SHERRIFF ONLY MAN BEAT MONGO IN FAIR FIGHT. If you remember these words along with 'Candygram for Mongo' then you too, must have seen Blazing Saddles.This movie is just about as politically incorrect as one can get and yet, it still managed to remain dang funny. Ezra Johnson was right! It could be done. There are times when I envy Mongo's simple outlook on life and, in fact, I sometimes try to model my thought processes after his. Yes, Mongo has thought processes. They are fairly simple and straight forward and that's why I like them. Mongo says what's on his mind and he doesn't have any hidden agenda's. What you see, is what you get. That, I hope, is what my customers experience when they come to my store, Warrior Artworks. I want my customers to know, that when ever they purchase something from Warrior Artworks, that it will come to them, if anything, better than described. After all, MONGO LIKE CUSTOMERS, CUSTOMERS GIVE MONGO MONEY.

I have no other pearl's of wisdom today. It's my first day back at work and I'm having to adjust back to my graveyard shift. It hurts...OWEE! YAWN! It's hard to think coherently, not that I've ever done that, but for some reason I felt a need to state the obvious. You all have a good evening.

Well, if you're reading this, you're either a Terry Pratchett fan, or you are looking for a unique watch for your Uncle Clem. If you are the latter, you're out of luck. If you're the former, you're sort of out of luck as well. I'm not selling any Pratchett stuff. I own almost all of his books, one copy each, and I'ma keepin them. Thppppt! Hopefully you've obtained a copy of Hogswatch and have perused it at least once. I loved the alternate theory on how Discworld was created and I quote, " Stuff just happens. What the hell." I wonder how Stephen Hawkings will deal with that theory?

So, that special season is approaching, not unlike the Titanic heading into the ice field at full speed, and you still haven't figured out what to buy for that difficult person on your list. Might I recommend a book. Lubricate their imagination. Get Uncle Harold a nice spy novel, maybe Aunt Maude is looking for a something a bit romantic. Junior, who now calls himself Darth Buddha or some such thing, would probably love to find one or more Star Wars novels in his stocking. We both know you ain't buying him that five hundred dollar replica light-saber so why not a couple of books instead. After all, books are cheaper, they don't need batteries and, if taken care of, can be regifted for years to come. Economical, convenient, entertaining and, due to the high fiber content, good for your health if accidentally ingested. (Please don't eat the book..it was a joke. Get your fiber some where else.)

It just so happens that I have a few books available in my eBAY store called Warrior Artworks. Sure, there's other fun stuff, like comics, sports cards, non sports cards, ccg's and things that aren't ccg's, but I'm not mentioning those here. D'OH!

The red liquid was just beginning to gel on the tablecloth. Bodies lay strewn about the room like bloated dolls carelessly flung aside by an uncaring child. I would have called the police, but they were all still alive, each wearing a satisfied grin on their faces. The gnawed bones on the table told a different story however. Not everyone, it appeared, enjoyed the feast equally. I heard a metallic jingle and turned in time to see three hounds, presumably guard dogs, turn their heads towards me. I froze. I heard a sound and almost laughed in spite of my fear. One of the dogs had burped. As if this had been the signal that they had been waiting for, each lowered their head and fell soundly asleep. They too had participated in the sacrificial dinner. I went to walk around the dining room table when my left foot slid out from under me. I caught myself on the railing that separated the dining area from the living room. After steadying myself, I looked down, curious as to what had caused my close call with the floor. There, staining the floor with their blood-red life's essence, lay cranberries, some whole, some crushed beyond redemption. The horror!

Hmm...what I actually meant to say, was that I hope you all enjoyed your holiday, I know I did. And....I also meant to say...Warrior Artworks is back on line. Bronze, Silver and even a few Golden age comics, sportscards, non-sportscards including Magic the Gathering, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Pokemon, Jyhad and many more. Coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts...and who knows what else. Take a look...after all...a new horror lurks. Christmas is coming! AAIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!! 

In just a few short hours, Warrior Artworks will be going off line. Yes...it's that time. Even lazy bums like me get a vacation. I'd like to keep the site up and runing, but I would have some difficulty shipping the items from Aruba. Especially since I'll be in Tahoe, CA. It's been fun chatting with you all and I hope to be back on line, and taking up space on the net, in the not too distant future. Take care. Peace and Love to all.

In case you're wondering, the next step is Condition Muave. After that, it's lights out.

"SHUT DOWN GENERATOR THREE!"

Thomas reaches into the cage and removes a small mouse, wearing jogging shorts sneakers and a bandana. "Ready for a break?"

"Squeakety, squeak, squeakers."

"Yeah, me too." Thomas faces the front of the shop and yells out. "GENERATOR THREE IS OFF LINE?"

I love cartoons, most of them anyway. It's hard for me to pick one, as each character has a moment that you just gotta love. However, I'm going to go with Pinky, from Pinky and The Brain. There's a character who is insanely (probably quite literally) happy. I can identify with him. Even though he's friends with an egotistical lunatic bent on world domination, he manages to maintain his own oddly balanced sense of self, without sacrificing the friendship.

Coming in second would be Daffy Duck with his, "MINE! MINE! MINE! IT'S ALL MINE!" attitude.

Third would be Tigger. Anyone who bounces off virtually everything, while going Whoo Hoo Hoo Hoooooo....is doing something right, in my book.

So how about you? Who's your favorite and why? Oh, and please have mercy on me, no Smurfing Smurfs for Smurfs sake.

Thanksgiving is approaching. The Seattle School District has advised the teachers to recognize the holiday at school, but not celebrate it. First they tell us to be poud of our heritage and customs, then they tell us to not celebrate them in front of anyone else, as if it's a dirty little secret. The reasoning behind this, in theory, is that the holiday is a grim reminder, to those of American Indian descent, of five hundread years of lies and oppression. I might be opening a can of worms here, but are there any; Indians out there that feel this way? I mean, I understand that the Indians got screwed way back when, and some still are, but it's been five hundred years. Isn't it time to live in the present and fight for the future.

I actually had someone come up to me once, and tell me that her friend couldn't be friends with me because my ancestors abused her ancestors. I was amused, since she had no idea who my ancestors were, much less my heritage. (Heck, my ancestors could have saved her ancestors life and therefore she owes her very existence to me and my ancestors. I recognized it for what it was, a blanket statement, given with no intelligent thought or reason. Luckily for me, her friend was staring at her in shocked amazement, as was I, and we continued to be friends despite this woman's pronouncement.

We are all one people whether we want to admit it or not. We live on one planet and while we all look, act and think differently, we are of one race, the race of human's. We go on about saving the planet, but the planet doesn't need saving. It will be here in one form, or another, for some time to come. What we should be saving, is us, and the quality of life that we want to have on this world that we have so blatantly trashed with complete and utter disregard for the consequences. Am I tree hugging yuppie. No, but I see no reason to cut down a thousand year old tree to make throw away items of no significant value. To those of you who argue that trees are a renewable resource, so are you. Should we cut you down, since we know that humans breed like bunnies? I have no qualms about cutting down trees grown on tree farms, but the old growth should be protected, not just for the sake of the tree, but the quality of life it represents. For the fact that it purifies our air at no cost and demands nothing more than the right to exist. So that we may all go and bask in the awe and glory of nature. Ah what the hell...cut it down and make throw away chopsticks, right? If we, as a race, don't start to understand and respect nature, she will shrug us off like she has done with numerous civilizatons before us. Don't believe me? Go and ask the Aztecs, the Romans, the Incans and numerous other civilizatons that built huge cities, that housed millions, and then suddenly vanished. What, you think they all jumped in their  motorhomes and moved to Cleveland?

It doesn't take much to destroy our way of life. It is actually quite fragile. The twin towers in New York, the fires in California, the flooding from Katrina, the tsunami's and earthquakes that have changed coastlines and destroyed cities are proof of how quickly one can lose every one, and every thing they own. Even with out those disasters, each of us wakes one day to find a loved one gone. Either a friend, a parent, a grandma or grandpa, or someone you just knew casually from school or work. Hollywood icons are not immune. But, as we so often say, life goes on for the rest of us, until it doesn't. New stars are born, new cities are built, new generations replace old, the question is, what will be the legacy that we leave for future generations. Will it be one of greed, avarice, sloth, and extreme wastefulness, or will the world be a better place than when we entered it? Will you make one other person's life a little less difficult, or will you fight to improve only your own quality of life? Helping someone else, isn't as hard as it seems. I kind word, at the right time, can make all the difference in the world. It can be the difference between the individual saying, thanks for caring, or grabbing a rifle and heading for a rooftop. A quarter given to the right agency, such as the Red Cross, can mean food and housing for those displaced by unexpected circumstances. Open a door for someone, pay the toll for the guy/gal behind you on the highway, surprise a complete stranger with a kind word, and watch them light up. Sure, there are people who won't appreciate the gesture, but this isn't about them, it's about you. We all lead by example. I am far from perfect, ask anyone who knows me, but I try to always have a positive outlook, even when I'm complaining. One of my motto's is that any day I wake up not dead, is a day that is starting off well. Maybe when I finally do pass on, I may revise that statement, but for now, due to lack of evidence and no desire to be proven wrong any time soon, I'll stick with my current modus operandi. I plan to remain insanely cheerful and hope that, at some point, it becomes contagious.

ACHOO! There, now you're infected! If only it were that easy. Now for your eBAY tidbit. You will, at some point, receive a negative feedback. It's inevitable. No matter how good a service you provide, someone will eventually leave you a negative comment for real or imagined offenses. Many who leave negative feedback don't even bother to contact you first to try and iron out the problem. How you respond to the feedback is what will define you in the eyes of the eBAY community. If you come off with a snide, petulant, whiny response, you look that way and everyone will wonder about your response.

Example

Negative Feedback: Item received damaged, seller won't refund money.

Seller Response: Buyer is a lying loser and my listing states no refunds.

In this example, the buyer stated the facts as he/she sees them. It is more or less true. The seller won't refund the money. What the buyer doesn't mention, is that the listing said no refunds. However, the item was received damaged. Either the buyer is lying, the seller is lying, or the item was damaged in shipment, technically the sellers fault,  for not packaging the item correctly to prevent damage. The seller's response is vindictive. They attack the buyers character and do nothing to address the issue, other than to point out that the listing said no refunds.

Without taking sides, the seller might have looked better if they had simply said, Item left in good condition, listing says not responsible for items damaged in shipment. In this type of response, the seller is not attacking the buyer's repuatation, but a conflict still looms. The buyer paid money for an item that was supposed to be in good condition. As a seller, you should feel responsible if the item was damaged due to your own carelessness. Did you fail to package the item in a manner that would insure it's safe arrival? If not, then maybe you should make an exception and refund the money. Another feedback that the seller could have left would have stated this, Item left well packaged and in good condition. Buyer declined insurance. Again, you aren't attacking the buyers reputation, but you showed that you offered protection, in the form of insurance, but that the customer declined it. None of this may prevent you from getting dinged, as you still have an unhappy customer.

At this point, you have to make a choice. Assume you will get dinged no matter what. Ask yourself is it worth it to try and mitigate the negative feedback in some manner. If you refund their money, the buyer may not ding you at all and even if they do, it may only state that the item was received damaged. If they are really nice...sort of...they will also mention that you refunded their money, and if they don't, you should when you respond. But make sure you respond politely and professionally, as saying, I refunded the loser's money, will still reflect badly on you, as opposed to, item damaged in shipment, apologized and refunded customer's money.

A word of caution. There are those who prey on new, and even established, sellers. When a customer complains about an item you shipped, analyze the complaint, or ask a friend to anaylyze it, as you are biased. Can your friends see the buyers point? Did you mislead the customer with a vague ad and then told them, it was their own fault and that they should have asked more questions? As a buyer, I see that response as a cop out. To me it means the seller either deliberately misled me, or was too lazy to describe the item properly. In my opinion, there isn't much difference between the two. I saw a listing auctioning off an art piece that was obviously damaged, at least to my eye s,as I was familiar with the piece. However, others might not have noticed it, as the pictures are substantially smaller than the item. I contacted the seller who informed me that I was correct and that the item was damaged. He claimed to have missed the obvious problem and his reaction is what clinched it for me. He did not update the listing with this info. He chose, deliberately I believe, not to mention this defect. When the winner gets the item, he will contact the seller and complain that it is damaged, to which, this shady seller will reply, you should have asked questions. NO, the seller should have described the item honestly and forthrightly, listing any defects as a matter of fact.

Of course, no matter how honest you are in your listing, someone will still claim that you over-rated the item. You called it near mint and they think it's very fine. That is a difference in opinion and if it hasn't been professionally graded, it is nothing more than that. You have two options in this situation, rate your items a grade below what you think they are, or deal with the complaints. I tend to grade them a hair lower, but still set the price where I want it. The customer who buys it, is expecting something a grade lower, and is pleasantly surprised to find that it is in better shape then they thought. I got my money, the customer is happy and all is well. Does this mean I don't run into problems, heck no. Even when  you do everything right, or so you think, someone will complain. You can only hope that these people are far and few. Keep track of those people. If they continue to plague your auctions, creating problems for you on a regular basis, then block them from bidding. It will take you a while to recover your rating, but most people understand that multiple complaints from one person out of 1 or 2 hundred, is almost meaningless. On the other hand, if 3 or more people have the same or varying complaints in a relatively short period of time, then you are probably doing something wrong.

Another thing is a reality check. Yes, we are all trying to establish an eBAY rating and we would all like it to remain a nice pristine 100%. But if you have less than twenty listings and are complaining about the one person, who ruined your spotless reputation, get over it. It was bound to happen sooner or later. As you sell more items, the rating will balance out. But the less items you have sold, the greater the effect of a single negatie comment. Sell more items and learn from your mistakes. I saw one person who was complaining that her spotless reputation had been tarnished. I checked out her listings and found that she had only sold four items. The negative feedback looked like two siblings going at it. You're a liar. No, you're a bigger liar. Oh yeah, well you're a bigger fatter, liar. Good lord, is that how they want to look to everyone who looks in on them. All is shows me is that neither of them is very professional.

Buyers have a slight advantage over sellers, in that they can buy from who they want. Sellers rarely get to choose who is going to buy from them. We get the winning bidder. Sure we can put up blocks, but outside of that, we get who we get. Sellers have a different advantage in that we know exactly what the seller is going to receive assuming that nothing happens in shipment. In the end it balances. Yes, there are scammers and evil-doers on both sides of the buying and selling fence, but do your homework and you'll be less likely to run into problems. I've seen shady Power Sellers and have received wonderful service from a newbie with less than ten feedbacks and of course, it has been the oher way around as well, but all in all, I have had good luck with both my purchases and my sales. Keep your eyes opened, your brain on, and put a bridle on your mouth/fingers. Think before you type.

Here's a hint for buyers. Don't leave negative feedback and then try to get a refund. Don't  you see the obvious problem with that? It would be like walking up to some one and telling them what a pathetic loser they are and then try to borrow money from them. Do you really think that you're likely to get a refund/loan after you have already trashed someones reputation? What have they got to lose now? Before you trashed their reputation, they might have had some interest in working with you to resolve the issue, but once you trashed their rep, presumably without trying to straighten it out first, you probably eliminated any chance you had at a frienly settlement.

Hey, all I can do is put the words out for  you to see. I can't make you think, and I can't make you act a certain way, but I guarantee you, if you behave in a friendly, responsible and moral manner, at least where selling/buying is concerned, your life on eBAY will be much easier.

Ooops! I gotta go...life is calling. Have a great night everyone.

Did you know that there are magic listing numbers? I didn't and found out, rather suddenly, that they existed. On Friday evening, I began to list some items, having alotted several hours to do so. I was an hour into it when things came to a screeching halt. An error from Safe Harbor informed that my listing priveledges were on hold and that I should contact them. As with most eBAY canned messages, the content was confusing and I wasn't really sure what had happened, nor was there any explanation as to how this really affected me. All I knew at that moment, is that I couldnt' list any more items. I was stunned. I was even more stunned when I found out that I couldn't revise items either.

I won't mention the choice words I used, only that none of them were in any way close to gosh-golly-gee-whiz. I later found out that if I deleted one listing, or if one item sold, I could then revise. Just had to have one item less in my inventory, than the mystical, magical number which, in my case, was 200. So my listing priveledges weren't gone, I just couldn't have more than 200 listings. This was never explained to me in any way shape or form. It was like getting grounded with no explanation, or at least nor more than, you know what you did mister, when actually, I didn't.

I replied to the canned message and waited patiently. eBay's message stated that they usually get back to you within 24-48 hours. It was Friday evening, this meant I should hear from them by Sunday evening. This weekend was a three day weekend for me and I had planned to load up the store with listings. I optimistically believed that eBay would get to me well before Sunday evening and I kept checking for a reply. The weekend passed without a response. Three days of potential productivity lost.  Finally, on Tuesday morning, after hearing nothing, I began to drive the issue. I finally got a response on Tuesday afternoon. I don't think this had anything to do with me driving the issue, I just think that they had finally gotten around to my reply from Friday.

eBay stated that they had reveiwed my account and had agreed to up my limit ( oh joy! ), but stated that they couldn't tell me what my new limit was.( huh? ) I'm not sure what all the secrecy is about. Yes you can have more storage, but no we're not going to tell you how much more you have. I'm sure there are reasons for all of the secrecy, but I am not privvy to them. All I know is I have over 13,000 comics, just as many sport and non sport cards, and a fair amount of books,  Obviously I can't list them all, but as an example, the original Batman series has well over 400 issues in the first run alone and this doesn't count the numerous spin offs and subsequent volumes. Multiply this by the incredible supply of titles in the field and suddenly were talking scads, SCADS I tell you, of comics. Even if I listed only one of each, I would have exceeded my limit quite quickly.

The person who upped my magic number also mentioned, in a vague fashion, that my limit would increase with my sales volume. So, it appears that eBAY is not a place where you can just list any old number of things you want, you must list things that sell. I get the feeling that eBAY is saying, we don't want to be a flea market, we want to be an organized marketing venture for entrepeneurs. Funny thing though, I thought it was the flea market people that made eBay. However, all things evolve and apparently, in some ways, so has eBAY.

I'm not mad at eBay, just curious as to why they do things the way they do. For instance, if you are a new seller, you probably didn't find out how to block people with negative feedback for nonpayment, until it happened to you. Suddenly you are wondering how/why this peson was able to bid/buy your item and then wreak havoc. This is the point where the new seller goes to the answer center and asks the question that has been asked by almost every previous new seller. How do I protect myself from these people? Someone will eventually reply and let them know about the blocking feature, but it's too late. The damage has been done. The sellers first sale and the experience was a bad one. As the old adage goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.. The real question is, however, if the problem occurs with just about every new seller, then why isn't the default for this category to automatically block users with negative feedback, or to prevent people from areas I don't ship to, from bidding? Why, as new users, are we not protected, and then given the option of taking those risks later, should we so choose, when we are more knowledgable in the eBAY ways. The answer is simple...money. Every blocked bidder represents possible lost income, so the default is to not block anyone.

Neither you, nor I, can tell eBAY how to run their business, nor is it our place to do so, but as customers, the people who have helped eBay become what it is, we can voice our opinions and request the changes that we believe, will improve over all service. eBay can listen, if they choose to, and then decide to effect those changes, or not, as they see fit, just as we have the choice of listing on eBAY, or not, as we see fit. Maybe eBay could have an idea day. One day a year they open the e-mail flood gates and ask for input. What do we hate, what do we love, what would we like to see changed and how. 24 hours of non-stop e-mail and then THUNK...the e-door slams shut. I bet it would take them all year to go through the mail. I also bet that they would see numerous complaints about the same issues over and over again. Those would be interesting statistics to see. Of course I'm dreaming, I can't even be told what my listing limit is.

Ah well, the good news is, I can now add additional items to the store. I believe this will increase my sales volume, as undisplayed, unadvertised items rarely sale. But now, knowing that some magical number is hovering in the darkness before me, I have no clue as to when this ability will end. It's kind of exciting in a Russian roulette sort of way, dontcha think? CLICK. Nope, still can list. LOL! I wonder how many rounds this holds. CLICK! Still good. See ya. CLICK!

Of course they are all on sports cards, or in comics or books.

Why is it I keep hearing 'If I only had a brain' in the background? Hmmm.

I have a space, I jokingly call it my office. It's ten by ten and stuffed to the gills with computer equipment, sports cards, comics, books, and things that archeologists would probably love to get their hands on, and if not them, I'm certain our germ warfare people might be interested. I guess I should take out the dishes once in a while. Every time I need to get to something, I have to move something.  It's kind of like those toys we'd get at parties with the little tiles you'd slide around to either form a picture or word, only heavier.

So, I finally got tired of the intricate ballet of moving items and finally rearranged things. (huh?) I have more room, I'm just not sure where everything is now. (sigh) Oh wait! I didn't know where it was before either. (grin) I've misplaced as much as I can for one evening and decided to take a break. I'm drinking home roasted coffee from my mug, which is adorned with the Warrior Art of Sid Ka"imi Campbell. (yes, I sell them. It's a blatant plug) I'm looking forward to next week, as I will be on vacation. However, since I'm travelling, I may go through EBAY withdrawal and I'm worried about the effect it will have on me. So if you're watching the news, and you hear about some guy who's stealing laptops, and then sitting down (not running away) while trying to get a wifi connection, thats not me. Nope, definitely not me. I'm smarter than that. Why are you giggling?

I'd like to be listing some items, but I got an EBAY message on Friday that said that I hit my current limit. I answered their canned message and had hoped to hear from them, preferably about the same time I hit the enter key, but here it is Tuesday morning and still nothing.

EBAY...WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME!?

I'm hoping that gets their attention, but not in the stormtroopers coming to my door kind of way.

Ah well, the sun's beginning its ascent. I can feel my skin tingling. Pretty soon it will begin to smoke and then I'll have to turn in for the day. Maybe I'll stay up late. Now where did I put my sun tan lotion and sun glasses? Have a great day all!

I was looking over my sold items listings and found one with a curious icon where I would normally see the dollar sign icon from PayPal. This one was an hourglass? When I moved my mouse over it, it said that the buyer had marked the item as payment sent. I immediately wondered what virtually every new EBAYER wonders. How the heck did they update/change my screen. Technically, the didn't. They have the choice, on the buyers screen, of selecting this option. If they exercise this option, your screen is updated to reflect that the customer has supposedly sent a payment out to you. This doesn't mean that they have, but it indicates that the customer has chosen to notify you that they have.

Normally, this option is used when a customer is paying by check or money order. They put the payment in the mail and can then update this option to reflect payment sent. I'm not sure how many people actually use this option, but it is not required, it is just a courtesy.

So what do you do? Not much initially. You wait for the payment to arrive, assuming one was actually sent. Once payment is received, you can deposit the check/money order and then wait for your bank to clear the funds. My advice is not to mark your item 'payment received' until the funds actually clear. However, you should notify your customer that the payment arrived and that shipment is pending the clearance of the funds. This way the buyer doesn't begin to worry that they have some how been defrauded. Good communications help to keep problems at a minimum.

In my case, the buyer contacted me and stated that he had hit this option by mistake. This created a problem. For starters, my auction stated that I accept payments through PayPal only. Once he selected payment sent, it over-rode my choice and blocked him from paying the invoice. IE..the system thinks that he's already sent the money, so they won't allow him to pay a second time. I sent a second invoice, but it wouldn't let him pay that either, so what to do?

I went to the EBAY Community Answer Center and entered the query...I hit payment sent by mistake....Several answers popped up and it only took a few minutes of searching to find the answer. The buyer is the only one who can fix this and the fix is fairly simple. The buyer has an options box, much like ours. Where we have revise/list/send invoice/etc...the buyer has several choices such as pay invoice/leave feedback/mark as payment sent/etc..All the buyer has to do, is to hit the drop down arrow to see the options and then select the appropriate option. I believe the screen gives you the option of marking the payment as 'not sent'. Once the buyer does this, they should be able to pay the invoice.

Please note that the hourglass icon will also show up if the customer has sent an e-check to PayPal. However, when you move your mouse over the icon, it should tell you that an e-check has been sent and give you an ETA for the funds to clear. When the funds finally clear, usually 3-5 business days later, that icon will change to the expected dollar sign.

I'm sorry that this isn't my usual non-sensical ramblings, but I figured this was long enough, as is. I will resume my usual mumbling of mysterious verbage in another listing. Buenos dios!

Just a note for sellers. Most sellers probably don't run into the magic number problem. If you list less than two hundred items, you won't. I know...I know...two hundred items. Seems almost unimaginable for some. However, others of us rack up two hundred in a day. Regardless of who you are, the first time you hit the 200 mark, you're in for a nasty surprise. You will get an error message from EBAY that says Safe Harbour has restricted your listing. They go on to explain the details and how this is to prevent people from listing a bunch of stuff illegally. That's nice, but without warning, you will find yourself sitting at your desk, with a stack of stuff to enter, perhaps you've promised to put something up for someone, and now you can't. Well actually you can, but you have to know how. It's actually easy and we'll get to that in just a second.

So, there you are, probably mouthing a few impolite words and maybe even throwing in a gesture or two for effect. But wait, there's more. Try to revise a listing now and you'll get the same error message. That's right, revising a listing is considered making a new one and you are at your limit.

The first thing you should do is click on the EBAY provided link, verify who you are, and then ask them to raise your limit. You might also, very politely, ask them to change this policy so that your aren't left in the lurch. For example, I got the message on Friday evening. It is currently Sunday morning and I haven't heard back from them yet. Probably won't hear from them until Tuesday at the earliest. I don't think they should do things like this in an automated fashion. It should only occur when someone can intervene and correct the problem immediately. That's just an opinion of course. Why EBAY would want to prevent any honest customer from making them money is beyond me.

The good news is there is a way around it. When you get the error, just delete one listing. With two hundred listings you probably have a store and the loss, money-wise, will probably be less than a dime. As long as you have only 199 listings, you can revise your other listings. If there are items you have to get up, then delete as many items as you have to, in order to make room.

It would be nice if we got a warning message from EBAY. Something to the effect of, you just entered your 175th item, please be aware that your limit is 200. If you need more room, please contact us. Then at least we'd be prepared and would have a little warning. Then we could request the the extra room ahead of time. This is a three day week end for me and I had planned on getting a lot done, but with my listing locked at two hundred, I'm dead in the water. As items sell, I can add listings but, as we all know, sales can be sporadic and the more choices a customer has, the more likely a sell will occur. So what am I going to do with the remaining two days if I can't list. Oh wait! I have a family. I wonder if they still live here. I'd better go check. See ya!

So there I am with spare time on my hand, a quiet night at work. A good time to enter items into my listings. I'm screaming along when suddenly a message pops up. Everything comes to a screeching halt. EBAY has limited my activity as a safety precaution. I wouldn't call it so much as limiting it, as stopping it. Sure I can still buy, sell and what not, but I've got spare time and can't list any more items. WAAAAAHHHHHH! I just wish I had gotten a warning of some type first. Then I couldn've planned things differently. If I had known that I wouldn't be able to list, I would have brought my glow in the dark chemicals to work and run around with the lights out. I know that EBAY will extend my limt, they usually do. I also know that it's a protection feature, but if they're going to do that, can't they place some sort of gauge, or indicator that lets me know when I'm betting close. Perhaps I could contact them before things got locked down, thusly preventing it from happening. It would certainly make my life easier and that's what this is all about, right? LOL!

I have to admit, I was both honored and amused. I got an e-mail the other day from someone who wanted advice. Why me? They had read one of my guides, and since I was an expert, they came to me. I laughed. My overall score, including buying and selling is currently 53, far from an expert level I'm sure. But, since they asked, I gave them my opinion, for what it was worth.

While many of you are signing off, at this later hour, others of us are coming out of our holes, dens, crypts, and domiciles to take over the reigns and, as usual, we're wondering why you didn't clean them before handing them over. ICK! That's gonna leave a stain.

One of the nice things about EBAY, is that it is always open. Nothing worse than heading to your favorite store and, upon arrival, finding the windows dark and the doors locked. You peek in, hoping just maybe, that someone will see and recognize  you, maybe let you in for a quick sale, but no, the cretins are too busy packing up and trying to go home. Like they have a life or something. Sheesh! With EBAY, the store is always open. That is so cool. I can shop any time I want to. Of course it takes a couple of days for the item to show up, but that's entirely superfluous. It's not whether or not I got the item, it's all about being able to do what I wanted at 2am, which was shop, and I got to do that. The other neat thing about shopping on EBAY, is you are not being served by an employee who doesn't give a crap about you. Nothing worse than standing in a store and being ignored by the eighteen year old, the person pretending not to speak English (because they speak it everywhere, right?), or your own mother. On EBAY, you find what you want, and if the price is right, click and you own it, at least with the Buy It Now option. Bidding on items is more like being in Vegas and I can't afford to do that every night, but maybe thats the next step in the EBAY revolution. Sound effects. EBAY will offer a selected assortment, but we'll be able to add our own as well. Our buyers will experience a new type of brand awareness as beeps, buzzes, boops and sound bytes infiltrate their shopping experience. If it happens, please don't blame me, it was inevitable. Many of the things I predicted in this manner have come to pass. This either makes me very astute, or the harbinger of doom. I think I'd rather be the latter because it sounds so much cooler. Who am I? I AM THE HARBINGER OF DOOM....imagine that with a little echo/reverb.Yeah baby! Might even get a cool outfit and a sidekick whose name might be something like, He who brings slippers. My slippers are currently delivered to me, usually one at a time, and on different days of the week, by He who brings me slippers full of drool and occassionally chews on coffee grounds when he knows he shouldn't. IE...my dog Bowie, a 180lb Great Dane. They used to be delivered by She who will bring them if you ask enough times, my daughter, but she's much too old for that now. So she has been renamed, She who devours cash.

If you're expecting an EBAY tidbit, you missed it. It was right at the beginning of this blog. Sure it sounded like me complaining, but it was actually an informative piece of literary correspondence. Don't look at me like that, it was! If you are planning on listing a lot of items, expect it. I was on my fourth page of listings when it hit me. I don't know how many listings appear on a page, I don't  have enough toes and fingers to count that high, but somewhere after 3.5 pages, expect the message and know that listing will cease. You will have to reply to the EBAY message and eventually they  will get back to you and, as long as you aren't fraudulent scum, they will, most likely, extend your limit to some other invisible number, which I'm sure I'll hit later. I told them, in my reply, that they were stopping me from becoming the next power seller. They're probably still on the floor, doubled over in laughter.

Oh well, the swing shift is turning into graveyard. I still have a couple of hours to go and I still can't list. Maybe I'll go shopping. (GRIN) Nah...I better not. To those of you who have visited, thanks for stopping in. You know how to find the store. Just pucker up and click on the link. Or don't pucker, just click the link. Whatever floats your boat. I've added some coffee mugs with the Warrior Art of Sid Ka'imi Campbell. Sid is a grandmaster in the Shorin-Ryu martial arts system, and is also a weapons historian. He has written one historical reference on the Hawaiian warrior culture and is working on another that will reference the Japanese warrior culture. He's got some interesting stuff. And, of course, there's more comics, books, and sports cards being added every day. Oh yeah, and I've got some groovy Sega Genesis games on auction right now. By the way, I've still got Numan's Cars running through my brain. Dang you San Luis, dang you all to heck! (you know who you are) Take care all and have an allegorical week end. Ciao'

I stopped at the entrance to the kitchen and let my eyes adjust. The dim glow of the night light washed over the room. It was like washing your car with the mist from a spray bottle, completely useless.

I took a step and stumbled, having stepped on something that was not the kitchen floor. I caught the edge of the counter with the bony side of my arm. It prevented me from falling, but there'd be a bruise later. I reached down and felt around in the darkness between the stove and the cabinets. I found the item that had nearly killed me. I was able to identify it by touch alone. It was a length of rope. This did not bode well. For a moment, I lay still. Hearing nothing, I rose and paused to listen once more. Still nothing. I stepped into the kitchen and froze.

The remains were on the floor, its lifes fluid speading slowly across the white linoleum. I looked around nervously. I must have interrupted the intruder. The remains were far to fresh. There was nothing I could do for the victim. Whatever life had once been present, however fragile, was now gone. There was no point in calling the cops, they wouldn't care.

Keeping both ears cocked, I got to work and wrapped the remains in plastic wrap in order to keep the mess to a minimum. It wasn't easy and the opaque plastic wrap hid nothing. I felt uncomfortable pawing the deceased. Soon enough, faster than I thought it would take, yet not fast enough to suit me, I was done. I lifted the bundle off the floor and and began to exit the kitchen. I stopped suddenly. I would have sworn on a stack of bibles that the room had been empty, but the deep heavy panting behind me proved otherwise. The assailant had either been well hidden, or possessed mystical powers far beyond my ken. I was about to make my move when the assailant barked.

WOOF!

I whirled. Standing before stood a 185 pound beast from hell, mouth agape, teeth glowing brightly in the darkness. Before my mind could counter the sudden fear welling within it, the beast lunged. I screamed.

BAD DOG! How many times have I told you not to eat the coffee grounds. I dumped the plastic wrapped grounds into the garbage. Bowie, the newly acquired rope, dangling from his mouth, made an odd gurgling noise. To me,  he sounded like a Wookie with a stomach disorder. It was my turn. I lunged. The beast from hell whirled and danced away, toying with me. The chase was on....

I have no idea where that story is going. Kind of like my EBAY account. Logging in is like checking your lotto ticket. Maybe you've had sales, maybe you haven't, but it's the expectation, the waiting, the moment before you know, that makes you tingle with excitement. Once you know, the reaction is predictable. Either, WHOO HOO, or STUPID PEOPLE. Trying to predict what will sell is a constant struggle. EBAY does supply you with the HOT LIST, which gives you some idea of what's popular, but what if  you dont' have any of that stuff? How do you get them to come to your site and buy your pair of Greg/Marcia Brady's personally worn, training bra. (Yes, I think Greg had one too)

Step 1) Search for the item you want to sell. Can you find it, or other things like it, easily? Try several variations. Looking at the results might help you place your item. For instance, you might type Greg Brady training bra and get two hits. You might type Greg Brady and get a hundred hits. While scrolling through the 100 hits, you notice ten listings for a training bra. Look at them and see how they are listed. In order for your item to get the best chance to be seen, you have to give it a title and description that most people will look for. If you have it listed under a title/description that only 1 out of every 10,000 find, you are reducing your chance of a sale. Another example would be Sports Cards. Do you list the year first, the set, the player, the team.....It can be overwhelming. However, if you do a little research, you'll find just the right place to put your item. Now, just to confuse the issue, you may not always want to put your item in the prime position. Especially if there are another 100 just like it, already being sold for less than what you were going to ask. Example. Maybe  you want to sell Postal Ken. You type in Postal Ken and get two thousand hits, but these uninformed cretins are selling Postal Ken for anything from two cents to fifty dollars. You wanted to sell yours for a reasonable fifteen, but the odds of it selling anytime soon, given the competition, are fairly high. So you type in Ken, Postal. Here you only get ten hits, but these money gougers are all asking for at least 35 for this extremely limited, rare, hard to find, one of a kind, which they are all selling, action figure, complete with the legally purchased uzi sub-machine gun. This might be the perfect place for your item. Yours is a reasonable 15, compared to the 35 that the others are asking. It's not a guarantee that your item will sale, but your item looks better here.

Another thing you can do is see what you item has sold for recently. You can do this by clicking on Advanced Search, which is usually located to the right of the regular search box. Type in the name of what you are searching for, then look for "completed listings only" and click on the circle to highlight/select it. Then scroll way down and find the min/max number of bids. Select a minimum bid of one and hit search. If you are lucky, the search will bring up only a list of items that were bid on and, conceivably, won, as opposed to a long list of items that didn't sell. There will still be a few that didn't sell, due to reserves that weren't met, but those we can live with. Scale through the items and see what sold for what. Maybe your item is over/under priced. You should also look at the listings that sold exactly what you sold, only for a higher price. How did they get their item to sell for that price when so many cheaper ones were available. Was it the way they offered it? A feature they mentioned, or possibly, when eaten, the item induces euphoria. The item is probably illegal then, or will be soon. As you can see, a little research can pay big dividends. Of course, this might be more effort than you are willing, or have time, to expend. If that's the case, give  your best guess and go for it. Nothing says you have to make a lot of money on EBAY.

As usual, my nonsensical ramblings come with the disclaimer that I'm probably a misanthropic throwback with the IQ of wooden spelling block. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to use that phraseology, as the wooden spelling blocks have retained an attorney. Apparently they are offended by any comparison to me. Therefore, if you follow any advice that I've provided, you are knowingly following  a self confessed moron and deserve what ever you get. THPPPPT!

If  you enjoy any of my pre and post delusional observations, please feel free to mention them to your friends, or even complete strangers, I dont' mind. If the little bits of EBAY knowledge I dispense are helpful in any way, all I can say is...well whatta ya know! Even idiots get lucky some time. I'm sure Dopey will be glad to hear that. If you know anyone that's looking for sports cards, comics, comic cards, art, or sci-fi/fantasy/romance/fiction paperbacks, then please send them to Warrior Artworks. I also hope to have record albums in the near future, I'm just trying to find a reasonable way to ship them safely. This will include 78's, 45's, 33's and maybe even a 22 1/2, which is just a 33 with a large chunk missing. Skips like the dickens though. That's it for now. Enjoy life while you can, because it IS out to get you. BWA HA HA HA HAAAAA!

WOW! It's amazing how many guides, reviews and blogs are out there. Wading through them is like looking up the name Smith in the phone book. There's a lot of them. No one has time to wade through them all. I think that the best we can do, is to find at least one we like and hope that the same person has printed several others. If you find good ones, don't forget to share them with your friends.

 No one is an expert on everything and so, there will be a number of guides that are geared towards specific genres, written by a group of vastly differently minded people. What people write, is generally their point of view and there are many, many, differing points of view on just about any subject. Some of you are looking for technical points of view, and if the guide doesn't read like an engineering diagram from the U.S.S. Enterprise, you'll be disappointed. Others are looking for exact instructions on how to accomplish something, and if the guide doesn't tell you to turn on the computer before attempting to use it, you too, will be disappointed. The good news, somebody out there has probably written one, about the thing you're interested in, in a style you'll like. The bad news is, you have to find. MARCO...POLO...MARCO...POLO! If only it were that easy.

Some of us write reviews. Either because we can, or because we actually have something to say about the product/item, whether we've used it or not. Some of us write reviews unknowingly. For instance, I was less than amused, when logging into one popular on line site, whose name I won't mention, to find that I had given a number of products a five star glowing review. Since I hadn't used, purchased, or rated any of these items, I was puzzled. It seems that this site has a bad habit of giving items a glowing review, under the subscribers name. Oh..but don't worry, you have the option of correcting them. But if you do, they'll just add more. I think the consumers bureau is going to hear about this one. One of the things people tend to forget, when writing reviews, is that the review, is generally about the object, not the person who sold it. A review should never start off with, "This moron sold me a..." While it might be accurate, it is the item we are reviewing, not the seller/buyer.

Blogs are interesting things. Kind of like sending a radio message into space, which keep going until some one happens to tune into your station and receive your signal. Once that happens, all bets are off. Maybe you contacted some benevolent creature who wishes to compliment you on your wisdom or, you may have inadvertently disturbed some hideous creature whose only goal in life to make others suffer and, in the process, may have doomed mankind. Is it worth the risk? Sure, why not? After all, humans are a renewable resource. Hey, we say the same thing about trees, what's the big deal?

As you probably know by now, I always try to dispense a little EBAY knowledge, along with the disclaimer that I probably don't know squat. (Even I'm not sure if I know squat or not) Always double check my comments with the correct sources before accepting my ravings as anything but opinion.

I inquired about USPS Flat Rate package pricing today. It turns out that flat rate does not apply only to flat items. Instead, it refers to a flat rate price. For instance, a flat rate box will ship for 8.95 regardless of the weight. I'm sure there's a limit, but the quote I was given said that as long as the box meets standard size criteria, it can way 1-70 pounds and the price would be 8.95. Before you get too excited, don't forget, even a one ounce baseball card would ship for 8.95. You could send the same item Priority Mail for 4.60, or a book media mail for 2.35-ish. It pays to be familiar with the options provided by your local shipping companies. However, if you just happen to be shipping gold ingots, bricks, or large quantities of marbles, which some one probably lost, Flat Rate shipping is probably a good way to go.

So there, my  little nugget of wisdom has found a new perch. Don't squirm, you're stuck with it now. Your mind will give it the nutrients it needs to grow. BWA HA HA HA HAAAA! Quit your whining. You weren't using most of it anyway.

By the way, thanks to those of you who have dropped in and had nice things to say. On your way out, please notice the box near the door. Feel free to donate a dollar, left over pez candy, some pocket lint, whatever you think is appropriate. And if you are interested in comics, sports cards, books, and whatever I found at the local auction, then please stop in. Warrior Artworks will be pleased to have ya. You'll be able to find my store in two places on the web, one is on EBAY and the other isn't. Each carries a completely different set of un-related items. Eventually I will link the other site to EBAY, but I'm not allowed to go the other way, which is a shame. I'm sure you'll be able to find either of them via a standard internet search.

Writing this blog is a good thing. Now, when my wife comes home and asks if I've spent the whole day listing items on EBAY, I can honestly answer, No dear, no I haven't. I have a life. Of course, she'll roll her eyes in disbelief and the interrogation begins. I wonder what it will be today, good wife, or bad wife?

Peace and Love to all.

I'm sitting here drinking my coffee. My Great Dane, is sitting in my lap...sort of. He doesn't fit, but that doesn't stop him from trying. I was fretting over a PayPal dispute. I felt betrayed, I felt angry and I wanted to lash out. Unfortunately you can't really take it out on the customer. What if they're telling the truth? Lucky for me, I have kids. Boy is their day gonna suck, but I'll feel better. WHOO HOO!

As I pondered the dispute screen, I considered all sorts of replies, most of them not very diplomatic, then I had an epiphany. It hurt too! The first part of it was realizing that I'm not perfect and could have made a mistake. My ego disagrees, but then he and I never get along. Second, the item cost less than a few bucks. Sure I worked hard to list the item.I mean, my god, I must have executed at least a few dozen key stokes! And sure I was embarrassed when I inadvertently taped myself to the desk while packaging the item, but the firemen were all very nice about it. So instead of a scathing reply, I did what will, most likely, turn out to be what I should have done in the first place. I apologized and refunded the money. The dispute was closed and, so far, no negative feed back. It doesn't mean I won't get one, and I'm sure that some day, I will. But a few bucks returned seemed a small price to keep my reputation shiny.

I don't know if the buyer appreciated my gesture, I never got a reponse indicating that they gave a whit. That actually bugs me more than a lost sale. I go out of my way to work with people, both as a buyer and a seller. I want the transaction to be a pleasant experience for everyone involved, kind of like a group hug, but without the groping. I suppose I could dwell on it, grow angry and give my kids some more chores, but the bathroom can only be cleaned to a point. I'd get on with my life, but unless the Dane moves, I'm a kitchen chair implant.

I got a couple of nice comments on the blog. Some, I've made laugh. It was nice of them to let me know. Another said I helped him/her. Of course, that worries me. Me helping someone is just a little like Jack Nicholson offering to lend a hand on Halloween. Just plain scary. I guess I'm okay with that though. Where would we be without ole Jack, or Wes Craven, or Christopher Walken and all those other people who have been interrupting my sleep/dreams for years? But don't you worry, you probably won't have nightmares that involve me. If you do, I'm the guy on the left holding the rubber hammer. It squeaks. I like it.

Well, the Dane got up, the air moved, or something, and now he's barkig at the door trying to kill an errant breeze. Since the blood is flowing again, I'm going to try and stand up and make it over to the counter and get some hojo. Then I'll lock myself in the tower and list a few more items. My place is easy to find. Lightning bolts flying around, lotsl of dark clouds, and a strange man in a white cloak (maybe other things too, maybe not, ain't telling) shouting from the roof of the tower, SELL DARN YOU, SELL! Have a good day all.

I wonder how many of you looked at thiis post because of the title. I want a show of hands...No, never mind....a verbal reply will do. So, how many of you go into the privacy of your study/den/office/sanctuary and...well...you know...blog? Blog is just one of those words that doesn't sound right in any format. It doesn't matter whether you're blogging yourself, your sister, your mother, or a complete stranger, it just sounds wrong.

My children are getting too smart. The other day my daughter came in and asked what I was doing. I told her that I was working on establishing global dominance via a structured, menu driven, marketing platform. She blinked, then said, oh...you're EBAYing. I blinked. She left. I think I'm going to have to de-alphbetize the encyclopedias. Gotta slow them down  some how.

I've always wondered what the power sellers are doing, that I'm not. Then it came to me. They're selling more stuff. D'oh! (slap) Now I'm wondering how. Do they have some mystical ability to choose the right item, then list said item at the right price and at the right time? Or is it because they just list a million items and eventually something sells? I'm not quite sure yet, but somewhere there's a formula. Of course I'm screwed if there is, because I flunked any course that had formulas in it. There might be some other explanation, like selling the items at a high enough price to make a profit, but that seems to obvious an explanation. Everyone knows that they have to factor in listing costs, shipping costs, packaging costs, postage costs, the cost of the item, PayPal fees and... Why are you all staring at me like that?

I'm tired. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'd take a nap, but everyone gets upset when I do that at work. Especially when I'm driving the fork lift. They have some stupid rule about sleeping and operating heavy machinery. How the heck do they think I get  home every night? (shrug)

Saw a news blurb this morning. Fifteen car pile up on the I-5. Why? Heavey fog and nobody slowed down. Well they did, but it was sudden like.Can't see more than five feet ahead and they still do 55-70. That's like turning of f the lights and running through a pitch black room full of furniture, barefoot. Why would anyone do that. Of course, if you slow down to the proper speed, the guy behind you, doing 60, will run into and then it's pile up time. What if everybody used common sense and slowed down to a safe speed, or is that too radical an idea? I feel bad for the people involved. It's a senseless way to die.

Watched the movie Transformers last night. I think the best thing I can say about it, is that it had moments.I'm not going to elaborate on it any further. I'm just trying to be polite. Why? It tends to confuse people. I've actually been screamed at for holding a door open for someone. It was the oddest thing. Perhaps she was just trying to confuse me? It worked. Now when I see that person, I just stand back and say something like, how's it going stud? She doesn't like that either. Just can't please some people. How about some sage advice to finish the evening off, after all, it is almost midnight.

If you're going to be addicted to something, be addicted to life. Don't question your existence, question your purpose. If you're going to give up, give up your heart. Don't lose your temper, lose your ignorance. If you're going to throw away your hard earned cash, the throw it at me. (did that work?) OW! Not the coins. OW! Dang it! I hate it when you listen to me. OW!

Some days just start off like that. The alarm goes off, you hit the lights and then screaming follows. Sometimes it's your significant other, sometimes it's you. The dogs don't seem to be bothered by the light, other than the fact that it means we're up, potentially. If they think we're awake, then we are, whether we want to be or not.

EBAYING is sort of like that. Once you list your items, the clock starts ticking. When the alarm goes off, it's action time. What you do next determines the type of EBAYER you are, from your customers point of view. Your customers are your bread and butter and maybe even the little gold fish crackers in your soup as well. Without them, there's no bidding, no winning and most importantly, no PayPal fees. (Well, it's important to PayPal)

So how do you keep your customers coming back? It's pretty simple, actually. Treat them like people you know and care about. No, probably not like you treated your brother or sister, I don't think all of that screaming and infighting would be beneficial. Treat them like the person you'd do anything to impress and not like some idiot you want to fleece. Oh, and make sure you have exactly what they want, in stock, and at a reasonable price as well. That's not asking too much is it? Hello....ello..ello...llo...Hmm....just an echo.(shrug)

One of the things I find amusing, is when I research an item and I see a listing that states something like, ULTRA RARE, HARD TO FIND, EXTREMELY LIMTED (insert name of product here). This type of listing is usually followed by a Buy It Now price of 1.00 and followed by thirty to a hundred other listings of this supposedly rare item for prices from one cent to about eighty dollars. I can understand saying rare and then leaving it open for bidding, but call it ULTRA RARE and offer it up for a buck, there's just something plain wrong with that marketing ploy. Maybe it works. Right! And President (insert name of your choice here) has a brain.

One of the things that I like about EBAYERS, is their keen sense of wit, as evidenced by the names they create, although one has to wonder if they realize the effect that their name has on potential buyers and sellers. Would you bid on a listing from Dewey, Cheatem and Howe? Would you sell to some named IStealMoney? Personally, I'm still looking for the buyer named I'mRichandwillbidonallyour itemsextavagantly. I probably shouldn't have told you that. D'oh! (slap)

Well, the sun is approching, I can hear his squeaky sneakers, and that means it's time for me to retreat to the relative safety of my bed. But first I have to turn on the light, move the dog and...AUGH! THE LIGHT! IT BUURRRRNS! (click) Ah..much better. I'm sure I would have thought of turning it off sooner or later, but it is a little embarrassing to be out thought by the dog...and just when/where did he get an opposable thumb? I wonder if he's been hacking my EBAY account? That would explain all of those magazines. BAH! I'll worry about that later. It's time to snuggle up with my KVB, Killer Vorpal Bunny. Not that's not a pet name for my wife, it's the actual name of my stuffed Killer Vorpal Bunny. It's his job to attack any bad dreams I have. Unfortunately, he tends to attack the pillows as well. Feathers everywhere. My wife blames the dogs. I do too. Maybe that's why they hacked my account. I'll have to give it some thought. As for you, move along, there's nothing to see here. (Duh..no pictures or anything)

Todays question. Why is it, when you make juice out of lemons, it's lemonade, but if you make juice out of oranges, it's orange juice? If you squeeze it, and liquid comes out, isn't it always juice? HEY! Wait a minute. Then that means that milk is...um...hmm...maybe I shouldn't go there.And for goodness sakes, don't bring acne into this, I didn't. Nite all!

Hello, once again, my disclaimer. If this blog corresponds with reality in any way, then it expects a reply from reality. After all, it's the polite thing to do.

If you are a typical EBAY SELLER, then you're probably sitting near a computer trying to resist the urge to check your account for that next sale. Or maybe it's 3 AM and you're trying to get just one more listing up and running, despite the fact that you are so tired that you're drinking coffee out of a mug you left in your office several days ago.ICK! Either way, you've probably got shipping tape stuck to various parts of your body, either accidentally, deliberately, or just to make a fashion statement. We've all been there, and some of us have never left. Our food is delivered to us by minions (child, spouse, new room-mate (not sure what happened to the old one), etc...), or we shop once a week/month and stockpile food in our office with a half-life roughly equal to that of the presidents approval rating. (your choice of president)  Social contacts dwindle and we begin to withdraw from the world of man. Is this bad?

As of late, the world of man is a scary place. Wars, flesh eating bacteria, and a bunch of reality shows that beg the question why. Why would anyone create them and why would anyone watch them? The only answer I can come up with, is so that we can be happy that we aren't them. While I don't care for Dancing With the Stars, I love the fact that instead of being stranded on a deserted island, which isn't much of a role model for our youth, we get to watch people practice an art that is fun, artistic, calorie burning and yes, causing the youth of today, to become interested once more, in a contact sport that doesn't result in someone's death. I also love reality shows that help people, although I don't watch them. I just like the concept of helping people. But sometimes these shows help people right into the poor house. Take a low income family, build them a million dollar home, and now they can't afford the taxes and insurance so they have to sell the place and move out of the neighborhood that they've come to grow and love. Crazy, but it happens. Sometimes we over help.

What has all this got to do with EBAY, well...nothing, why? If you're confused at this point, go back and read the title of this blog, slap your forehead and say, D'oh!

Since there is no specific point, I'll make a general one. Don't withdraw completely. I doubt that you would be able to anyway. Eventually you'll have to go and buy product, attend someones wedding (your significant other, if you still have one, will make you go), funeral, party, or someother significant event. Not to mention those mad dashes to the bathroom, only to find that your teen-age daughter is sequestered within, which then forces you to decide between a quick trip to the closest store with a bathroom, or fighting your dog for tagging rights to the bushes in your backyard. It ain't a pretty picture. Especially in the winter. Don't visualize, you'll regret it. Always remember those other people in the house with  you. They are there for a reason. If you don't remind them of that reason, they will soon forget you. This can end tragically as, when you finally step out of the room for your quarterly bath/shopping trip, they shoot you as an intruder. The headlines will read something like this. Man reported dead years earlier, now is. People will scratch their heads and wonder what drugs the writers/newscasters are on.

So yes, selling on EBAY is fun, but it could kill you if you aren't careful. The other risk is loss of sanity as you wade through all of EBAY's policies, rules, blogs, commuties, faq's, and...and... Hmm...I just had an odd thought. I was thinking about whether or not the pope wears underwear and then my mind went to the Shroud of Turin. I guess it's a good thing they used that part of the sheet. I'm not explainng that one. Either you got it, think you got it, or you'll have to do with out. Either way, EBAY policy probably forbids me from discussing it any further, but I'll never know. I just don't have enough time to figure it out.

EBAY CLUE: Ever try to send something International First Class only to find that EBAY or PayPal either doesn't offer it, or says the limit is 13 ounces. Yeah, me neither, but I've imagined it. USPS assures me that there is NOT a 13 ounce limit on the category small package/thick envelope, so I'm not sure why that pops up. I'm going to send in an inquiry and see if I can get an answer to that question. However, the real reason, sort of, is that USPS wants to make sure that you fill out the customs form. I am not sure if this form is required for all countries, but it is certainly required for Canada. Don't fret, it's a small form and is easy to fill out and, best of all, it's free from your local post office. Besides the same address info that you would put on a shipping label, it requires you to state that the item isn't dangerous or forbidden, what the weight of the item is, a short description of the item, and then you have to date and sign it. This gets stuck on your package in additon to your mailing label. Yes, they require both. Now here's something, I thought was interesting If you are shipping outside the United States, you must put the countries name on the address label. So down by the zip code, you'd have to put Canada. Apparently, the people at the post office need our help in in routing the packages. Keep a globe handy. Of course, you can make up your own countries, but that tends to slow down your packages delivery. I have heard that there is software out there that will enable you to print up postage and customs forms at home, but I don't know anything about them. I just know that they are there. However, unless foreign shipments are a big part of your business, I wouldn't worry about it. You'll just have to go to the post office for that occassional shipment to the Eh country. I also don't know if the Eh thing is all of Canada or just a western province thing, but I imagine people in Quebec going, par le vou francais, Eh. Oh well, we all have our idioms.

Well, how about that. A hidden EBAY CLUE where you least expected it, in an EBAY BLOG. Hmm...kind of like hiding a gun on cop, or a cell phone on a teenager Who woulda thunk it. Well, I thunked it and now you're probably stuck, thunking it. If you find any of todays blog, stuck in your mind, and want to get rid of it, try MA-NUM-A-NUMP. Then add. BUH-BUUH-BUH-DUP-UP. It worked when I was only knee high to a grass hopper and still does now that I'm older than dirt.

TODAY'S QUOTE/COMMENT: Dirt ain't nothing but old rock, and rock is a type of music. So when you get the chance, call or e-mail your local radio station and thank them for playing your kind of dirt.

Adieu, Eh!

NOTE: Oh yeah. Don't forget to stop by my store, Warrior Artworks. You can bring your pets, but no smoking please. I don't want my flash paper going up in flames until the races are over.