So, I'm ready to start some auctions, and I find myself wondering whether or not the ebay market will support a HUGE lot (12 pair) of little girl's size 10 shoes...mostly Gymboree, but Skechers tennis shoes, as well as a pair of Gap sherpa boots. I could run separate auctions, but I'd really rather not. But, at the same time...I don't want to just give them away, since I could make good money on them at a consignment store.

I haven't seen anything like THIS lot in my research of completed and current listings. Anybody have any recent experience with a lot like this?

Kind of curious to me that there is someone who wants to oversee ebay blogging. I really feel like I know this person...could it be? I thought that blogging was just an extension of freedom of speech (within reason)...but some people who feel they are authorities on ebaying, want to create a new identity, remain anonymous and still tell us how it's done. What's with that?

So, I've been ebaying for almost 8 years now. One of my biggest gripes is that sellers (especially newbies) charge too high of shipping prices. They pad their shipping to cover their ebay and PayPal fees. THAT IS JUST WRONG!! Selling on ebay is a business! You have to expect some kind of expense to sell your clothes on ebay; and charging the buyer a higher price for shipping just isn't right. I'm glad that ebay is cracking down on the inflated shipping prices of some sellers, but is it enough? Personally, I really pick and choose the sellers I buy from, and I keep my shipping prices to a minimum. I just long for the way that ebay used to be, before all the newbies came in and took over! Perhaps if people stopped paying the outrageous shipping prices of some sellers, and actually started shopping for shipping prices, too, we could weed out the sellers who are trying to make more than their fair share on us. Just a thought...

I have seen a few blogs questioning how to sell Gymboree on eBay. These are relatively new sellers wondering how/when the best time is to list Gymboree clothing...auctions or stores...etc. Last night, I found myself posting comments to their blogs about how the days of making good money on ebay (and I mean REALLY GOOD MONEY) off of a Gymboree outfit, are over.

I remember back in 1999, selling a 3 piece Cotton Candy outfit in an XL for $108...USED!! Those were the glory days on ebay, for sure. Now, I believe the ebay market is way too saturated with Gymboree items. It's hard to compete with the Gymboree promotions (Gymbucks, Circle of Friends, etc). I have a soon to be 5 year old daughter who has ONLY worn Gymboree all of her life. I LOVE GYMBOREE!! 2 of my older daughters have worked at Gymboree---yet I rarely used their discount to buy clothing, as I found Gymboree sales to be way better than the 40% employee discount.

My new theory on Gymboree is this: I buy the clothes because I love the clothes. I let my daughter wear the clothes...I take GREAT care of the clothes, but she gets to wear all of them. Then, when she is done with them, I get the most $$ out of them that I can. Usually, this means taking them to a local consignment shop (I use Gumballs in Littleton, Colorado)...but sometimes, just sometimes, I can get more out of them on ebay. You just have to keep your finger on the pulse of the Gymboree/Ebay market.

And for anyone looking to sell Gymbo on ebay, good luck!! That seems to be everyone else's great idea, too.

A few months ago, a friend of mine gave me a book about Enneagrams by Helen Palmer. My, how that has changed my world. Not only have I come to better understand myself, but I now have a greater understanding of a lot of people who affect my world...primarily my immediate family (husband and 5 daughters). It's interesting to see how things that I thought were idiosyncratic to me are really NORMAL traits for other people with the same Enneagram number. Though I don't typically aspire to the bizarre teachings, and the Enneagram itself LOOKS like some kind of demonic teaching (though it's not), I have really come to embrace the recent knowledge and understanding that I've gleaned in my few months of reading up on it. After some relatively bad experiences on eBay, I took a little vacation from selling. Now, I'm going to come back and hopefully use my Enneagram knowledge to help me understand why some people are the way they are...on or off of eBay. I have bought several of the Enneagram books (work perspective, Christian perspective, etc) on Amazon and Half.com for just pennies. Anyone looking for an interesting perspective on themselves and others, should DEFINITELY read an Enneagram book. Oops...did I just give away my Enneagram number? ;-)