Three Months on Etsy and Experimenting with Discounts

I am approaching three months on Etsy.  I have sold 54 books in three months.  That is equal to the number of books I sold on Bonanza in my last five months on that site.  So, my Etsy sales are a little better than my Bonanza sales were at the end.  Of course, my Etsy sales are nowhere near what my Bonanza sales were in 2009 through 2013, but those days are long gone.

I still have quite a few of my original Etsy listings from May 7, which all came from Bonanza.  Those listings have one more month before they expire, and then I will have to relist them.  I lowered the prices of all of those listings a few days ago, hoping to get a few of them to sell.  The prices were lowered by $1 to $3 for the items priced low. Two more expensive items were reduced by $10.

I feel much better about my presence on Etsy than I did about my Bonanza booth from 2014 through early 2016.  I do have better traffic on Etsy.  The traffic is still quite low as compared to eBay, but I do get about three times more traffic each day on Etsy than I did on Bonanza.  The traffic on Etsy is actually more than three times better, since most of my Bonanza traffic was to completed listings.  And those shouldn't count, yet Bonanza keeps them in the daily stats.  At least my Etsy traffic is to listings that are currently available.

I decided that I should finally experiment with coupons once again.  I just created an 10% off coupon on Etsy with a minimum purchase of $20.  I put an announcement on my Etsy shop page with the coupon code, and the code should be entered during checkout.  I do not have an expiration on this offer and will leave it in place so long as I feel it is worthwhile.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I also have an eBay store.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

I decided to experiment with a discount on eBay.  On eBay, the discount is 5% off with a minimum purchase of $35.  My fees are much higher on eBay, and that's why the discount is lower.  The eBay discount expires on August 31, 2016 at 23:59 eBay time. After the end of the month, I will decide whether the discount was worthwhile and whether I wish to create another one.

I find that many buyers on eBay pay for each listing individually when multiple items are purchased.  It's actually better for both of us when buyers pay for items all at once. You can do this in one of two ways.

If you are worried about someone buying an item before you decide which others you wish to purchase, complete the Buy It Now on the first item, but do not follow the link to pay.  You do not have to pay the moment you complete the Buy It Now.  You can then purchase other items in individual Buy It Nows.  Once all items have been purchased, click on one item to pay, and all others will be grouped with it.  You get a postage discount when you pay for all items together.  The rate is $3.95 for the first book and $0.60 for each additional book.

The other method that you might find easier is simply to place all items in your eBay shopping cart.  Once all items are there, you can complete checkout.  eBay will figure the postage at $3.95 for the first book and $0.60 for each additional book.

Buyers who pay individually end up paying $3.95 postage on every single item.  I do refund the extra cost and ship in one package, but it does take more time.  I have to make sure each item does have the same destination address, and I also have to make sure I remember to send the refund.  Therefore, I prefer that all items are paid for in one transaction so that I do not have to check addresses and send a refund.

Now that I have an active discount on eBay with a minimum purchase of $35, buyers have an additional money-saving reason to send just one payment.  You won't get a discount for a $35 purchase if you send multiple payments for different items purchased.  While I will refund the extra postage charged, I'm not going to send a manual discount of the 5% savings to those buyers.  To get the discount, you have to make one payment, thereby fulfilling the requirements of the offer.

In both stores, I sell Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, Rick Brant, Dana Girls, and many other series books.

Hardy Boys #188 Farming Fear, #189 One False Step, and #190 Motocross Madness

In Hardy Boys #188, Farming Fear, Chet and Iola are worried about their grandparents, who live out on the old family farm.  Strange accidents have happened, and someone is trying to force the Mortons to sell the farm.  Frank, Joe, Chet, and Iola spend their winter holidays on the farm in order to help the Mortons.

This book is about sabotage, but it's an interesting sabotage book.  I liked the story being set on the Morton farm.

Since I read this story immediately after reading #186 Hidden Mountain, I couldn't help comparing it to that book.  Hidden Mountain is outstanding, and this book does fall short of that.  However, this book is very good, and I greatly enjoyed it.

In Hardy Boys #189, One False Step, Frank, Joe, and their friends attend Aerocirque in Philadelphia.  In Aerocirque, tightropes are strung between helicopters, and acrobats walk the tightropes as the helicopters fly through the air.  Meanwhile, burglaries of high-rise apartments occur, and the thieves did not enter through the front door.  Frank and Joe soon begin to suspect a connection to Aerocirque.

In the early part of the story, the high-rise burglaries are considered a very puzzling mystery.  The front cover of the book reveals the solution to the mystery.

This book has a very similar premise to #132 Maximum Challenge, but it is a fresh take on the crime.

The last part of the story with Frank, Joe, and the tightrope is not believable at all, and that is my main problem with the story.  The events are as hard and maybe harder to believe than the climax of Nancy Drew #84, The Joker's Revenge.

I enjoyed this book.

In Hardy Boys #190, Motocross Madness, Frank, Joe, and Jamal participate in a motorcycle competition, which is being sabotaged.  What else is new?

On page 26, Aunt Gertrude worries about the boys joining the competition, and Frank comforts her.

"Joe and I have been riding motorcycles for years," he said.  "Our dad rode before us, and our grandparents before him.  I remember reading an account of Hardys riding cycles as long ago as nineteen twenty-seven."  

On page 40, Joe gets reflective.

"Remember that time we rode down Bay Road to that house by the cliffs? ...Sometimes I feel like we've been solving mysteries for the better part of a century."

It's nice that the author inserted these references to the past Hardy Boys books in this final volume of the Hardy Boys series.  Unfortunately, the final Nancy Drew book did not do anything like that.

This story has too much detail explaining the races.  The "sports sabotage" plays out as usual.  The first race begins, and sabotage occurs.  The second race begins, and more sabotage occurs.  It's as boring as always.

I skimmed the second half of the book.  This book is not very interesting, but at least it's not as stupid as the final entry in the Nancy Drew series, Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland.

Hardy Boys #185 Wreck and Roll, #186 Hidden Mountain, and #187 No Way Out

In Hardy Boys #185, Wreck and Roll, Vette Smash is a hot new rock group in Bayport.  Phil's girlfriend is a member of the group, and Phil scores backstage passes for Frank and Joe.  Soon after the boys arrive, some of the group's equipment malfunctions.  Frank and Joe suspect that someone is sabotaging the group.

This is another rock band sabotage story.  If this were the very first rock band sabotage story I had ever read, I probably would have found it good.  Since I have variations of this plot several times, I was not interested.

The book is okay but nothing special.

In Hardy Boys #186, Hidden Mountain, Frank and Joe's friend, Darren Wilkerson, is on the run.  He and his family have been forced to leave Bayport since a crime group has discovered where they were living.  The family is part of the Witness Protection Program and must move to Hidden Mountain, where they will stay for the rest of their lives.  Frank and Joe must help them get to their destination.

This is an excellent story all the way through.  The story is thrilling and suspenseful.  The boys have to get some criminals separated from the Wilkerson family, and the task proves to be very difficult.  They match wits mentally, like making chess moves.  There is no physical fighting involved, which is not usually the case in a Hardy Boys book.

It is unusual that two people die in this book.

This book is outstanding.

In Hardy Boys #187, No Way Out, Frank and Joe participate in the grand opening of a maze in Nova Scotia.  When the owner of the maze disappears, the boys take the case.

The ending of the story implies that a ghost really does exist.  Additionally, the mystery is left unfinished.  A treasure is mentioned, but the boys don't look for it or find it, which is quite strange.

While I enjoyed this book, the loose ends make the story unfulfilling.

Hardy Boys #182 Soldier's Gold, #183 Warehouse Rumble, and #184 Dangerous Transmission

In Hardy Boys #182, The Secret of the Soldier's Gold, Mrs. Rilke, a friend's grandmother, has asked Frank and Joe to find a buried suitcase full of gold bars during their trip to Portugal.  They are to dig up the suitcase of gold and bring it back to Bayport. What could possibly go wrong?

Frank and Joe's task is laughable.  There is no way they could dig up buried gold in Portugal and smuggle it back to the United States without getting into trouble.  Of course it turns out that getting the gold is much more difficult than the boys expect, and others are after the gold as well.  As the plot develops, the story becomes more logical and easier for the reader to accept.

This is a very good story.

In Hardy Boys #183, Warehouse Rumble, Frank and Joe are participating in a reality show competition that is being filmed in a group of abandoned warehouses near Barmet Bay.  Someone is sabotaging the competition!

The story is not that interesting.  It reads like a sports sabotage book.  They have a competition, and something goes wrong.  They have another competition, and something else goes wrong.  It's not apparent why this is happening for most of the story.

The story is not compelling, and I was more bored the further I read.  I skimmed the last part of the book.

I did not enjoy this book.

In Hardy Boys #184, The Dangerous Transmission, Frank and Joe are in London staying with their friend, Jax Brighton.  Jax has invented a transmitter that can be implanted inside a tooth.  When the transmitter is stolen, Frank and Joe take the case.

I was turned off as soon as I began the book.  I was reminded of Biff Brewster, British Spy Ring Mystery, and Brad Forrest, London Adventure.  I do not like either of those books, so I was not inclined to like this one. 

The author wrote a spooky scene in the fog of London, and that is my favorite part of the story.

I did not like this book.

Hardy Boys #179 Passport to Danger, #180 Typhoon Island, and #181 Double Jeopardy

In Hardy Boys #179, Passport to Danger, Frank and Joe volunteer to be part of the crew at a soccer match in Paris.  When the bleachers collapse and the fireworks malfunction, the boys realize that a saboteur is loose.  Fenton Hardy is also in Paris, and he lends the boys some high-tech equipment to help them find the saboteur.

I find it hard to believe that secret tunnels lead into and out of the Louvre, and nobody connected with the museum has any idea.

This book is okay, but I didn't like it very much.

In Hardy Boys #180, Typhoon Island, Frank and Joe visit San Esteban with Callie and Iola.  Soon, the boys fall victim to some scary accidents and realize that they are among enemies and cannot be certain who to trust.  Later, the young people are caught in a hurricane and must find their way to safety.

This book is thrilling from start to finish.  It has caves, tunnels, a hurricane, mudslides, a sniper, arson, snakes, and everything.  The story is sabotage, but it is so different and thrilling that it doesn't feel like sabotage.  I enjoyed every bit of the story.

This is an excellent book.

In Hardy Boys #181, Double Jeopardy, Frank and Joe have press passes to the Formula One championship in Indianapolis.  The top two drivers have a ruthless rivalry going, and it appears they are sabotaging each other.

I didn't like the beginning of the story.  The middle part caught my attention, although the book has too many characters.  Towards the end of the book, I became bored with the story.  This is just another tired-out sabotage book.  Furthermore, I am not interested in racing, so the details are of no interest to me.

I skimmed the last part of the story.  I did not like this book that much. 

Hardy Boys #176 In Plane Sight, #177 Psychic's Vision, and #178 Black Rhino

In Hardy Boys #176, In Plane Sight, Frank and Joe travel with Jamal to pick up a new plane for Jamal's dad's company.  After the plane is stolen, Frank and Joe are plunged into their latest mystery.  Someone is sabotaging the airshow. 

On page 4, Frank and Joe reflect that they had "been dating Iola Morton and Callie Shaw for a long time."  Yeah, for around 75 years!

This book also introduced too many characters too quickly, so I kept getting confused.  Aside from that, this book is exciting and I greatly enjoyed it.

In Hardy Boys #177, The Case of the Psychic's Vision, Colin and his family are new arrivals to Bayport.  Frank and Joe soon learn that Colin and his family are psychics.  Colin is quite gifted, telling Fenton Hardy the solution to his current case the moment the two meet.  Colin then tells Frank and Joe that a girl who attends Bayport High School is not who she thinks she is.  Apparently, she was abducted as a young girl.  Colin helps Frank and Joe solve the mystery.

This is a rather bizarre Hardy Boys story, for obvious reasons.  It's rather odd for a Hardy Boys story to use psychic ability in the plot and to have a psychic reveal information that would have been impossible to acquire otherwise.  If it's that easy, why haven't the Hardys used psychics all along?

This is a pretty good story, but it shouldn't have been published as a Hardy Boys book, since it isn't the right kind of story.

While I greatly enjoyed this story, I don't like it as a Hardy Boys book.

In Hardy Boys #178, The Mystery of the Black Rhino, Frank, Joe, and Fenton travel to Kenya to fight against the illegal killing of wild animals.

This book bored me at first, but later, I found it interesting.  Overall though, this book is just average and nothing special.

July 2016 Reading Update

Here are pictures of my reading bookshelf.  Remember that you can always click on images to see a larger version.

I am reading through the Hardy Boys Adventures series and will be completely finished with my Hardy Boys experience within one week.  I had forgotten to order Hardy Boys Adventures #12, so I took care of that a few days ago.  #12 most likely will arrive in time for me to read it right after #11.  If #12 does not arrive in time, then I have decided that I will read one or more of the Morgan Bay Mysteries if necessary until #12 arrives. The Morgan Bay Mysteries are the books with the mauve spines in the middle of the top shelf.  They are readers and are quick and easy to read.

As I read through the Hardy Boys Adventures, I am also skimming the Nancy Drew Diaries to locate certain passages that are important in my comparison of the Hardy Boys Adventures to the Nancy Drew Diaries.  The reason I read through the entire Hardy Boys Digest and Undercover Brothers series was so that I could then read the Hardy Boys Adventures to compare them to the Nancy Drew Diaries.

I felt that I needed to be as knowledgeable about the Hardy Boys series as Nancy Drew in order to be able to decide whether Simon and Schuster is treating the two series equally.  I haven't been thrilled with the Nancy Drew Diaries, and I have wondered whether the Hardy Boys Adventures have the same issues.  I don't yet know for sure, although I have made some interesting observations.

I have not decided what I will read next after I finish the Hardy Boys Adventure series. I will delay reading the two Norvin Pallas books in hopes that Wildside Press will soon publish the other three titles that I need.  I would prefer to read all five books together. It is always my preference to read books in a series together and in order so that I do not get sidetracked.

I recently finished reading the Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series.  I would never have made it through the entire Undercover Brothers set if I had allowed myself to read anything else during that time.  If I had let myself read something else, I would have abandoned the set.  That's because most of the books are not very good.

The Wynn and Lonny Racing Books and the Girls of Canby Hall series are a top priority.  That is, I want to read those two series, so they are a top priority for that reason.  However, I do have another top priority, one that I don't want to do that will be hard to force myself to complete.

I would like to finally try out the many series books I have in order to decide whether I like the books enough to complete the sets.  Many of those books have been placed in the middle row of the bookcase.  I figure if I have them in front of me that I will be more likely to try some of them.  I hope so, anyway.

My collection is based on readability.  While I do collect different formats, first printings, and books in excellent condition, I never keep a set of books when I do not find them readable.  If I do not enjoy the books, then I sell them regardless of how collectible they are.

That's why I have already sold my Melody Lane books and most of my Cherry Ames books. I did not enjoy the stories enough to want to keep them.  Meaning, I knew I would never read them again, so I did not want them taking up valuable shelf space.

I'd like to tackle the books on the middle shelf sometime soon so that I can send some of them away if they aren't good enough.  If the books are good enough, then I will complete the sets.  I do already have complete set of Marjorie Dean and the Boy Ranchers, so reading the first book of each will determine whether I keep my sets.  If I should read the first book of either set and like it enough, then I would probably go ahead and read the rest of the set in order without allowing myself to read anything else.

I set a goal to read 300 books this year.  I am currently reading my 212th book of 2016.

Hardy Boys #173 Speed Times Five, #174 Hide-and-Sneak, and #175 Trick-or-Trouble

In Hardy Boys #173, Speed Times Five, Frank and Joe participate in the Fire Creek Mountain Race in Canada.  Soon after the race begins, accidents occur, causing one contestant after another to drop out of the race.  Is someone sabotaging the race?

This book has too many characters which are introduced too quickly.  It took away from my enjoyment at times.  That aside, this is a very good book and is very exciting.

Page 147:

"The thing about sabotage," Frank said, "is that you don't have to actually do it many times.  After a couple of incidents, people start to get paranoid and see sabotage everywhere."

It's not paranoia.  We aren't imagining that almost every single Hardy Boys book is about sabotage!

In Hardy Boys #174, Hide-and-Sneak, Frank and Joe are one of three teams being filmed as part of a student film project.  Each team competes in an impromptu competition on  Barmet Bay.

I was quite dismayed as I began this book.  Having read #173 a few months previously, I had just finished #172 Trouble in Warp Space, which was quite boring, and this book appeared to be a repeat of #172.  Fortunately, the plot is a little different, although it is still weak.

The characters are all introduced fast and in one scene at the beginning with minimal description.  I made no effort to try to remember, especially since I expected this book to be as boring as #172.

The book is better than #172, since the boys are on Barmet Bay in The Sleuth.

It's odd the way the author describes The Sleuth.  It is an old boat, and it is described like the boys seldom use it.  I guess they don't use it much in the digest series, but that's never been mentioned before.

The book has no mystery until two-thirds of the way through the story, so this is a strange book.

I only mildly enjoyed the story.  It's decent but not that great.  I wouldn't want to read it again.

In Hardy Boys #175, Trick-or-Trouble, the Bayport Merchant Association is sponsoring a Halloween mystery contest.  Each merchant has different clues, and a wide range of prizes are available.  Some contestants play dirty, keeping others from getting the clues.  Frank and Joe seek out the culprits, hoping to even out the competition.

This book is also not that great.  The clues didn't interest me.  The entire book consists of the boys going around to get clues, seeing somebody not playing fair, trying to figure out the clues, seeing someone get a prize, and so on.  The boys also get into a few fights with the possible culprits.  The process repeats throughout the book.

This book mostly bored me.