's chronic. And it's very difficult. And it's, oh, I don't know how to explain it. It's
just always there. It's a cloud hanging over you when you have a loved one like that, um, recently, not. I think maybe three years ago, I did a book with a man who overcame addiction, it's really unusual. It's called unhooked. And it is about not only his journey through addiction and recovery, but his families, it's really interesting. So it kind of, you know, he'll say, what he went through, and then what his
family did to help him. But back to when you're dealing with someone, any kind of chronic issue like that grieved for, you know, a child that has a mental illness or whatever. I found that I had to find something that was absorbing, and fun and angst free, in order to free my mind from worry, and that worried like to get into. And that's where eBay came in. It was it's really been therapy for me a lot of times to just be able to, I could not get my mind
to stop worrying. And I just okay, I'll going in to a vintage store, I'll work on my eBay. And that would kind of take my mind away from that loop of worrying, which
changes the energy. And, of course, he died in March of 2020, like a week after the lockdown. So I'm just by myself dealing with this grief, no, go anywhere. Everything's closed. You know, it's so depressing. Everyone's all like what's happening to the world. And it was, if anybody listening lost a person during all that COVID mess. You know what I'm talking about? It's just layers and layers of what am I supposed to do and depression, but ultimately,
the saddest time and I thought about people who lost someone during that particular time. That's a trauma. It's a trauma, it's a trauma anyway, but to grieve alone, and to not be able to have those funerals. That is, you know, it's just it's very traumatic, and it's not been that long. Suzanne, since that happened. I'm sure you're still processing it.
Yeah, I think These are better. But the, that was the closest person to me in the world. It's a different relationship with a partner than it is with a child. So, yes,
of course very much. So, very much. So,
children is different, but it was, you know, a lot of guilt of could I have done more? Should I have done this or that should we have tried mentioned, like, you have all this guilt. But eBay was a break from all that heavy thinking, you know, I was just in such a, I was so grief stricken. I've never experienced that before, but you just can't do anything. Yeah. And so I would, I would say, Okay, for the next 15 minutes, I'm gonna, I'm gonna list one thing on
eBay. And I would just, every day I would I would do that and make the time a little bit longer. Or I would what do you call a time block? Like, okay, I'm only going to think about this and cry from six to 630 at night. That's I'll just save it all up for then. That's a great idea. And I would just have my cry because you got to work through all that physical
gotta get those tears out. There's, there is some studies, I'm not sure you know how true it is. But I have heard that there is a different composition from tears of joy, and tears of sorrow and the tears of sorrow have chemicals in them that I really believe that you need to get out. That's why it's lifting
your budget. And some people they cry for a week and they're done. No, me it was a year and a half every day, I would just do it in private. And just, you know, it was like exercising it was just to release that. And whatever you need it to be David Kessler's books helped me a lot. I read every single one of them, oh, I
have to write that down. Okay. I'm
a grief expert. He was a hospice worker. Oh, wow. He, he is quite an expert on it. But anyway, I didn't mean for this to turn into
Oh, that's okay. But note
of the boys is that eBay is a welcome distraction from the serious, heavy things you're dealing with no matter what it is. Because you can focus on that. It's short, you know, five or 10 minutes to list something or you're working on taking pictures or your your mind is on something else that, you know, it's interesting and entertaining, and you're going to make a little money. So
exactly, it has to be fun. It has to be angst free, and it has to be absorbing. And you just need those jostle need, like I would just went out I went through a period of grief with after I've lost my first marriage. And then it was every morning, I would just try to go ahead and get the tears going and get it out over because I would feel a lifting afterwards. And I could function for a while. So I've just got to grab I've just cried in the morning. Got it over with.
Yeah, and I can see why people that are dealing with grief, end up with addictions themselves drinking pills, because it's just painful. You just, you just don't want to feel the pain. And you're going to take
a life preserver or the morphine you know, we're in such pain, whatever. And that's how addiction often happens is they're taking something to medicate themselves. Grief is the same way it can be very tempting to just, you know, try to medicate it. Whereas doing something that is like eBay, or some people you got this, this not the only thing some people get into cooking or whatever it is, but it has to be something angst free, absorbing and
fun. And you think when you're in the middle of it, this is never going to end. I'm going to feel like this forever, and you just can't see beyond what you're dealing with. But time definitely helps. And you're not being disloyal to the person if you're not grieving for them. I had to figure that out. That's true too. Like if if I'm not upset and crying about this person that is gone. Who is so I need to do that to keep
their memory alive. Yes. Well, it sounds like you got you got a good book and you had a good roadmap through grief. You just it helps a lot to have somebody go with it. Go through it with you both a professional person, a therapist or a group, but also just maybe a friend who's already been there and is on the other side of the bridge to say you know what, I know you feel like this added to but on this other side.
I promise you there's the other side and it will be better and you'll be okay and those people really mean a lot To when you're going through the middle of it. Mm hmm.
Well, and I hope that this little conversation helps somebody out there who might be a really awesome subject. At some point, everybody's gonna have to go through this sometime in life. You know, it's unavoidable. It's part of the human experience.
And it is, well, I cannot wait to read your memoir that is coming. Tell me again, what the name of it is.
It's called Chicken and dumplings from heaven.
Oh, I love that. I love that title
is significant to something that happened. He was a chef. That was the whole thing he made for me. There's a bit of a supernatural twist in it died. So that so
how I will. So look forward to reading that. That is wonderful.
So let's get back to your eBay and I want to hear about this $1,700 Say that you timely. It just happened perfectly right before this podcast.
It's so funny, because with snow birding, that is the whole new thing for me. And I know you've just moved as well. So we both are trying to figure out how to do this. But I've got to go back and forth. And I'm still figuring it out. To be honest. I went from having 700 items on my eBay. And I took it down to 70. Because that's what I could sit in my car.
Well, then, you that just bought the giant lot of ag commerce.
Oh, yeah, I'm buying here. So I've got already got it back up to 100. Well,
we'll talk about that in a minute. So yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm
doing I just don't know exactly how I'm going to do this thing. But I do know that whatever I do, I've got it. Like you said, get things that are a little bit smaller, that I can fit that can take back and forth, and might lead to things here and some things there. But if you close your store, you know, and you open another one, some people have said, Well, why don't you just have a store in Arizona and Wyoming and Colorado. And I feel like closing the store will just be
bad for the algorithm. And I'll tell you why going from 700 things to 70 things is bad for your algorithm as well. So that has dried off. So I mean, really, last week as before us at the $1,750 sale, I sold a $25 Elf, you know, as things had gotten really slow. But I I brought these things with me. So I found at Goodwill in Colorado near our home for right big, Japanese intricate drawing looking things. I didn't know anything about Japanese art, but they
were interesting. There was like Samurais, warriors, dragons, all these things, you know that boys love and they were very detailed. And they were marked. I think there were $5 I ended up paying $3 Each and they were frightened, and they were heavy. And they were bulky. I took them home. And I very carefully opened them. And I saw that they were you know, maybe something
special and very old. Well, long story short, I did find out that they were in they're called Japanese woodblock prints and there they were from the late 1800s 1800s. And they were by an artist called Yoshitoshi.
Wages that were the the writing was backwards or something.
Yeah, well, the writing was Japanese. I had to get my Japanese sister in law have interpreted for me. Okay, so on the edges, it had a lot of Japanese imprints. And she said it says something about go she told me Well, it turns out that he did a series of these woodblock prints called 36. Ghosts. They're valuable. They were, you know, and they were original. People do sell them, but a lot of times they're not original. You can tell they're original because we turn them
over there. It's a bleed through on the back. And plus the papers. Really, it's rice paper. It's thin. Anyway, long story short, um, I ended up selling all of them for around $2,400 Ah, can you believe I sold one right away. And then last week when things were so slow, I felt the other three for 17 150. So, that is the biggest sell I ever did. And you know, from $12 to $2,400. I'll never have that happen again. I don't know that. I know. You know, but maybe you're interested in Asian art.
Now. Chris, you know where you'd like you'd have something like that happen. You kind of go down the rabbit hole learning about it. So one morning I was looking at a saw on my shelf this Asian Mmm, Ginger jar was a really pretty, but I've had a sit in there for several years. I got it for $5 at a thrift store, I decided to turn it over and it had a Chinese marking on it. So now I can use Google search. I didn't know about that or Google
lens. And I did it and it came up and it was I could tell a valuable piece fairly valuable. Anyway, so I sold that for $300.
A personal item.
Yeah, it's sitting on my shelf. I had no clue that I'm I'm really getting interested in Japanese and Asian art now just because of that things that you would, you know, completely overlooked before are very interesting to me now.
Okay, and how handy to have a Japanese sister in law,
but she's comes in very handy.
So is this your brother's wife? It is they live in Hawaii? Oh, okay.
Oh, well, my brother's wife. I'm sorry. It's my husband's brother's wife.
Okay. Okay. Great. Yeah, that's Sorry. Yeah.
I wish Greg had another brother for you.
Oh, well, I'm kind of far away. Okay. But so you're a snowbird. So how many months? Are you in Arizona?
Well, this is this is new for us. But we are planning to be here. Eight months a year, I think. Anyway, about half a year. So we're gonna be here, September through Thanksgiving. And then go home for the holidays. And then come back probably January, February and stay through May. And then of course, we'll escape. Go back to Colorado where the summers are beautiful. And we have 10 grandchildren and seven of them
live in Colorado. So you know, we really want to be there for the summers when they're out of school and for the holidays. To make it special.
Right? Well, so you moved to escape the snow. And I moved to Greenville one of the reasons was because they do get 10 More flakes a year than Atlanta.
I do not know that. Well, a lot of times
the storm is coming up from the Gulf and it just misses Atlanta. And then great but Greenville gets it. So are you added an added bonus. You know, maybe they get snow three times a year or Atlanta, we might get one that lasts. It is
fun to have snow. I like it. I don't like it. I don't like snow and March and April and May grain weaken snow, all the way into mate all the way. I've had it on Mother's Day before it's crazy. And that and also with it seasonal affective disorder, you really want that spray, you're just waiting for it. And we Colorado really does not have much of a spring anymore. It's just snow. And then it's summer.
Have you tried the blue light for the
idea? That's everything, everything?
Yeah, so supposedly the blue light. It tricks your brain into thinking that you're getting more sunlight because yeah, it is a real thing if you don't get enough sunlight. And it really does help
take you guys in glasses, even that you wear for 30 minutes
a day. Make sure you get outside when it's sunny. You know, even if it's for 10 minutes stand on your deck and betting on or whatever. Because you know the holidays are depressing for a lot of people because they're missing loved ones or they don't. They don't have money to do things they want to do. Or it's just like, it's so overblown. It's so like, we get marketed to death. They were putting Christmas stuff out in the stores you know before right after Labor Day, right?
Like the the the holidays in between don't matter anymore.
What would you think for a buyer's is you know, they start buying our Christmas step in October and sales pickup. But you're absolutely right. And with 10 grandkids and all those kids, Christmas is exhausting for me. It really it's wonderful, totally wonderful. But by January, I am just a puddle of exhaustion. And so I really love the going back and forth. So when we're here, it's kind of like a little honeymoon. It's just the two of us. We remember. Oh yeah, we're married. We have fun. We I
remember you. But when we were back in Colorado, it's much more we're just we're noni and Poppy. It's about the grandkids where mom and dad and we don't mind that at all. We'd love it. But it's really nice to have that period of concentrate on family and then here also also in Arizona, everybody's retired so there's no Friends have a time, Greg golf, I go out to lunch with friends. And it's just kind of nice to have it all separated. I'm really enjoying this, I'll let you know how I
feel in three years. But I love it right now.
Well, I can say I'm enjoying this chapter my life because my kids are 26 and 28, they are completely independent, right want to be independent? You know, they don't want to ask me for anything. And I don't have any pets. They all expired. I had four at a time. And it was like, one four years in a row, I had to put one down and I just Oh, my I'm painful. My animal soul is just used up. You know? I just love I
understand after after losing glory, that's painful.
Yeah, I'm very mobile. I'm not. You don't have to take care of anybody but me. And so as a caregiver, all my life, I can now direct that energy towards myself. And I have a joke with my kids. I'm like, Yeah, this chapter, my life's all about me. It's a selfish phase. It's just, I'm just gonna do whatever I want to do. And I've never had this before. So it's just, it's very liberating, to be able to do whatever you want, and not have people or animals depending on you.
Exactly. And you know, I don't know how long this period of time will last because all of our kids and I have an aging father, and not not, and then may go back into caretaking. But right now all our kids are settled. Even the son I told you, that was you know, having problems he's doing great right now. I don't know, it's just like a little magical time. And I'm going to enjoy every single minute of it. Because I know there'll be, you know, a time where I have to jump in and take care of
somebody. But right now I'm having fun, I'm going to enjoy all of it.
And you're kind of the poster child for my target audience. I kind of people around my age in the same station of life. I mean, there's there's all kinds, but really 85% of my audience is between 50 and 65. So a lot of that pre retirees, retirees. So let's talk about your eBay workflow, since you're going to be talking to a lot of people in your same station of life.
Yeah, like my workflow, meaning like what I do, or
are we how you like, what, you know, where do you get your stuff? How much time do you spend on it?
Kind of what it looks like? Yeah. Okay, so, estate sales. I really love those. I feel I know, some people think that's kind of sad, but I don't think it's sad at all. When I go into a home or someone's passed away, unless their items, I feel like it's a blessing to be able to chase the things that they loved and make sure they go to somebody else who will love them. And they're not just going to be thrown away. So I don't know. I just love it. I felt like I feel good energy when I
go into home. And as someone who loves their items, and I want to make sure that they go to the right places. So I love estate sales. Also, though, do do a lot of goodwill and savers and thrift stores. I love those too. And you never know. You just don't know. I have a little honey hole here in Arizona. Right see if I can always find something good. The first thing I found there was a little Madame Alexander doll. And turns out she was rare. She was little and about 10 inches tall. Her
name was Klondike Kate. And she turned out to sell for gosh, I think $450 An hour gonna that it's a little honey hole and arrows. I have to travel 40 minutes to get to it. I always find something good there. So you never know it could. And those Japanese prints. I found them at my local Goodwill. You simply don't know where you're gonna find them. I did. I did something kind of fun a couple of weeks ago. I've never done this before, but I did an online
estate sale. Have you ever done those before?
I have looked at them. I've never bought anything but I will get the pictures.
I was left alone for a weekend Greg was gone and
I'm supervised.
And I had two days of that. I set out to try this. And it was really fun. I ended up winning about half the sales and I only spent $65 Half of the things that came in lots I knew I was gonna have to probably, you know, just get rid of some of them. But what you do is at least this one is you bid on it and I would not be it until the last 30 minutes, just get yourself a cup of coffee sit there the last 30 minutes and bid. And then you pick them up
locally. So all I had to do is drive to the house and love the stuff in my car. And I did get some amazing things. I got a tea set. And so remember, I paid $68 For all this stuff back at one T step that was worth $400 Ah, you know, you never know. So I think, Where do I get stuff? Everywhere? You know,
everywhere? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then
what else did you ask about that? So after I get this step, I make a big mass. And then I have to organize it. And I love I love every aspect of Ebay. I love the photographing, I love the I like wrapping the packages, it feels like doing a puzzle. And I would say so, before I moved, I would sell probably three items a day. And my over the I just printed out some statistics, which is not my thing. But I wanted to see what I had done. And three years ago, I was just doing it part time.
And I was I think I was averaging $33 An item. But like you I wanted to get up to 50. And I just noticed that this last eight months, I have gone up to $48 an item, which I'm really good about that. Yes. And I felt really good about the money I was making. And then I discovered when I printed this thing out that eBay takes a lot of it that I didn't realize. So.
Yeah. That's right.
So I think I'm making about 12,000 a year net. Okay. And I would, you know, I thought it was more than that. But, hey, it's progress.
Well, but in some parts of the business, you can't put a price on, you know, owning your time. That's true. You're out running around, going to thrift stores. And you know, I'm going to, I'm going to grab some lunch and fine. Yeah, Eileen. And if you feel in the Mojo and you're fine and stuff, you know, I've been gone for eight hours. Oh, yeah, money. So
we get lost in flow in that state where you don't know what time it is when time just doesn't exist it
Yeah, that means you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. If you if you don't even realize time is passing? Yeah. And what you said about your average sale price. I have changed that. Oh, really? Okay. removed, because everything's so much cheaper here. Things I was paying $6 For in Atlanta thrift stores here, I'm getting them for 50 cents to $1. So that's a game changer. You know, I'm picking up things
that I can sell for 25. If I'm only paying 50 cents, that's right, doesn't work out as well, when you're paying $5 for that thing. Exactly. Yeah, over time, that's going to accumulate and make your money when you buy something. So I don't have to worry about getting as high prices. So that's true. If people are watching my store, and they're seeing things for you know, $25 that's why i That's exactly my items. Oh, that was a quarter or senior day. I was somewhere on senior
day. And I found all of these trial travel size Neutrogena things that you can put in a lot. You know, the shampoo conditioner. Yeah. And they had this giant tub. There must have been 500 in there. And so I picked through all and I pulled out the good name brands. It turns out that they were like, a nickel apiece. Oh, wow. I wouldn't have even seen that in
Atlanta. You know, they would have had three of them bundled up for $4 or something like now it was like, I just I almost just asked, Can I buy the whole thing? This whole giant Tupperware sometimes
it's worth it just to buy? I just I didn't? It depends.
I try not to get too much stuff in here. Right?
I know. I know, like spasm line is that
your business is going to pivot it's going to change based on many different factors. And I don't know if you're seeing that in Arizona if there's much of a price difference from Colorado. Because Oh yeah, I'll take that if it's a corner and I can sell it for $30 Yeah, I'll do that.
We'll and you know, the truth is, and it's kind of sad, but it's true in Arizona. There's a lot of old people and so there's an abundance of items because they're either just passing away. And so there is more here and I think the process are less expensive. But I'll tell you something else, I only go I don't even let myself go on other days, I only go on half price day or senior day.
And when I go to state sales, I only go on the half price the last day where everything's half priced, I don't even want to know what I'm missing. I just don't think about it because I can always find something on that half price day. It's amazing what's left, if you have a good eye, when we went to this estate sale, the very last end of it, everything was gone. And they said, well just come on, and you can have anything for free. We've been in there really wasn't anything but I found a
trash can a junk drawer. And I the trash can was mid modern, cleaned it up and sold it for 25. In the junk drawer, I found a bunch of keychains that were old and I sold. Gosh, I think I sold the bundle of them for about $30. So my husband still last that made that I can find you know, I could find anything anywhere and sell it. But I if you just go on the the last part, you missed the crowds, a lot of times you get fabulous process. So that's how I ended up with 101 egg cups this last weekend.
Yeah, that was my next question.
So they were at the stage where they're just giving stuff away. And they had a marked for $3 Each and there were, you know, 100. And then so anyway, he just said, would you take them off for $60. So we just came home with a giant box of these vintage egg cups. And I mean, there's two or three of them that I can sell and make all that back. So they'll be worth it. They're small, they're easy to pack. But yeah, I ended
up with some crazy stuff. But at the end of a sale, a lot of times they're just they're gonna take it or give it away. And they just want you to their bargaining. So you get some wonderful things and you don't have to fight crowds.
Well, and those ad cops, I think they're also called ag cobblers. Well,
there's two kinds. Okay, so the cups are like they're like little cups of course that you've seen that you could have a poached egg or and I don't know, I'm not from England, but I think they tap the egg and they eat the middle out of it. And the cobbler is more of I thought they were like just little trinket holders, because there are porcelain, but they have a lid on him.
They are really, they fastened together. But yeah, clipped together. And then don't you boil that and water?
Have no idea. How many of those egg cups have you listed yet? Well, I've listed two only got them on Saturday. Okay, so I've been spending a lot of time researching. And I don't know if you do this, but I love researching. So when I had them all. I started I thought I'm just gonna go look up a few of them and see what they are. Well, it was 3am. And I was still researching them. I was on a high. I love to find out well, what's this one versus this one from and so I'm mostly doing the
researching now. But now I know what they're all worth. And I can post them.
Well, and that will keep you busy. During the holidays and the seasonal affective time. Yes, yeah, that project to you get sick of it. If you're like me, you're all enthusiastic when you start and then halfway through, you're like, Okay, I'm ready for this be done.
I'm tired of this. I want the next thing. Yes, exactly. I love I love the hall. I love coming home. And I love figuring everything out. That's my probably my favorite part, that there really isn't anything about ebay i don't like except if you get if a if a customer is unhappy or something breaks, I don't like that. I just, I'm so sensitive that I really hate to disappoint somebody. And I think that's probably true of a lot of
Southern women. So when somebody's not happy, that hurts my feelings, and I just hate it. Well, I had to decide at the very beginning that if I was going to have the fun part of eBay, I was going to have to figure out how to handle it when somebody doesn't like something or doesn't work, right. And I just decided I was going to treat them as if it was me what
would I want? What how would I want somebody to treat me, I'm usually very generous and kind and for the most part, everybody has been very sweet and understanding and a lot of times my best reviews are for somebody you know, who didn't get what they wanted, but they liked the way I handled it. And so I think you just have to kind of figure in that you're going to have some of those. It's okay and I tried to think about get it done get it over with don't dwell on it and get back to the fun part.
Because those things can really bother you if you're a sensitive person and take the joy out of it. If I only had one really one and all these years that one really, really nasty person
and And that anyway, nobody likes. Right? So don't like
the Chi Ching sound. That's really fun.
I was just gonna say you're just moving on to your next chain. Because yeah,
wait for the next chain,
it really is all about damage control when you have a situation with a customer? Yes. It's not always just like knee jerk reaction giving their money back. That may not be what they want at all, they may be heard that, oh, this, you made a mistake. And then you can just say, Oh, we apologize for the inconvenience, how would you like to resolve
this? That's right on them. And then sometimes they say, Oh, $5 or I just want to let you know, or, you know, see what they want, in a very general and non defensive way. Yes, that's where people get in their own way is they, they become immediately defensive. And like, I'm not giving you any money back or that's, you know, you're too picky, or whatever
it is that associates and go in there, the objective
is to keep as much of their money as you can get the item back. So just say, what, how would you like to resolve this? That's right, and just see what they say. And most of the time, it's, it's more reasonable than I would have offered? Yes,
I agree. I that is exactly what I was gonna say. Ask them. And, you know, I know how to do it in a sweet way. I'm so sorry. If that happened to me, I would feel the same way. How can I help? What can I do? What what would make you feel good about this?
Yeah. And I know, there are sellers that just have never had any customer service experience. So they don't really know what's professional, or they don't know what to do. So these are just people like you. And this is in any situation in life, whether you're in a restaurant or get a speeding ticket, or, you know, just be friendly. And don't be defensive. And it will usually turn out better. If you're just nice about it. Yes, then just absolutely. I'm not giving you
any money back. And, you know, they're lying. And okay, what if they are lying? What, you can't change that that's who they that they do that to everybody, not just you
know, that's really true. And the one person that was so awful, you know, he left a bad review, I was just awful. And so what I tried to do, so how you can respond, you can respond, they won't usually take it off, but you can respond and I, I responded well, I'm so thankful for all my customers that are so sweet, as you can see, and all these other reviews, and I'm, I'm sorry, this man wasn't happy. And I really felt like he was kind of misogynistic. And the way he
answered it. And I said, I just, you know, I think people that read this review will take well understand the bigger picture, you know, yeah, and, and, you know, it really didn't affect my sales, I got a lots of good reviews after that. And you just have, it's hard. It's not fun. It takes me about 24 hours to process something like that. But I try real hard to let it just roll off my you know, like a
water off a duck's back. Because I need to get back to focus on what I love, or I wouldn't be able to do this.
Compare this to other jobs where the customers across the counter from you being irate, unreasonable. You have time to think about what you're going to do and ask for help on Facebook groups or whatever. And you don't have to answer immediately, that's what gets people in trouble is, you know, they'll get a negative feedback or they'll get some nasty message from a buyer and then they just immediately react. And you don't want to react, you want to respond in a
very calm, professional way. And you have to walk away from it, maybe to back later or even sleep on it and be like, What should I do here? Actually in the shower is the best place Oh, that's
a good idea. Where you're physically moving or something
is like changing your energy and so you can I get my best ideas in the shower or in the swimming pool.
I totally agree. Got it. You let it go until you're until you feel yourself calm. And then that my I had a therapist after after my divorce and and he said What does the wise woman within you What would she say? And so always think about that. Okay, now if I was wise and calm, what would I say? And then that's when I when I feel like I'm in that space, then I answer those difficult
things. But I try not to do the knee jerk because boy who I would probably let loose with something that would not be nice. And it doesn't help us. We just, it just doesn't. Well, and that's why I don't like oh s something else My love is fixing stuff up. I have this little table I call my Santa's elf workshop. So like, uh, oh, I found a doll. Madame Alexander doll, and her arms are about to fall off. And so I sewed her up, and I, you know, fixed her up,
did her hair, put new ribbons. I mean, I love that kind of thing. That even figured out how to fix some things that have little tiny broken parts. I found that if you mix Elmers glue and baking soda, have you ever done that? No. So like chalkware, or things like that just have a little part missing, you can kind of use that set, it's like a little molding clay and put it on there. And it will help hide the spot and then paint it that I always tell people if I do that, I will say it has been
repaired. And but you still get more for it if it's been repaired. And I just like I like fixing stuff up. I used to try to fix people. And now they didn't like it, they didn't appreciate it. So now it
would be called rescuing. It would mean I'm the same way I look at things. Like I'll go to the clearance section of the thrift store. And sometimes it's stained items or they're broken. I look at things with the eye of can I fix that? Can I Oh, I can. I found a cashmere sweater for $1 the other day and it had this little hole and underarm right on the same, you know, thread the needle than it did to repair it. And, you know, just I look
for that dollar
I easily. What can I easily repair that all these other people before me have just left this item here. And oh, I can fix that. Or I can just sell it like that. That's right. And yeah, so I think we're very satisfying to rescue and rehome I don't like doing big repairs, because I just don't want to
write it. And often it's not worth the time unless you just get it unless you just get a joy out of it. And um, I was such a people fixer that I really just enjoy fixing things. Now. I was, you know, like to baby and nurture things. So I got cats, I do that to them. Now my children are so much happier now that I'm fixing things and, and baby and cats and letting them just be who they are.
I went through a time in my life with that, like get trying to change people. And it's like you can't, people do not change unless they want to. But I change myself and I can change my reaction. And I can think how I think about things. So yes,
it's the only thing you can really change,
I can change how I think about things. And usually it's some kind of situation I'm not happy with. And I just keep telling myself, something's going to come out of this, I'm going to meet a person, I'm going to learn something, I'm going to see a situation in a different way this is going to benefit me somehow just right now when you're stuck in it, you're you're just like, oh, I can't believe this is happening. But right. You just have to change the way you think. And most
things, I mean, there's some things that are so tragic, you can't really find it's hard to find a blessing out of it, you just that maybe that your compassion increases. Yeah, but most things like when I broke my ankle, um, I was immediately thankful, because I was where I broke it where I liked to be in Arizona and I got to stay here a
little bit longer. And then by being here a little bit longer, we were able to find a little house that I wouldn't have found otherwise that we could afford and come back to so you never know I mean, most things you that are difficult. You can find purpose in the pain or you can make it better, or, or you can just see that it's going to lead to something that you didn't see before. But a lot of it is your attitude. It's really the only thing we can change is our
attitude. It really is and how we see things.
And I think about if I'm on this planet, let's say I live to be 90. Is this thing, significant? Am I going to care about this in a week, a month, a year? 10 years? Time? It's no, it's like this is such an insignificant thing in my 90 years on this planet. Just move on.
That's right. Yeah, and that just help us even when you get like a, like a nasty email.
Is this gonna matter?
I think I could just move on and enjoy my life a little bit more.
Yeah, I think. Okay, well, we've been going over an hour now.
Oh, I hope we've given people some practical ideas for eBay, I feel like we did a lot of relational and emotional and life talk as well, hopefully that's helpful to somebody is,
well, and I think psychology is involved in reselling. There's a lot of psychology on both your part and the buyers part. Because, again, back to the people that are nasty, which I don't get very many
of, but no, I don't either. They're just a very small, small person. Like I said, one, really,
but what my mind goes to, and I've had to train myself to do this is like, Okay, wait, this is not about me, they've had a bad day, you know, maybe they, their spouse was ugly to them, or they had something happened, and I'm very available to abuse, everybody is when you're just emailing or sending messages, because you're sitting at your computer, and you don't know that person. And they're just convenient to
unload on. And so you just have to program yourself to think about, like, Is this about me or not, it's usually not, it's usually something in their world. So okay.
Now, before we, before we sign off, I just want to thank you, for all that you do, and have done for us. And I know putting yourself out there on on YouTube, sometimes, you know, anytime you put yourself out there on social media, you're you are putting yourself out there to be vulnerable. I appreciate you getting through that so that you can get to people like us who need it and who appreciate it, you have made so much difference your videos
have. I mean, you wouldn't believe how many things I have learned from you. And then I'll just go and I'll find that thing, or, or just just, I like hearing your voice and the people that do this, I don't feel so alone, it can be very isolating. And, you know, I still have got to get into that premium library. I can't wait to try that. But I have not done that yet. So well. Videos, a generic
time thing that you have to have time to, to work through it. And it's set up to where you can come and go. So you can you can look at, there's a place called monthly updates where it goes back two years. So you can see what was added when and it links to it. So if you want to take a break for three months to move, or, you know, go be grandma during the holidays you buy and then come back and you can see what was added chronologically. So that oh
catch up. Because a lot of courses I do have multiple segments, like the plush course I think has 11 lessons now. And I just keep adding to it. As I learned stuff, or you know, I've got a big list of things to do. You know, as a writer, you make lists of things.
You try to work through about 10% of it, but Right, right, well, yeah,
I appreciate that. So this one you have time you can you can check that out. But I would I'm going to I appreciate you taking the time to come on the podcast today. And we will look for more of your amazing sales on the Facebook group.
Oh, thank you. I appreciate face group group. They're very supportive and a lot of fun to see what everybody's doing.
Yeah, it is. Okay. Well have a good afternoon. You too. i
Bye bye.
Thank you again, Becky for taking the time to come on the podcast. And we all wish you the best on your Snowbird adventures. Okay, on to today's trivia question since Becky talked about it. What is the difference between an egg coddler and an egg cup? Here are five seconds to think about it. Okay, an egg coddler is a small jar, usually made of ceramic or porcelain with a hinged metal or ceramic lid. These can even be egg shaped, but you can recognize them by the hinged
side. The way to use it is to crack one to two eggs inside The little container. Add any other ingredients like you would put in an omelet or even no ingredients. You can stir that up or not stir it if you don't want scrambled eggs. Then you place the coddler in a small pot of boiling water for however many minutes to achieve the
desired doneness. And there are charts online that tell you how many minutes to boil for soft boiled, hard boiled, scrambled, etc. Then you remove the coddler from the boiling water and eat the eggs right out of the container. Now an egg cup is a different thing. It is a small cup on a stand, that you eat soft boiled eggs out of something you would see on Downton Abbey. It is more of a British thing. It's just a fancy way to eat soft boiled eggs right out of the shell without
having to peel it. And Americans typically don't use egg cups. They're just tiny, cute little tableware specifically meant for holding a single soft boiled egg. So now you know the difference. When you are out there in the world sourcing and see these funny little things you will already know what they are. Okay, next week. My guest is Dr. Steven Gettler. And I didn't even know he was a doctor until halfway through our
conversation. But he's the guy that sold two different beer bottle caps for Mind Blowing prices, one for $300 and one for $600. And he doesn't even specialize in bottle caps. He just found these out in the wild. He is a lifelong reseller, starting when he was a teenager going to conventions, and even doing a mail order catalog, pre internet. So make sure you tune in for that conversation because he is very interesting. Okay, thanks again for coming back every week to listen to my
podcast. I appreciate all of you out there. And that's a wrap for episode number 86. And I will talk to you all next week. Have a fun day on eBay. Bye for now.