Reminder: eBay and Etsy Listings Will Be Deactivated on Friday

This is a reminder that I will not be selling for a period of time beginning on Friday.  I expect the downtime to last until October.  My listings are 12% off on both sites.  I have the eBay sale set to last until Friday.  At present, the Etsy sale ends on Thursday.  

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

New eBay and Etsy Listings, Store Sale, and Upcoming Store Hiatus

I began listing many books on eBay and Etsy several weeks ago before school let out for summer.  I am completely finished listing on Etsy and am finishing up with new eBay listings.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Due to some upcoming events, I will deactivate all of my listings on around June 20.  I doubt that it will be feasible for me to reopen before school starts, so I expect the store hiatus to last from around June 20 to sometime in October.

That is why I really pushed myself to get books listed as school was winding down.  The problem is that my Etsy listings have a four-month duration, and I pay a $0.20 fee for each listing.  When I pull my listings down, I will lose most of the listing duration.  That bothered me a little bit, so I decided that I should run a sale on Etsy in order to encourage some sales before I close.  My books on Etsy are now 12% off.

I pay for my eBay store subscription by the year, so it doesn't bother me to be closed a few months.  I have unlimited free listings (up to 5 million!), so I don't pay to list.  The store subscription covers it.  I'm less concerned about moving books off of eBay before I close.  However, it wouldn't hurt to get some of them sold, so I have also placed most of my eBay listings at 12% off.

I have not included my newer eBay listings in the sale.  When I list new books on eBay, a good number of them sell very quickly, so I don't want to have those on sale at the beginning of their run.

The sale on eBay and Etsy expires on June 18.  I expect to deactivate all of my listings by June 20.

Before I close, I want to mention that my job has become all-consuming.  I can't say anything about my personal situation.  In addition to that, teaching has been completely upended by AI usage, and it's become infinitely harder.  

I have long Covid from my infection of December 2024, and it has caused eye inflammation.  I also have this unfortunate thing where I keep smelling menthol.  When I smell the nonexistent menthol, my eyes also burn like menthol is in them.  It's now happening less often, and I hope it quits soon.

I don't believe I've mentioned much in this blog about my health situation in a couple years.  I decided to put all health updates in a new blog that I created last year.  

My Hashimoto's and Sjӧgren's Experience

It's been a lot.  Scroll down a few posts if you're interested in what has been going on.

My listings will be deactivated around June 20, so purchase anything you want before then.

Many Books Listed on eBay and Etsy + Current eBay Auctions

I have listed many books on both eBay and Etsy.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

I have a few eBay auctions for special items.

I chose auctions for these items to give more than one person a chance at them.  Any auction listings that do not sell will be converted to fixed-price listings.

I will list more books in the next few days.

Many Books Listed on eBay and Etsy

In the last 10 days, I have listed around 200 books total on eBay and Etsy, about half of them on each site.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Reminder: I do not duplicate my listings across the two sites.  For instance, I have a copy of Nancy Drew #44 Crossword Cipher currently listed on each site.  Click on each image in order to see it at a higher resolution.

eBay:

Etsy:

It should be readily apparent that the listings offer two different books.  One book has a price sticker on the cover, and it looks to be in slightly worse condition.  The cover art is tinted differently on the two books.  Since I have a lot of extra Nancy Drew picture cover books, I like to list different extra copies on each site.

Aside from that situation, some series will always be listed on one site and never the other.  For instance, the Hardy Boys series will always go on eBay.  I also list more obscure one-off books and items on eBay in order to capture the wider audience.

I do quite well with most Nancy Drew books on Etsy, so the majority of my Nancy Drew books go there.  Likewise, I also list most Dana Girls, Judy Bolton, and Trixie Belden books on Etsy.

Earlier this year, I was a bit miffed when someone in one of the Facebook groups mentioned my eBay and Etsy stores and said that I have the same books listed on both sites.  I refrained from commenting, since I realized that it didn't matter what they thought.  Anyone who thinks that the listings are just duplicated has never really looked at my stores.  They won't ever purchase from me, so what they think is of no importance.

I am at about the end of what I will be listing for now.  The next time I list books will likely be during spring break.  January and February are usually really rough months.

Etsy Shop Now Open + Local Book Finds

I reactivated my Etsy listings on Thursday.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I reactivated my eBay listings in late October.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

You've likely noticed that I have posted very little online.  The current school year has been incredibly difficult, and my eyes are still giving me a lot of trouble.  This has caused me not to post much online, and I also haven't been reading very much.

I have been so busy that I haven't felt like photographing my occasional local book finds.  I have kept the books in small stacks so that I could do it eventually.  Here they are.

Click/tap on each image in order to see it at a higher resolution.

Books purchased on August 9:

October 11:

November 8:

November 22:

Trial Run on eBay

I have reactivated my eBay listings.  If all goes well, then I will keep my eBay store open.  It all depends on my schedule, how I feel, and whether customer service is too demanding.  I will hopefully be okay on the first two, but I can't predict what will happen with buyers.  If I end up with difficult situations that take too much out of me, then I could shut down.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

My Etsy store will remain closed at this time.

Store Hiatus Begins Tuesday Evening (August 5)

I finished organizing my unlisted extra books.  Click on images to see them better.

I also moved books to my new shelves in the garage.  Since the shelves are new, I placed notes on the shelves so that I would remember which books have been listed and which haven't.

Since I won't be selling again until around October, my memory won't be great about the books in the garage.  The notes will save me.

I will be deactivating all of my listings late in the day on August 5.  

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Etsy Listings 15% Off and Many about to Expire

Many of my Etsy listings have July 20 as the expiration date.  I've never understand the expiration dates given on Etsy, since they aren't right.  After I thought about it, I decided that Etsy is probably displaying the date that is exactly four months after the listing was activated.  The true expiration date is probably 124 days (31 days times 4) after the listing date.  Since not all months have 31 days, using 124 days causes the true expiration date to be one or more days after the date shown.

Around two-thirds of my Etsy shop will expire this week, and I won't be relisting until probably October, unless things somehow go better than I expect.  Realistically, it's quite unlikely that I will be selling online during August and September.

Here are the listings that have imminent expiration dates.  Click or tap on images in order to see them better.

 

If I'm right about the 124-day cycle, then all of the listings that have July 20 as the expiration will deactivate tomorrow.  The same pattern will follow as the next groups of listings come up for expiration.  Whatever hasn't expired by the end of the week will be manually deactivated sometime around the 1st of August.

All of my Etsy listings are 15% off until Wednesday.  The prices shown in the above photo do not reflect the sale price, which is lower.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

My eBay inventory is not on sale at this time.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

I will deactivate all of my eBay listings whenever I deactivate my remaining Etsy listings.

Some of you follow my posts on my autoimmune condition.  Awhile back, I mentioned that I created another blog and copied the relevant content from this blog over to it.  From now on, most information about my condition will be in that blog.

https://hashimoto-and-sjogren.blogspot.com/

I am currently publishing my posts about my eyes, which have been a source of tremendous stress this year.  I believe that I have long Covid and that my Covid infection from December made my eyes much drier.  My insurance uses step-therapy, and I had to endure ineffective treatments for months before being allowed to get prescription eye drops.  I am now using the prescription eye drops, and I believe I am slowly improving.

15% Off on Etsy

Around 200 of my Etsy listings will deactivate in the next week when they reach the end of their listing duration.  The remaining listings will be deactivated by me in around 2 1/2 weeks.  I will lose a significant part of the listing duration for the listings that I deactivate.

I am hoping to clear out some of the Etsy books before the listings begin to deactivate, so I have placed all inventory on Etsy at 15% off.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I am doing this because I have to pay for each listing.  I hope to get some of them sold in the next few days.

The Etsy sale runs through July 23, but many of the listings will end between July 20 and July 23.  The date Etsy shows is July 20 for when the listings will come down, but I've noticed that Etsy sometimes leaves them up for an extra day or so.  I'm not sure why.

My eBay inventory is not on sale at this time.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

July 2025 eBay and Etsy Update + Upcoming Hiatus

I recently collapsed most of my eBay store categories.  eBay makes it difficult for buyers to see the store categories, so having lots of store categories is of little benefit.  As a buyer, I find that I always search an eBay seller's store for whatever I want.  I never look for their categories.  In fact, I find that most eBay sellers have a poor selection of store categories. 

I have listed many books on eBay and have a few auctions running for items that are especially difficult to find.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I have no new Etsy listings, simply because I have to pay $0.20 for each listing.  I will be going on hiatus in less than one month, and it's not worth paying for a four-month listing when the listing will be inactive for a significant amount of that time.

I have more free listings on eBay than I can ever use (over 10000 free listings each month), so it makes no difference what I do.  I pay a yearly subscription rate instead.  For that reason, I've been listing everything on eBay.  I won't be losing anything when my eBay store goes on hiatus, since I pay for the store rather than for each listing.

If you want something, then make sure you purchase it by around August 1.  Otherwise, you might have to wait until around October.

More on eBay and Etsy Selling Costs

After I published my post on Friday, I powered through and listed around 60 books on eBay.  As expected, some books sold as soon as I listed them.

After waffling back and forth, I listed some of my extra original text green APC Nancy Drew books at $49.99 each.  I went with $25 each for French Nancy Drew books. 

The prices might be too high for the current market, but they might also be just fine.  I need to try to earn back some of my fees on books that are scarcer and more desirable. 

I feel that it's important to continue to offer low-cost reading copies.  I mainly offer those on Etsy, and they sell quite well.  They have a narrow profit margin.  I also must take losses on books purchased 20 years ago that I no longer want and that have decreased in value and demand.

I must try to get more for books that are currently in demand to offset the losses and low profits on other books.

I listed two books signed by Harriet Adams.  I recall reading a comment on Facebook about the value of books and items signed by Harriet Adams.  I can't find it, since Facebook's search is atrocious.  I recall the statement being that Harriet autographs aren't worth much, maybe no more than $50.

I disagree.  I feel, based on my personal opinion with nothing to back it up, that Harriet's autograph should be worth over $100.  Mildred Wirt Benson also signed many books, and signed non-first printing books by her have sometimes sold in the low hundreds.  Even though people have a more sentimental view of Mildred, I see no reason why Harriet's signature shouldn't be worth a similar amount. 

Like her or not, Harriet Adams contributed more to the enduring legacy of series books than any other person aside from her father.

It is true that Harriet's signature can be found for a relatively low price if one is patient and searches consistently.  However, that's true for just about everything.

I had two books signed by Harriet to list on Friday.  I wanted to go with $125 each just based on what I think with no data other than the knowledge that I sold one in an eBay auction last July for $86.00.  

I searched eBay's Terapeak before going with $125.  I found that a Moss-Covered Mansion picture cover signed by Harriet sold for $160 in 2023, and a Nancy Drew Cookbook signed by Harriet sold for $132.50 in 2024.  As soon as I saw those prices, I immediately listed both books at $149.99 each.  One of them sold within a few minutes, and the other one sold 24 hours later.  I wasn't wrong about books signed by Harriet being worth more than $100.

I struggle with my desire to price fairly while also being fair to myself.  I feel confident that in pricing the Harriet-signed books at $149.99 each that I was fair to both myself and the buyers.

The last time I mentioned fees, it was a reference to what my fees were in 2022:

My Etsy selling costs including postage were 27.1% while my eBay selling costs including postage were 29.8%.  The difference is not enough to matter.

I wrote on Friday that my Etsy selling costs are slightly lower than my eBay selling costs, recalling what I had noted in the past.  Not anymore.  I looked at what my eBay and Etsy selling costs were in 2024.  My eBay selling costs including postage were 32.2%.  My Etsy selling costs including postage were 32.9%.  Etsy is now becoming more expensive.  Interesting.

The slightly higher cost on Etsy might be in part due to the lower free shipping threshold.  In order for sellers to participate in Etsy's free shipping guarantee, they must agree to ship orders of $35 or more for free.  I have to use a complicated method in order to offer a free shipping guarantee at a higher threshold, and even if I do all that, then I miss out on the promotional benefits of Etsy's program.  

Etsy says to build the prices into our items.  Buyers can see through that.  I did it a number of years ago, and my sales dropped.  Buyers don't want their cheap reading copies to be priced at $14.99 each with no possibility of a discount.  A few buyers even sent messages about it, because they were annoyed.

The only option is to continue to sell reading copies cheap but to price other books higher.  

The main reason why my fees are so high on Etsy is that I am forced to participate in Etsy's off-site ads program.  During one calendar year, my Etsy sales topped $10,000.  I'm not sure whether I have been above that threshold during any other year, but it doesn't matter.  On Etsy, if a seller crosses that threshold one time, they are permanently opted into the off-site ads.

Any items I sell through Etsy's off-site ads cost me an additional 12% in fees on top of Etsy's regular fees, which I believe is currently 9.5%.  This means that I am assessed fees of 21.5% on Etsy sales that come through the off-site ads.  Fortunately, most of my transactions are not through the off-site ads, or I'd have to quit offering the cheap reading copies.

I will say that Etsy's off-site ads program is much cheaper than eBay's.  I've heard varying reports of the true cost for eBay's program, but it's apparently something like $5 per day.  That would be $150 per 30 days, which is appalling.  

Even though my fees are now slightly higher on Etsy, I feel that it's worth it.  My eBay items all get lost in the search.  Scarce items are noticed, but common items like the average Nancy Drew book are completely lost and are slow to sell.  I feel like with Etsy's off-site ads that I do have a chance on Etsy.  In fact, certain books will always be listed on Etsy because of the off-site ads.

Books like matte copies of Nancy Drew #55 and #56 fly out of my Etsy store, and they almost always sell through the off-site ads.  I find that I can price them on the high side, and they still fly out.  I sold a copy of #56 for $74.99 through off-site ads.  That's amazing, and it helps with the high fees.

June Listing Update - High Selling Costs and Pricing

I wrote last month that I haven't been doing well because of five bad reactions to treatments or medications.  I figured out late last week that my continuing problems are likely due to a sixth bad reaction.  I quit that medication on Saturday, and I hope things will start getting better.

I have photographed books for eBay, but I struggle with motivating myself to list them.  The books I'm planning to list are harder to find.  They include some international editions, some library bindings, and books signed by Harriet Adams.  But how to price them?

My costs have gone up and up.  I need to start pricing a good bit higher for desirable items that are more likely to sell.  The eBay fees are steep, and the Etsy fees have increased to the point that Etsy is only slightly cheaper than eBay.  The cost of postage has increased a lot.  Media mail is often only narrowly cheaper than ground advantage, and sometimes media mail is higher.

Packaging costs have increased as well.  Shipping boxes are a bit expensive. 

I'm not interested in selling person-to-person on Facebook.  My transactions need to be streamlined; eBay and Etsy do that for me.  For that reason, paying the high fees is better for me.

As I mentioned, I've pulled out some desirable items to list, most especially some library bindings.  The library bindings are mainly the green APC Nancy Drew books, but I truly don't know what the correct price point is.

I feel like the books could be priced from $20 up to over $50 each.  Some books have the original text, and others don't.  One book is the bright green APC binding which I dislike but others covet.  The bright green APC binding shows up much less often.  That book should probably be priced above $50.

I also have a few of the multi library binding, and I have no idea how to price them, either.  I have less of an idea than I do with the green APC binding.

I thought about auctions, but I dislike auctions both as a buyer and as a seller.

I feel like my best option is to use fixed-price but price on the high end and then wait it out.  If the books don't sell within whatever I consider a reasonable amount of time, then I will gradually lower the prices.

Selling on venues like eBay has become incredibly expensive, but I'm glad people are still willing to pay the fees.  I find eBay to be a great place to shop, and I hope people continue to use it.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

March Selling Update + Nancy Drew Lunchbox Reminder

The last two months have been horrifically bad.  We have lost eight days of school this semester due to a school illness closure plus multiple bad winter weather events.  Additionally, when we have been open, student absences have been high due to this year's bad flu season.  School has been a complete disaster.

On March 2, I activated my listings, thinking that I could give it a go.  It only took 12 hours for me to deactivate all of them when I realized that I wasn't ready.

Currently, I am on spring break.  I've had to deal with some stuff, and my plan was to activate my listings on Tuesday.  I have been waffling back and forth since Tuesday on whether to activate my listings, with "no" winning each time.

Last night I finally activated some of my Etsy listings.  Around 100 are still inactive.  This morning I reactivated all of my eBay listings.  I'm going to try.  I can't promise how long I will stay open, and I could shut down at any point, since my heart definitely isn't in it.  

I do want to sell for two reasons.  I could use some more money coming in, since I'd like to resume paying off my new car quickly.  I've been stalled for a few months where I'm just making the minimum payment.  Second, my extra books are piling up badly.  I have boxed up some books.  The ones that I boxed are the Nancy Drew books that I have pulled for bulk lots, probably around 100 of them.  They are out in the garage.  Even with two full boxes of books in the garage, I have way too many unlisted extras.  

It's impossible for me to have the books arranged in order, and I've been shoving them wherever I can.  Here are some photos.  Click on images in order to see them at a higher resolution.

These images do not show all of the unlisted extras.  I have a bulk lot of Dana Girls books that I am still airing out.  They were musty, and I treated them with ozone.  I am now airing out the ozone odor.  I don't know where I will put them once I'm done with the process.  I also have some books stacked in random places.

I'm going to try to make myself list some books today.  We'll see how it goes.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Finally, the Nancy Drew lunchbox campaign has less than a week to go.  If you want a lunchbox, then you must act before the campaign ends on March 25.

Nancy Drew Lunchbox Campaign

Current Nancy Drew Auction Warning, Store Hiatus, and Other Updates

I abruptly deactivated all of my eBay and Etsy listings last Tuesday afternoon.  Work-related stress has been extreme for around two weeks. 

I haven't felt much stress from online selling.  However, selling books is the one thing I can control.  By not selling right now, I avoid having to pack books in the evenings, which at least reduces my overall stress slightly.

The stress is being caused by me having to miss school several times recently and in the near future for appointments.  When I'm not at school, I get nothing done.  I also must go over two lessons the day before I'm gone, even though I have instructional videos uploaded to our course management system.  This is because students learn much better in person, and most of them aren't motivated enough to watch videos at home.  The explanations need to occur when students are present.

I will get into the specifics in a future post, but I had a bad reaction to two medications a few weeks ago, resulting in some pretty bad rashes.  I'm getting better, but it's been quite unpleasant.

I have no idea what the time frame will be for when I reopen my stores.  I think for my own well-being, I need to keep my listings deactivated until spring break, which begins the afternoon of March 14.

I delayed my upcoming blog posts so that I can insert at least two posts sometime in the next two weeks.  My posts won't be published on the schedule shown in my recent post, but they are still coming soon.

Finally, you might have noticed some rather scarce Nancy Drew items are currently up for auction on eBay.  Be careful, since some of the listings feature reproductions.  I am working on a blog post with information on how to spot reproductions, but I'm not sure how quickly I can finish it.  

The seller has been advised by collectors about the authenticity concerns, and two auctions now have a message after the description mentioning those concerns.  

One listing offers a Nancy Drew Larkspur Lane book with a reproduction Bonita Granville wrapper.  The wrapper is smaller than it should be, so it can't be authentic.

Another listing has a 1930A-1 Nancy Drew Old Clock book that has a reproduction 1930A-1 dust jacket.  The jacket is off in appearance in several ways.  We have determined who made the copy jacket for the collector whose book is for sale.  There is no doubt that the jacket is a reproduction.

And yes, the same seller has a 1930A-1 Nancy Drew Old Clock book with an authentic 1930A-1 dust jacket up for auction.  I have moved back my upcoming posts, since all of this is going on right now.  

Most Etsy Listings Now Reactivated

I reactivated most of my Etsy listings.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

I have held back some listings so that I can decide what to do with them.  

My eBay listings have all been reactivated.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

On both sites, I converted many vintage teen books to bulk lots in order to get them moved out.  This is often problematic, because buyers look at a bulk lot and think that they can cherry-pick the lot and get one book for a bargain.  They also expect the postage to be unrealistically cheap as well, wanting me to ship the book as cheaply as Thriftbooks does.  It doesn't work that way.  

I price the bulk lots to sell.  I want to move out all of the books that are in the lot.  In order to do that, I must offer the books at a great price per book.  If I sell individually, then the price goes back up to what it was before the book was placed in the bulk lot. 

I will expand on these thoughts in an upcoming post that I wrote last week.  It details a story about what a prospective buyer expected and how unrealistic it was.

All eBay Listings Restored + Creating Bulk Lots

I reactivated all of my eBay listings this week.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

After I did that, I deactivated my Nancy Drew Files books.  I gathered them together along with all of the unlisted extras.  I separated them out into several bulk lots, which I then listed.  Two of the lots have already sold.  

On Etsy, 71% of my listings are expired.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I'm glad for that, because it gives me leeway to create some bulk lots.  I pay for each listing on Etsy, so deactivating a bunch of listings turns into a headache.  I then have to change the listings to other books so that I don't lose what I paid for each listing's four-month duration.  Since most of my listings are expired, I can do whatever I want with them.

My next step will be to deactivate all of my Sweet Valley High books on eBay.  I will pull all of my expired Etsy SVH listings.  I also have a large number of unlisted extra SVH books.  I will gather all of them together and then work on creating bulk lots.

If I feel like I'm handling my eBay store okay, then I will begin reactivating my expired Etsy listings sometime between now and fall break, which is in three weeks.

What Makes Selling More Difficult Part 2

This is a continuation of my post from yesterday.  In short, I am heading towards an immediate shutdown of both online stores, even though I'd prefer to stay open if possible.

What Makes Selling More Difficult 

I finally heard back from the international buyer who wanted me to find a cheaper option to ship four books via international mail.  The buyer thinks that I can ship the four books abroad for $3.95 media mail, and they say that Thriftbooks did it.  Thriftbooks couldn't have used media mail, but they may very well have a sweetheart deal with the postal service that allows them to mail books abroad for under $5.00.  I am not a large company, so I do not have access to sweetheart deals.

I decided to look at whether Thriftbooks has these books available and for how much.  They have three of the four books at a total cost of $46.07 before shipping.  The same three books in my store cost $17.97 before shipping.  Let's assume that Thriftbooks does ship internationally for $3.95, even though media mail actually starts at $4.63.

Those three books from Thriftbooks would cost $50.02 including shipping.  Those three books from me would cost $51.97. 

Thriftbooks doesn't have the fourth book on its site.  They do on eBay, but the orders wouldn't combine.  On eBay, the fourth book is $18.00.  The fourth book from me is $5.99.  All four books from me would cost $59.96.  If the buyer were to purchase three books from Thriftbook's site plus the one from eBay and were charged $3.95 shipping on both orders, the total cost of the books would be $71.97.

Whenever I am looking to buy certain books, I don't worry about what a seller charges for shipping.  I look at the overall cost and choose the seller who will deliver the books to me for less.  I also will choose to buy all of the books from one seller rather than several sellers if I see that one seller has all of them, so long as the cost isn't noticeable more.

I know what I would do in this case, if I were the prospective buyer. 

International buyers have a tendency to attempt to negotiate shipping costs.  It happens at least once per month.  They think they can bargain me down, like I have fake high shipping charges.  All I can do is check my charges up against what I will be charged and adjust for the specific buyer.  I cannot create magical discounts.

The situation might be better if I were to offer calculated shipping on Etsy.  I set up a shipping profile on Etsy for combined international shipping.  It returns an error message in the batch editor.  Apparently I would have to edit all 300+ listings individually to change them to calculated shipping.  I won't do it.

Therefore, I created a shipping profile on Etsy where I don't ship internationally.  I just changed all of my Etsy listings to that profile except for the four listings that this one buyer has in their shopping cart.

I know what will happen now.  International buyers will ask why I don't ship internationally.  I'd like to say it's because of how much time the shipping questions waste.  I won't do that.  More likely, I'll give them a rough estimate and overdo it by a bit.  If they are still interested, then I'll figure out the actual cost and edit just a few listings.  

If this doesn't reduce the time suck, then I will close my stores until October. 

What Makes Selling More Difficult

As I previously mentioned, I am attempting to avoid shutting down my eBay and Etsy stores completely this year as the school year begins.  My first work week was just two days, so I'm okay but rather tired.  It will be more difficult next week when I work five days.

Having a few packages to ship isn't what makes this hard.  It's the unexpected situations with buyers and prospective buyers that never seem to come at good times.  I had two such situations this week.  

One buyer asked if the international shipping for four books would really cost as much as Etsy quoted, which was about $86.00.  I took the time to figure the postage and found that it would be around $36.00.  I adjusted the shipping charge on the listings so that it would come out to that amount.  I was pleased that the shipping reduced by $50.00.  I let the buyer know, and I thought that they'd purchase the books.  They didn't.  Okay, alrighty then. 

That's usually what happens with international buyers who ask about shipping.  They almost never purchase.  Other international buyers just go ahead and pay whatever the shopping cart shows.  If the charge is too much, I refund the extra.  

That's what happened with another international buyer.  They purchased two books in separate transactions, which guaranteed that they were overcharged for shipping.  I combined the orders and refunded some of the shipping on the second book.  That was on August 2.  I shipped those books to Australia on August 3.  

The buyer reached out to me last night on August 8, just five days after the books were shipped.  The books haven't had time to arrive!  They asked for a refund because they didn't receive their books.  

The problem that worried the buyer was caused by Etsy's suboptimal handling of international orders that are shipped with their Global Shipping service.  Etsy has its own service like eBay does where international orders are shipped to a hub in the United States and then forwarded abroad.  eBay does better with this because the seller is given the tracking number that will be used for the entire journey.  Etsy only gives the seller a USPS tracking number to its hub, and then the tracking number changes to something else that the seller doesn't know.

Okay.  So, this is the explanation that I sent the buyer.

I figured out the situation. You made two separate orders, each book in a different order.  As a courtesy, I combined the orders so that you would save on shipping.  I partially refunded the [second book] order to give you the discount.

I generated the Etsy Global Shipping label from the [first book] order.  Global Shipping first goes to a United States address where it is then forwarded to the international destination.

I had to mark [second book] as shipped, and I had to use a tracking number.  Unfortunately, Etsy only gives me the United States tracking number for the global shipping center in Illinois and not what will be the final tracking number to you.  They only have that information internally.  That information is attached only to the [first book] order, since I used it for the shipping label.

The tracking number on [second book] shows as delivered, but that just means that it has arrived at the United States address where it will then be forwarded to Australia.  This means it isn't lost.  We know where it is.

Ignore the [second book] tracking from this point on. Use the tracking number on [first book] to track your package.  It is still on the way, and both books are in the package.  I have attached a screen capture of the most recent information on the [first book] tracking.  It says "Received by Global Postal Shipping partner" on August 6.  The package is on the way to you.

Please check the [first book] tracking only, and you should see its arrival in Australia within a few more days.  The package will likely arrive within one week, possibly slightly longer.

Rest assured that if the package should disappear and never arrive, then you will receive a full refund.  Since the tracking shows that the package is still on the way, we need to wait to give it time to arrive.  I appreciate your patience, and I hope that my explanation helps to put your mind at ease.

I understand why the buyer thought the package was lost.  The tracking on the second order shows first, and they probably only looked at it.  That tracking shows that the package was delivered in Illinois.  I'd be worried too if I were in Australia.

You see, this is why it's hard to sell books as school opens back up.  It's the unexpected extra customer service that does me in.  I probably spent over 20 minutes typing up the response about the package to Australia.  I had to make sure that I explained it as well as I could.

Next week will test me further on whether I can keep my stores open.  The good news is that I have sharply reduced my eBay listings, so I probably won't sell much of anything there.  Many of my Etsy listings will deactivate when they expire in five days, so that will help.  I'd like to keep the stores open in a minimal capacity just so that I don't completely lose my search position on both sites.

One Last eBay and Etsy Update

I reduced the prices of my most expensive books on both sites.  I also extended my 15% off sale to run through Sunday evening.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

My current plan (subject to change at any time) is to leave my Etsy store open since many listings will soon expire.  I will deactivate most of my eBay listings.  I plan to leave my eBay bulk lots up as well as any stagnant inventory that I would really like to see go away.

There was one other time in the last few years that I did try to leave my stores open.  As I recall, I closed them both within two weeks of the start of school.  So, even though my plan is to keep some listings active, I will change my mind abruptly if I'm too tired in a week or so.

I finally organized all of my books that are currently listed for sale.  Since it's such a novelty for them to be mostly in order, I photographed all of them.  (Click on images in order to see them better.)

eBay shelves:

Mixture of eBay and Etsy books:

Etsy shelves: