Gone in 30 minutes!

When I started dyeing thread, and then decided to try selling it on eBay, I didn't have high expectations of amazing sales until I built up some regular customers and had been on for awhile (6 months of selling or longer). I didn't actively use eBay until last year, even though I have had an account for years. My feedback stars are low, but I have 100% positive feedback, but those were all for buying, not selling.
I tried Etsy...thinking it was more crafty-based, and I didn't even get any hits on it at all. So, I went back to eBay.

My first couple of auctions went for the starting bid of .99. Alright...gotta start somewhere right? AND...I got my first seller feedback. Still going on 100%. Next round had a couple of new bidders, but the same bidder that won my first auction won this one. Which is alright too, repeat business doesn't hurt. Then I put up a few threads at Buy it Now pricing, and those went alright. My first auction winner has been a regular customer, buying threads each time I have some available. She was also very helpful with suggestions, (pastels, Buy it Now, keywords for title, etc.) After my first couple of offerings, I decided it would be much easier to have a store. At this point, I am not really making a profit, but what I am making is paying for more thread to dye, new dye colors and my seller fees on eBay.

So...I opened my store on December 20th. Put up my first inventory, sprinkled with some auctions to draw in new customers. It went steadily. I was pleased. The batch I dyed last weekend, was going to be ready for listing on Wednesday, so I put a note in my header that new colorways would arrive on date/time. I had them scheduled, so @ 8pm on the dot, there they were all pretty and shining in my store. So, being satisfied everything was listed as scheduled, I go get something to eat, watch a little TV, trying to stay away from my computer and hitting refresh every 2 seconds. Something about a watched pot doesn't boil...

I couldn't stand it anymore, and had to go check to see if I had any interest what-so-ever...imagine my suprise when I refresh my store, and all of my new inventory is missing!!!...with the exception of 1 colorway I had just added, they were gone. What did eBay do with them? What the heck? I am going to have to figure out what I did wrong! Lo and behold I open my Selling Manager page (which I should have done to start with)...and I had sold all those missing balls in the first 30 minutes!!! OH MY!!! Mystery of the disappearing inventory solved!

I don't know if it will go that way all the time, but it sure was exciting and fun! I am going to dye some more this weekend, and hopefully up the production quantity. I have been being careful so as not to mess up a whole bunch, but I think I have the process down now, so feel comfortable doing bigger lots.

Just had to share!

Thank You Christina!

Thank you Christina! I received my first Pay It Forward item! It came at a time where a smile and a warm fuzzy feeling were needed and much apprciated.

Now I have to get busy on the items for my PIF. I know I have a year, but I am a notorious procrastinator, and if I don't get on it now, then I will be scrambling later, and I don't want to do that. I am a big thread crocheter, so more than likely it will be something done in thread.

While I wait for my camera batteries to charge, I am off to start another batch of my dyed threads. My last batch did pretty well, and if I don't get on the stick then I am going to run out of inventory.

Thanks for the kind words and support for my blahs. They are getting better. I guess blahs are kind of like gaining weight, building up gradually, and you can't git rid you can't get rid of it overnight. I know everyone has to deal with both the blahs and weight occassionally, so it is good to know there are others who understand. One day at a time!

New Year Blahs

I don't know what it is, but I thought with the holidays over, I would get out of my gritchy holiday mood I always fall into. Not so. Everything feels overwhelming. It didn't help that Yahoo had an article on their homepage one day last week about how an unorganized/cluttered home (like mine, can be a sign of everything from ADHD, depression, all the way up to a brain disorder. In fact, there weren't many mental conditions left out of the list. So, not only am I an unorganized clutterbug, I am a mental-case too! LOL Soooo...I pondered that over some crocheting.

After such a productive week off, I have not been able to crochet much. I get about 30 minutes in before I go to bed. My 'Ashley' doily is coming along slowly. I am to the spirals though, and once I get past those little buggers, I think it will go pretty quick. Last nights efforts however were lost, as I discovered a mistake and had to frog back to where I had started when I sat down. Better there than after I was done with all of them right? I have to do some counting, but I may be off even further back than that. I am hoping not, but I was tired last night, so when I counted the spirals I did have, and what I need to have, I seem to have some extras on one side. I am going to recount tonight and I hope I am wrong. I should have some photos for the next blog to show the progress. Right now, it just looks a little funny with all these spirals (I have to do 80) hanging around the edge.

Happy Crocheting everyone!