Salvation Army fun :)

I thrifted today for several hours. I woke up, got myself together, and got out the door. I had several packages to drop off at the post office, then got some pan dulce for a ridiculous $1.20. One of the stores smelled a little ripe, so I was hesitant to hang around too long. Smells mess me up. I can't handle bad smells. I spent a week at a landfill in Mexico when I was a kid, and I'll never forget it.

I wanted to see some jewelry at the Salvation Army, so I asked the lady next to me if I could look in front of her. She was a large woman, and she and her cart were blocking the whole case. Also, she isn't looking at anything. She's just standing there. So I ask politely, she replies "yes", and returns to staring blankly straight ahead. "Hm, okay", I say, and walk away. "I'm looking!", she shouts. Really, I didn't have it in me to deal with that kind of crazy this morning. I almost cried when I saw a guy, and I was trying pretty hard to act normal.

Last week, at another Salvation Army across town, there were two men in a dressing room at the front of the store. It was early in the morning, but no employees were around. One man was trying on clothing and the other man was making commentary. The door was wide open. An employee walked the thirty yards from the back of the store straight to the man and said, "Sir, you need to close the door." He didn't. "You need to close the door right now." He did. I tried to smile at her, but she's not much of a connector with customers.

Final winner of the week is the eighty-year-old woman trying on a string bikini over her clothing in the aisles at the first Salvation Army. I wished I could have documented that moment and then asked her for an interview. No shame.

My weird perspective :)

Vintage large round light blue eyeglasses from "Mainstreet"

Location: Salvation Army
Time: Yesterday afternoon

I am in line behind a woman purchasing three San Francisco Giants souvenir baseball bats in orange and black. The cashier bags the bats, and the woman says, "Thanks for the bats. I like to take these on my walks", then walks out the door with her purchases.

Wait...what?!

As the cashier bags my mug, and I hand her my 50 cents, I say quietly, "What is she doing on these walks that she needs a bat?" The cashier and her manager stare at me strangely. "I mean, what does she need to hit with a bat?"

The two women look at eachother and start cracking up. The cashier says to me, "Bags! She said bags! She likes to take bags on her walks! What's wrong with you [smiling]? Get out of here! Stop spreading rumors!"

I laughed at myself for the next five minutes :)

Recycled bubble wrap :)

A reselling blogger sells these all the time - I have been less successful

So a part of being "The Recycling Ethic" is in trying to use recycled materials as much as possible. I'm pretty picky about what I buy for shipping, because I'm constantly using shipping materials, and so this is the area I have the most potential for creating waste (or lack thereof). So I buy recycled labels and envelopes. I use all kraft tape, no plastic tape. Blah, blah, blah. I'm so awesome.

For a while, I've been buying bubble wrap from someone across the country who recycles large bubble wrap. I don't know where the product originates, but it comes taped together with masking tape, so it even looks recycled. But recently, I found a new recycled bubble wrap seller on eBay, and it's only a few hours away from me (a couple hundred miles), so I don't have to wait as long for it to arrive. Somehow the seller saves this pristine bubble wrap from a large-scale furniture company, and resells it (at what appears to be a zero profit margin) to continue the waste-reduction cycle.

Anyhow, we're kindred spirits, this bubble wrap recycler and I. And though we are small, insignificant eBay sellers who sell trash on the internets, I believe that our awesomeness will somehow surreptitiously seep into our packages, and influence our customers, who will then continue the cycle, and on and on.

I've been wanting to buy this stamp for ages, but it seems too decadent. It does need to be said, however, since I'm expecting that my customers are kindred spirits. I shouldn't assume though. I should make it clear that in addition to the recycled product you are purchasing, I also want to invite you to participate by reusing the packaging.

All for now :)

Thrift Share Monday :)

Signed "A. Mountanos 1980"

I found this mug last week, and haven't been able to find anything like it. There is a Mountanos Coffee Company, and I have been able to find some strand of a connection between the Mountanos surname, and Turkey. It might just be a fluke, but I thought it was really neat, and maybe collectible.

This morning, I woke up to a hilarious passive aggressive email in my inbox telling me, in essence, how selfish and greedy I was being for not accepting offers of 25-35% of my asking price, and how the buyer would send me "[my] profit" as soon as I accepted the offer. Dude, if you only knew how I get by. It's really laughable. Sometimes I ask myself if it's ethical for me to buy low and sell high, even if the item is worth what I'm asking. Sometimes I wonder if I need to cap my profit on any one particular item. I don't know. I'm not making a lot of money. I'm paying my bills.

Last night, my car started acting up, definitely structural and not the engine itself (it was still running well), and now I'm sitting in my apartment debating whether I should drive it at all before my appointment tomorrow at my mechanic. I still have paperwork to wrap up for my work year, and I have to drive to my supervisor's office to get final signatures. I'm kinda trusting that the car thing will be fixable in one day, and I'll be able to finish the paperwork traveling tomorrow afternoon. Ah the life of a VW owner! It's blissful, really :)

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl.

I make a bad first impression.

I am in a rut today. I got some feedback from an eBay customer that was not very favorable, and I'm taking it to heart, but for a good reason.

I'm wondering if I need to pay more attention to the way I package my items. Honestly, I don't really think about the way it looks as much as I do about the safety of the item. "Is it going to break?"-that's the only question I ask. Who cares if it doesn't look pretty? I'm not trying to win a shipping beauty contest. But then I started thinking, what if the customer really is always right, and that I should make a bigger deal about shipping?

I guess "The Recycling Ethic" means that I use what's available. I see it as a pioneer activity. I'm not just trying to run a a business-this is a way of life for me, and I want to reflect that in the way I operate. Unfortunately, I think that this looks like laziness to people who only have a single interaction with me.

So that's where I'm at. I am challenged, and I think that this interaction has given me an opportunity to grow. It's uncomfortable, as always. And I have to mediate the self-hatred with the desire for growth, which is quite the balancing act.

If you have any pointers, I'd sure love to hear them. Also, if you have any ideas about how I can be frugal, thrifty, not wasteful, and at the same time aethetically pleasing, that would be awesome.

"Stay classy, San Diego."

Sometimes, I eat milk chocolate

 

This recent post by Katy over at "The Non-Consumer Advocate" got some heated responses, so much so that she shut down commentary on the post.

I myself have been the recipient of some pretty nasty online communication. It hurts when people are rude because they can be, instead of assuming the best and perhaps beginning some dialogue about their "negative" feelings. I think that people on Katy's blog were generally able to say how they felt, and the conversation was cordial and honest.

I talk about online manners a lot because I work online. Very, very rarely do I get to meet a customer face-to-face, or a reader for that matter, and I have learned time and again how important it is to be literal in one's communication, and kind above all else. Sometimes, it is even appropriate to anticipate problems and address them before they happen.

I admit that this week, I did not respond well to an online overreaction. I was curt and annoyed when someone took offense at something that was in-no-way meant to be offensive. But in the end, I am only reminded that I am also human, and often fail. Sometimes, I eat milk chocolate.

Final post of the year :)

I closed my Amazon book shop. I've been selling books on Amazon for the past three years. I had some good times, but in the end, it wasn't worth it. I think I've mentioned this before, but for low-volume sellers, one negative feedback (no matter how ill-conceived) can ruin a shop. So I was ruined, and in the meantime, I had to make up for the downturn in other ways. I started selling on eBay, and added vintage items to my Etsy shop, where I'd only previously sold my personally-authored zines.

I am taking a couple weeks off for a vacation. I don't know how it's going to go with my shops. I'm keeping both of them open, and making it known to customers that I will not be shipping anything until I get home.

Today is Christmas Eve, and this year has gone by so very fast. I don't quite know how to end it. I think I may take a blog break. You may not have noticed, but I'm slowly petering out energy-wise. The everyday thing can't work forever, before I lose that special something we all know and love.

Thrifting and flirting

I have no social life outside of my friends who also have no social lives. So when we get together, it's the same group, every time, and I've decided that we get some new friends, if for no other reason than to give me someone to make out with at parties.

Here are the players:

1. I am going through the silverware bins the other night, when I come up and there is a man walking towards me with a grand smile on his face. He has chin-length dark brown wavy hair, and a dirty "maybe-I'm-a-craftsman-of-some-kind" look. His smile was amazing and bright, and I couldn't stop thinking about him for the next half-hour as I browsed.

2. Another night; another store. I am also going through bins, now looking through piles of Christmas stuff. There is a man standing next to me that I think is mumbling to himself, but he's really just talking to me and getting up the nerve to make it audible. I'm singing along to the song that's playing in the store, and he asks if I like Elvis. At this point, I'm not really paying attention to the song, so I'm starting to think this guy is just crazy.

"Oops"-Elvis is singing, and I'm singing with him, and this was a legitimate question. I say something lame like, "Isn't everyone required to like Elvis?" and soon non-crazy man walks away saying, "Well have a lovely holiday season." Oh, wow. He did so well.

3. Totally cute guy who works at my old favorite store (which has become emptier of late, and thus has lessened in my mind as a worthy favorite) who is now sporting a beard and it looks really good. We never talk though, beyond a discussion of the coupon/sale situation happening that particular day. Plus, this is the store where the women talk about "gringas" under their breath, so I'm not entirely sure I'm appreciated.

I will keep you updated. Obviously, not so hot and steamy, but definitely progressing. I've moved into full-on eye contact and occasional greetings.

The customer is always right.

I just completed a very large eBay purge session. I put most of my stuff up for auction, and all of the auctions began at $0.99. It was fun to watch the final twenty minutes or so. The numbers got higher a lot faster :)

I've just been getting bored of my eBay shop. I really don't know why. I think I need to do this every few months or so. It gets me excited to have space again, and just get rid of stuff. Ah...it's a good feeling.

I've decided to move all of my vintage stuff into my Etsy shop. I haven't quite figured out what specifically will be in the eBay shop when it's back to its normal volume, though.

One of the reasons for this "boredom" is the experience I've been having with eBay customers lately. I've had to suck up my pride so many times just because people want to complain. And I've learned that the only way I'm going to be successful with my business is to truly live the phrase, "The customer is always right". I never argue. I just submit. Even when the complaint is just asinine, I swallow my annoyance, and write a very nice email saying how sorry I am, and ask what I can do to make it right. Most of the time, I never receive a response.

The absolute worst is when someone never says anything, but just stews about it, then finally leaves snarky feedback months later. My new motto when I have a bad experience online is just to be honest about it, and accept what the other party has to give. For example, about a years ago, I bought a pair of pants on eBay, and they'd been hemmed very poorly and the bottom of the pants was puckered. I emailed the seller to let her know; I said I'd have to take them to have them re-altered and told her how much it would cost, and she refunded me that amount. We both thought it was fair resolution, and it was a positive experience.

Good online shopping experiences? Bad experiences? What do you do?