July 2021 Update on My Activities

This is an update to my June update on my activities.  This is another long post.  

I did finally get done painting the one room.

I purchased the new dresser that I wanted.  The final step was going to be new carpet, but that was when I decided that I had had enough.  I quit with the dresser and did not get new carpet.  I was a bit overwhelmed with the mess that I had created by moving everything around.  

I began the process of getting it all picked up and put away.  I'm not done yet and still have quite a mess, but it is a lot better than it was.

I'm still working on selling down as many books as I can as fast as I can.  I mentioned earlier this year that I wanted to get stuff out of drawers and cabinets so that it can be displayed.  This requires me to sell off a good many books in order to gain the needed shelf space.  There is no point to me having neat stuff if I can never look at it.  (Note: I never make statements like this in the Facebook groups because people get really defensive.  I'm sure all of us have neat things stashed away that we can never see.  I want to change that problem for me as best I can.  I'm not judging others, since I'm guilty of it as well.)

I didn't get into the specifics of exactly what my endgame is, but I have a distinct goal: all of my Bee Gees stuff out where I can see it.  Just so that you understand why this is important, these are the four types of Bee Gees fans as I see it.

#1  These people are fans of the Bee Gees from 1960 to 1974.  They dislike everything that came later.

#2  These people are fans of the Bee Gees from 1975 to 1979.  They may like some of the other stuff, but the disco is primarily all that interests them.

#3  These people are in love with one or more of the brothers.  I'll leave it at that.

#4  These people are fans of everything Bee Gees and related from 1960 to the present day.  They are fans of the entire song catalog and are interested in knowing everything about the Bee Gees.  They get along quite well with all fans who fall under #1 and #2.  They tend to avoid the #3 fans.

I am #4. 

Getting my Bee Gees stuff out is of paramount importance.  It needs to happen.  Unfortunately, I don't think I will reach that point before summer break is over.  However, I will keep working at reducing my books and freeing up more space.  Here is a peek at some of my Bee Gees stuff, which is currently stacked here and there as I continue to shift items around.   

I have had multiple other complications this summer, most importantly the one involving my teeth.  Both tooth #30 and #31 have been quite painful.  #31 has been a problem periodically over the years due to a crack in the tooth under the crown.  #30 has never been a problem, but it was hurting with #31. 

My dentist wanted to pull tooth #31 since it is known to be cracked, see if that helped, and then put a crown on #30 if it didn't.  I declined to do anything last month since I was having an autoimmune flare and I had a suspicion that #30 was the real problem.  I didn't want to remove #31 and risk whatever that might cause.  I couldn't figure out the status of #30, so I did nothing.  

Three weeks passed.  At first, the pain went away.  And then it came back, worse than ever.  Tooth #30 became obviously infected (I'll spare you the details, but it was bad.).  Ah-ha!  I then knew which tooth was the bigger problem, just as I suspected.

I went back to the dentist where it was determined that both teeth need to be removed.  I felt like I was a fool for waiting, but my dentist thinks that I made the better decision.  This way both teeth can go together so that I have a shorter recovery time.  That's better than doing one (what would have been the wrong one to begin), waiting for it to heal, and then having to do another tooth. 

This is what is interesting.  I had suspected that #30 was a problem in June, but there appeared to be nothing wrong with it.  #31 has the known crack and a small air pocket that hasn't changed in the last couple of years.  When I went back to the dentist for the infected tooth to be checked, it had changed in just three weeks.  It now has a large air pocket that goes down into the root.  It now has a visible crack.  Those two things explain the horrific pain.

I've been on an antibiotic, and I have the consultation with the oral surgeon this coming week.  Hopefully we can get the teeth removed soon.  While I hate losing teeth, I will be better off without them.  I cannot chew at all on the right side due to the pain.  Even chewing on the left side causes the right side to hurt.  It will be easier to eat once the aching teeth are gone.  

I do plan to get implants, so this will be a long process.  

The tooth pain has been a huge distraction, but I have still managed to get lots of books listed.  Things are starting to get cleaned up.  It will work out eventually.

In an effort to speed up sales, my books are 10% off this weekend through approximately midnight Sunday, July 11.  

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I end up listing stuff at all sorts of random times.  Those of you who have been on top of things have benefited.  

Yesterday, I listed some Applewood printing plates, which sold quickly. 

Normally I wouldn't mention items that have already sold, but a discussion about my listings that occurred on Facebook proved to be mildly annoying.  Interestingly, at least one of the comments has been deleted.  That was a comment that appeared to imply that my listings were priced too high.  There was even a suggestion that something hinky was going on since the listings sold fast.  Rather, the listings were probably priced too low, and they sold fast for that reason and because someone advertised them to collectors.  That's all.

You can see why I don't post much in the Facebook groups.  There are too many odd comments, which don't occur either here or on my own Facebook page.

I'm left with the vague feeling that I did something wrong by not having eBay auctions.  At the same time, I feel that I sold the plates at a fair price.  I don't regret it.  I do regret that the listings were mentioned on Facebook.

The irony is that the printing plates were readily available in 2004 and 2005 when Applewood offered them.  Very few of us purchased them.  My purchase was for 10 plates, which was 4.8% of the plates for the book.  I think Applewood only sold the plates for Old Clock.  If there had been more interest, then plates for additional titles would have been sold.  People aren't happy that they missed my listings yesterday.  The real loss is that more people didn't purchase the plates in 2004 and 2005.  If they had, more of them would be out there for those collectors who want them now.

Selling Practices and Saving Time When Listing

eBay continually comes up with new guidelines for sellers that end up wasting time.  The latest is that sellers are required to enter item specifics for the author and title of the book.  This is stupid.  Most sellers put the author and title of the book in the title of the listing.  Exactly why does the seller need to type the same information into the item specifics?  

I heard about this requirement awhile back and was highly annoyed.  I held off doing anything about it, wanting as many of my existing listings to sell as possible before the deadline, which would save me from having to edit them.  I did begin entering the author and title for new listings that I created in the last few weeks.

The new item specifics will be required on eBay beginning July 12.  Yesterday, I finished editing my existing listings to include title and author.  Language will also be required, but I was already using that item specific.  Since I sell international editions of series books, it's been necessary for some time for me to enter the language of the text as an item specific.

Since I complied with eBay's latest requirement, I resumed listing new items.  I always need to get many books listed very quickly, so I look for ways that I can reduce the amount of time it takes to create a listing.  For instance, I copy from old listings to create new listings.  I have used that practice for many years.  It alone saves a lot of time.  There is no reason to start over from scratch each time.

I now take fewer photos of my books.  One photo with the book open is usually enough.  I don't have to crop that one photo.  I have saved much time by cutting the number of photos taken in half and have saved even more time by avoiding having to crop many of my photos.

Interestingly, both eBay and Etsy have recently begun to suggest on the listing form that I need to add more photos.  The sites are unequal in their treatment of sellers.  They allow sellers like Thriftbooks to list books without any photos.  Small sellers are nagged about selling practices while the big sellers get to do what they want.  

In recent years, I have gradually reduced the length of my listings.  This has been especially necessary on Etsy, where listings are truncated when they are anything other than very short.  The truncation hides most of the text, and many buyers will never open up the remaining text to read.  This is a big problem.

An Etsy description that I wrote for an original text Nancy Drew book this spring is as follows:  "The book contains the original 25 chapter text.  The book has blue multi endpapers and lists to Crooked Banister on the back cover.  The book has light wear. The spine is slanted.  There is no writing inside the book."

With that all as one paragraph and short, the text does not get truncated.  In the last two weeks, I have realized that I can begin saving myself more time.  I always provide a picture of the book open so that buyers can see the front and back covers.  Why I do need to keep stating what the last title listed is on the back cover when it can be clearly seen in the picture?  

New listings for Nancy Drew picture covers can go like this:  "The book contains the original 25 chapter text and has blue multi endpapers.  The book has light wear. The spine is slanted.  There is no writing inside the book."  

I save time by not having to verify the last title listed and then change it in the text of the listing that I just copied from another listing.

Of course when the book is a special printing, I will continue to give more information.  But when a book is an ordinary picture cover printing, the back cover list is enough information.  

Most sellers consider the pictures in the listing to be part of the description.  The only sellers for which this would be an exception would be sellers like Thriftbooks, who use stock photos.  Any seller like me considers the photos to be part of the description.

Recently, a member of one of the Facebook groups posted a photo of a book that is for sale on eBay and said that it had no description.  The member was critical of the seller for not having a description.  I was rather baffled.  The photo showed the age of the book and the condition of the book.  Yes, the seller should have made some kind of statement about the interior condition.  Even so, it was unfair to state that the seller had no description.  The seller provided quite a lot of information just by posting a photo of the book.  

Did the seller really need to write out a description of what could be seen in the photo?  "The jacket has a tear in the upper left corner of the front panel.  The jacket has a chip at the center bottom of the front panel.  The jacket has a small piece missing from the spine."   To save time, I make a more general statement like, "The dust jacket has chipping." 

The seller must describe what is not apparent from the photos.  Sellers like Thriftbooks have a meaningless canned description and use a stock photo or no photo at all.  Why criticize a seller who photographs the actual book for sale?  That seller has provided a lot more information than Thriftbooks does.

I want to remind sellers that books should always be protected from moisture exposure. The vast majority of the books I receive in the mail were mailed with no protection from moisture, which is why I end up with wet and damaged books periodically.  Of course it doesn't rain often in most locations, but you never know when the package you mail to a buyer is the one that is left out in the rain.

I have been informed by two different buyers in the last few months about how the package I sent was sitting in the rain and soaked.  In both cases, I was told that my protection of the books saved them from water damage.  It does matter.  Wrap the books in plastic before mailing them.

Note:  In this post I used Thriftbooks as an example of a seller who uses stock photos.  Even though Thriftbooks uses stock photos, I am a big fan of Thriftbooks.  I understand what they do and know how to use their service.  I use Thriftbooks to build complete sets of books that I just want to read.  Thriftbooks is perfect for that and cannot be beat.

Format collectors should never purchase from Thriftbooks.  When format collectors make the mistake of purchasing from Thriftbooks, they are the people who complain about Thriftbooks sending the wrong book.  Thriftbooks sends any copy of the book.  They don't care what it looks like.  Thriftbooks should be used to obtain reading copies.  The service is great for that purpose.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

June 2021 Update on My Activities

This post is quite long, perhaps more than you will care to read.  Or, if you enjoy these kinds of posts, then this will be a good one.  

The first part of this post was written in May.  That part is as follows with some added notes for clarity.

I have some draft posts that were written at various times in the last year.  My enthusiasm for this blog dipped when Blogger changed the interface.  The interface has improved somewhat, so I expect to resume some regularity in posting once I am out for summer break.  (Note: That didn't happen.)

I have reduced my extra books to the point where I have some space on the shelves allotted to them.  My problem now is that I am still using too many shelves for my extra books, so I hope to reduce the quantity a bit more in the next few weeks.

February to the present (Note: early May when written) has been an incredibly stressful, difficult time for multiple reasons. 

The two winter storms and extreme cold that occurred simultaneously in February were devastating.  In Oklahoma, it was the coldest stretch in over 100 years.  Around half of the bushes lost all growth from above ground level.  They are now coming up from the roots.  Some bushes were completely killed, including the roots.  Some large trees were also damaged or killed. 

The bird and squirrel populations were decimated.  There are very few birds flying around and far fewer squirrels than usual.  I always put out seed for the birds and squirrels.  In the past, multiple squirrels and six to 12 birds could be seen eating the seed at any given time.  Now, I see no birds or squirrels eating the seed during most hours of the day.  Every so often, one squirrel or just one or two birds might show up to eat.  The squirrel and bird populations in the vicinity of my home have decreased by more than 75%. 

I actually was a bit traumatized by the cold spell, just like I was after the horrific ice storm in October.  I received my first Moderna Covid-19 shot on February 24, which caused an autoimmune flare.  I had pretty much recovered (or so I thought) from that by March 30, when I received the second shot.  I then had another flare, which I didn't perceive to be too awful.  It was bad, but I dealt with it.

It was not until around May 10 that I realized how messed up I had been for 2 1/2 months.  I felt the depression lift.  I didn't know that I was depressed.  I knew that I didn't feel normal and that I was stressed, but I didn't perceive that it was a big deal.  When the fog lifted, it was like I had taken a happy pill.  Wow.  I hadn't been well physically or mentally for 2 1/2 months.

During the 2 1/2 months that I wasn't well, I was under a large amount of stress.  We started making our students take tests on paper once again, and the students did not adjust well.  That was difficult.  I started selling again on March 13.  That went pretty well, actually a bit too well.  I sold so much that it finally got to me.  (Note:  In the last three months, I have sold as many books as I normally sell in an entire calendar year.)  I was incredibly stressed by the number of packages that I was having to prepare.  I pulled back on listing new items, which caused my sales to slacken off somewhat.  That helped a little bit.

It was in late April that I felt the very highest amount of stress.  Around then, problems on Facebook increased.  I manage some groups, and one group in particular is continually a problem because it has a bloated membership.  Several people kept submitting posts that were problematic for various reasons.

Those people might post about an extremely obscure series but not explain what it is.  We won't blindly approve something when we can't figure out what it is within around 30 seconds.  We repeatedly advised those people to explain their content, but they didn't seem to get the message.

At the same time, others used loopholes in the rules to get posts approved that shouldn't be in the group.  I won't get into the specifics of exactly what transpired, but I finally reached a point where I was done with letting people sneak things in under a loophole.  It just wasn't worth my time or trouble.  I have been stretched so thin the last few months, and I finally had enough.  No more loopholes.  On May 7, I decided that I was completely done with dealing with certain kinds of posts.

That was what I wrote in May.  I am now two weeks into summer break, and honestly, I am still a bit stressed for multiple reasons.  

Graduation was three weeks ago.  The ceremony was held outdoors due to pandemic precautions.  Of course it rained on us.  It was rather... unpleasant.  We all laughed about it.  What else could we do?  I dealt with it okay, or so I thought.  However, my autoimmune disease does like to betray me.  The very next day I began dealing with horrific tooth and jaw pain that was quite intense.  It has really settled down in the last week, so I think I'm going to be okay without having to get major dental work. 

My dentist wants to pull a tooth and put a crown on another in an attempt to solve the problem, but that's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  They don't think that an autoimmune flare could be causing the pain, but I know my body.  In fact, I believe that the Moderna vaccine is still affecting my immune system, and that I'm not back to normal.  Oh, and my thyroid medication was recalled again in early May.  So there are several reasons why I would be having autoimmune problems at this time.    

While I have been dealing with intense pain, I have worked on the next step in getting my collection in order.  I have reduced my extra books, and now I need to start rearranging and getting my other collections out of drawers.  This has snowballed into a rather large project, so I haven't gotten that far.  

It started with my closet.  I wanted to remove my closet doors and change to curtains covering the opening.  But I now hate the light pink paint on the walls.  I didn't want to purchase curtains to match paint that I no longer like.  I decided to repaint the room.  I chose a nice shade of blue, then I found curtains that would look good.  Painting the inside of the closet took forever.  When I finished painting the inside of the closet and around the opening, I finally hung up the Judy Bolton Ghost Parade Spirit Masks I purchased in February just before the terrible cold spell.    

I started painting two of the walls.  I then decided to replace a piece of furniture and get new carpet in the room once I am finished painting. 

At present, I have a big task in front of me, which I am dreading.  In order to paint the third wall, I need to pull down all my Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton books with dust jackets, plus all the books that are shelved behind them. 

I can't stack the books on the floor, since I have to protect them from the cats.  I'm going to have to stack them on top of books that are shelved in other rooms.  I don't have much extra shelf space even after having sold a huge number of books since March.  Space is still at a premium.  

So, that's why I have seemingly abandoned the blog and am not posting much of anything on Facebook.  Once I get this project done, I can finally reorganize my collections as I originally planned.  This is apparently how I am spending my summer break.  

Before I started painting, I listed a large number of books on both eBay and Etsy in late May.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Sometime after I finish painting, I will have some more interesting items to list.  As I move my possessions around, I continue to find books and other items that I no longer want to keep.

Scarce Books Being Dumped Online

The pandemic has upended everything.  Not only are series books selling briskly (my sales since March 13 have been four times higher than my all-time highest sales for a comparable time period), but people are listing extremely scarce books online, often dumped into bulk lots.  I have never seen so many excellent bulk lots as I have seen in recent months.  This is amazing.

The bulk lots being listed may have to do with the age of the people who collected them and a decision to downsize.  However, most of the bulk lots do not look to be from collections.  When dust jackets have not been placed in mylar covers, it indicates that the books are not from a collection.  Most collectors protect their books.  These books have been released into the wild from somewhere.

I know of five distinct copies of Vicki Barr #15 The Mystery of Flight 908 with dust jacket that have sold (not just listed, but actually sold) on eBay in the last 90 days.  Two listings were individual listings, and three other books showed up in bulk listings.  Flight 908 is the hardest to find Vicki Barr book, so it's unprecedented to see five copies with dust jacket sell in such a short period of time. 

I have also noticed multiple copies of other very scarce books.  Four copies of Connie Blair #12 Ruby Queens with dust jacket have sold in the last 90 days, two individually and two in bulk lots.  Three Rick Brant Deadly Dutchman books have sold individually and four more have sold in bulk lots.  One Biff Brewster Caribbean Pearls has sold individually with two more copies in bulk lots.  All three books had dust jackets. Four Ken Holt Sultan's Scimitar books have sold individually plus two more of them in bulk lots.  All of this in just 90 days on eBay.

I have also acquired multiple duplicates of some very scarce books in recent months, more so than I have ever done in such a short period of time.  The pandemic surely has something to do with this.  However, I have a theory about when books get released into the wild, and it has to do with when the family home is sold.  The books often don't leave the parents' home when the young person becomes an adult.  It might be that the books from the 1960s are getting released from family homes at this time via estate sales.

In addition to whatever is causing many bulk lots to be listed on eBay, more series book collectors than usual are downsizing.  Even I'm doing this, which is a big reason why my own sales have been so brisk.  I decided to downsize because this pandemic has changed me significantly.  My habits have shifted, and so have my priorities.  When school was closed for five months last year, I had time to reflect.  I had a lot of time.  I realized that some of my collections are packed away where I cannot enjoy them.  I must reduce my books so that I can get other stuff out of drawers and cabinets.  I want that for myself.
continues to unfold.

Local Book Finds Spring 2021

These books were purchased during the middle of March.

The books came from the same store where I purchased a large number of library hardcover editions of Christopher Pike and R. L. Stine books.  The two Lois Duncan books came from the same library as the Pike and Stine books.

I also purchased this book at the same store.

I have a collection of old books about kittens and cats.  For the most part, I don't seek them out.  I buy what I happen to run across.

The main find is this next one.  Most of these books were purchased in one store.  The three Mercer Boys books and the library bound Nancy Drew book were purchased in another store on the same day.  The rest of the books came from the same place.

I also found these two books.

In April, I purchased these books.

April 2021 Selling Update

I am still working on getting books out of boxes.  At one point, I had 17 boxes of books.  I am now down to three boxes of books, but at a cost.  Here are photos of my shelves of extra books that have not been listed for sale.  The Nancy Drew picture cover books are in good order, but the rest of the books are in a bit of disarray.  It's better for the books to be on the shelf in a disordered state than for them to be boxed away.

This last photo shows where my extra Hardy Boys books are hidden.

The Hardy Boys books are behind the books seen in the photo, and I could hardly take the photo because stuff is stacked in front of the shelves.  There's no way that I'm listing the Hardy Boys books anytime soon.

Each weekend I select some books to list.  This weekend, I listed Judy Bolton picture cover books on Etsy.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I had to guess at the prices.  The Judy Bolton picture covers are so very scarce that pricing cannot be researched.  I do know that some picture covers have sold for $150 or more each when auctioned on eBay in the last few years.

This is the very first time in my 30 years of collecting that I have had extra Judy Bolton picture covers other than an occasional one or two random copies found around once every five years.  I almost never find the books.  They are that scarce.  The only reason I have these extras is because I got very lucky.  I was able to upgrade a few of my own picture cover books, which was great.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

I also listed some vintage teen books on eBay.  I created a category for the vintage teen books so that the different sets show up together.

Vintage Teen Books Category

My message placed in each listing that states that I don't accept offers has discouraged people from submitting offers through email.  Unfortunately, I am getting asked for discounts if multiple books are purchased.  I have had three requests in just the last few days.  It discourages me, to be honest.  

I struggle with my pricing.  I want the books to sell fairly quickly, but I also don't want to take a loss when I can avoid it.  For the vintage teen books, I generally price the books at $5.99 each.  Most of the books were purchased individually online, and the lowest price for a book online is $4.00.  My eBay fees are at least $1.00 on a $5.99 listing, and fees also get charged on shipping.  For a $5.99 book that sells individually, my fee is going to be at least $1.50.  Why would I give a discount?

I tell these people that there is a discount for orders shipping to the United States when the purchase price is $35 or above.  Those orders get free shipping.  Of course, they probably already know that but want more of a discount.

I don't price my items with the shipping figured into the price.  For that reason, the shipping really is on me when the order is $35 or more.  The free shipping promotion has gained me sales.  I receive many orders where the total is between $35 and $50.  Unquestionably, many people are making sure that they get free shipping.  

Aside from some minor issues, having the stores back open is going pretty well, and I am making progress on reducing the quantity of extra books that I have.

Windswept #23 A Date with Danger and #27 Mystery Cruise

Windswept #23 A Date with Danger, Edward Hunsberger, 1983

The dark and silent halls of the old private girls' school cast an eerie spell...

 ...but Karen tries to brush off their strange chill, tries to laugh at her overactive imagination.  Then someone attempts to run her over, and the evil on campus becomes all too real.

Who could want her dead?  Sarge, the eccentric old caretaker?  Paul, the handsome premed student she just might be falling in love with?  Meredith, her new friend?  Karen is frantic to discover the truth and save her life.

This book is excellent and has a great mystery.  Karen is nearly run over very shortly after her arrival on campus, which sets up the suspense for the entire story.

Windswept #27 Mystery Cruise, Carole Standish, 1984

Dawn's birthday present from her aunt is a cruise on a luxury ship.  Before the ship leaves the pier, Dawn busily snaps pictures with her new camera of all the people on board.  That's her first mistake. 

Even with Kevin around to distract her, Dawn fears that someone is out to get her.  By the time the cruise is over, Dawn is convinced that her camera has recorded someone's secret, and a sweet-smelling but ominous perfume warns Dawn that shipboard life isn't all romance...

This book has a very good mystery.  I enjoyed this book.

Windswept #17 Mirror, Mirror and #33 Weekend of Fear by Virginia Nielsen

Vintage series book fans probably ignore these posts about vintage teen books.  However, some of the mystery teen books could appeal to those fans.  The second book reviewed here, Weekend of Fear, is one of those books.

I abandoned reading the Windswept series quite awhile back, but I found that I prepared two review posts that I never published.  This is the first of those posts.

Windswept #17 Mirror, Mirror, Virginia Neilsen, 1983

Gilly and Gerry are identical twins, separated at birth.  They meet for the first time when they're sixteen and find that they're so alike, even their boyfriends can't tell them apart!

Then Gilly visits Gerry's home, and when the vacation is over, Gerry convinces Gilly to switch places secretly.  It's fun at first, but soon strange accidents begin, and Gilly receives frightening phone calls meant for Gerry.  More confusing, Gilly is falling in love with Gerry's boyfriend.  

Is Gerry in some kind of trouble?  Why didn't she tell Gilly?  And why did she set Gilly up to be in such terrible danger?

This book starts off with a good hook.  Identical twins who have just met for the first time is compelling.  As the story progresses, it gradually becomes more and more suspenseful.  Since Gilly and Gerry have changed places, Gilly ends up in grave danger because of the danger that Gerry is in.

This is a very good book.

Windswept #33 Weekend of Fear, Virginia Nielsen, 1984

When the school loner, Brick, falls heir to a fortune of jewels, his life is threatened.  He asks Jacey to hide the jewels for him until he can get them into a bank after the weekend.  Then he disappears.

But with Brick out of the way, Jacey is now the target of unwanted attention.  And in a department store, normally bustling with hopping crowds and clerks, Jacey finds herself alone, in the dark, facing a killer.

The book starts off a little slow, but it quickly picks up in intensity once the department store closes for the weekend.  Jacey spends the entire weekend (and most of the book) inside a dark, closed department store being stalked by someone who knows that she has the jewels and is determined to get them.

The book also has a twist which I wasn't expecting.
 
This is an extremely tense, suspenseful book.  It is excellent.