Category: ebay

Cooler last night, which was nice after another hot day. 90F at 9pm is pretty warm, and it was over 100F during the day. A bit less humidity made it nicer, but I still didn’t want to work outside.

I did computer stuff and read most of the day. The backache started and just got worse throughout the day. Then I made dinner. It was going to be just me and W, but the youngest ended up getting home in time.

Today I’ll be headed to the shop to sell an item that should be a nice little bump in my cash on hand. Too bad it’s not huge, but selling it will move stuff out and that’s a good thing. It was an impulse purchase for a potential hobby or expansion of a hobby along the lines of “I want to be able to make anything” but the things it would facilitate are far from normally useful. Better to have the money back, plus a good profit.

Stacks of things to sell are a good thing, if you actually sell them. I need to work on that.

Stack all the things! And work on the things that need work.

nick

Hot. Still hot. And humid. I think today will be hot too. 100+F in the day, high 80sF at night. Still milder than a couple of years ago.

Had a pretty good day at the event. Talked with lots of people. Some sold well and made money but some didn’t. I sold pretty well, but I was also cutting prices to the bone. Some younger people shopping as guests on our public day. Nice to see it. All the hobbies need new people to come in in order to survive.

Today I am going in a bit earlier for a group breakfast, and then a few hours of selling. The pack and load out takes me some time, so it will be late afternoon or evening before I’m home. Then Monday I’ll have to unload the trailer and return it, while storing stuff away at the shop.

All in all, a good show for me. We’ll see how the club does later.

Networking, getting out with fellow enthusiasts, and talking to all sorts of people. Valuable things to do.

Get out there!

nick
and stack, of course.

And it will be hot and humid again. Because it’s still Summer in Houston. There was a little relief from the heat today in the form of a slightly cooler breeze, if you were in shadow. Otherwise it was brain broiling hot in the sun. Expect more of the same.

Got some ice on the way in for the crew drinks, and the price of a bag has gone from $2 to $3 in only a couple of years. That’s real inflation. Had a good load in and setup, and then I got busy selling. I didn’t pick up a bunch of good resale inventory, but I did organize what was left from last year and people did buy a lot of that. I did a bunch of small sales, and feel like I grossed at least $500 yesterday. If I can do the same or more over Sat. and Sun., it will have been a pretty good show.

So that’s the goal for today. Move some of the slightly bigger ticket items, and a lot of the old stale inventory even if it’s at fire sale prices. I’m even going to give away some stuff to another hobby group that can use it at the end of the show. The goal is to reduce the number of bins I’m storing, and improve the overall value of what I do store.

It’s a plan. We’ll see if it works out.

Meet some people. Talk to people about their version of the real world. Stack the good stuff.

nick

Cool, crisp, sunny and clear. And warmer later. Like yesterday. Second false Spring is over, with morning temps of 53F! but we’ll soon get into real Spring, I’m sure. Until then, I’m loving this Global Cooling. NY and Canadia aren’t gonna like it much.

So yesterday started out pretty blurry. I take meds when I need to, painkillers and antibiotics are the miracles of the modern world, and there’s no shame in using them. Not that there should be. I did mostly office and internet stuff when I finally got out of bed. Felt sore, but nothing like I expected. It really makes a difference to be proactive.

In the afternoon, I did a little cleaning, a little putting away, and I took some stuff to the shop. I am still waiting on an ebay sale to move forward. It will clear up some room and I can finally get my storage unit emptied. And the money won’t hurt.

Today I’ll try to get rid of those cats again, and maybe do some more moving and scrapping. Who knows. W wants me to pick up some free stuff in the neighborhood. A nice desk chair and some other things. Hope the lady is there to meet me on time.

I feel like I’m forgetting something, but I can’t remember what…

Oh well, stack like your life depends on it. It just might.

nick

And I’ll sit it out. Cool to start, warm later. It was very moist last night and the trend has been rising humidity all week. We’ll get rain at some point. As long as it stays relatively cool, even the high humidity hasn’t dampened my love of our current weather. More please.

So I spent the morning doing stuff, then went out to do stuff. And indeed, some stuff did get done. Not all the stuff, or even most of the stuff, but some stuff.

Today, I’ve got to do my speaker install at my client’s house. I’ll do a pickup on the way there (most expensive item on the invoice? $15 for Tide powder) and on the way home I’ll grab another pickup of some other household stuff. I can combine trips, and they are mostly a big loop to the northwest, and back. That saves money and time.

I’ve cut back on buying. There’s less stuff I want or need, and there are fewer auctions tempting me. Plus, some are just farther than I’d like to drive nowadays. With the decrease in sellers, it’s harder to combine trips, especially to distant places. When I started, I could combine 3, 4, 5 or sometimes 6 pickups in one loop down to Dickenson and back. Now I don’t go to Dickenson unless it’s a fantastic deal on something I really need.

There are changes in the secondary/reseller market. They don’t benefit me, the buyer. We’ll see if they even survive or if we go back to a time when only a few big retailers were doing it.

Things change. That is the only constant.

That and the prudence of stacking of course!

nick the prudent…

Hoping for another beautiful day. I’d take a bit less bright sun, and a bit less humidity than yesterday as they were a tiny bit too much. But then again, it’s Spring and it’s supposed to be sunny and moist. Since I’ve got a pickup that can’t wait, I really need it to not rain. National forecast says “clear sky” but we know we can get localized showers in Houston anywhere and any time.

Did some stuff yesterday. Got the scrap that was in the truck dropped off. It’s definitely worth doing, and I’ve got just as much waiting for breakdown. Other than shuttling the kid around and auction stuff, I didn’t get much done. Some domestic bliss. My chonies are folded and put away, as well as the rest of my laundry.

I did some grocery shopping since I needed to pickup a prescription anyway. Soda, juice, snacks, and various things mostly for the kids. Not a cheap day. Only one item was on sale. Kid cost me $500 in doctor visit (eyes- so no insurance) and we haven’t even bought contacts or glasses yet. Dang kids with their wanting to see, and eat.

Today I’ve got some pickups to do. It’ll be a big loop day. I won a nice wood lathe, a dirty, crusty welding machine, some other shop stuff, and several items of classic audio gear. I thought I might need a trailer but I should be able to fit it all on the truck. Gonna be a challenge and some lower back strain… but I’m used to moving heavy things slowly and with minimum effort.

Once the big stuff is loaded, I can make room for the little stuff, like three more propane tanks, and do a couple more pickups. Sometimes, when the opportunity is there, you have to take it.

Propane lasts forever, the 15# BBQ bottles are fairly convenient to move, and I can run lights, cooking, heat, and power generation from them. I’ve got a lot of bottles. I’ve also got the adapters and even some certified refillable 1# bottles for the stuff I standardized on using the small bottles for. And of course the BOL runs on propane, so there is continuity there. Pro tip- put the bottle in a milk crate to keep it from rolling around in the truck or tipping over.

Most of what I bought was for me or the BOL, but there are a few things that were for resale if they’re not running. The lathe for instance, might have a three phase motor. I’ll probably part out the tailstock, banjo, and mounting plate if that is the case, because just those three things sell for over $500 on ebay, and I bought the lathe for $50. Now I’d love another lathe, but I’ve already got a couple, and I don’t need a project. We’ll see. Money is good, but I do like stuff.

Keep working to improve your situation, and stacking what you’ll need.

nick