the ups and downs of buying and selling online

It's a quiet day around here, aside from kiddo's constant interruptions to show off her LEGO creations, and my thoughts are focused on e-commerce.

In 5 hours, I will know whether I have won an eBay auction for a box of attachments that go with my vintage Singer sewing machine. It's the first time I've bid on anything on eBay for years -- the last thing we bought was in 2005; prior to that, the last time we were actively selling was 2002. We got really burned back then by two bad transactions in a row -- one sale and one purchase -- and I have been carrying a chip on my shoulder ever since. So, we'll see how this transaction goes and try to re-build the trust.

I also have to take some time this weekend and re-design some websites; part of this means redesigning e-commerce on my CuppaJoe Cozy site. Actually, I need to redesign the whole thing. Anyway, I have decided to keep the Paypal option for custom work only; stock will be sold in the "coffee and tea" section of my Etsy store.

Meanwhile, I need to find new ways to promote things. I was reminded, by a new comment on an old post, this week of some ideas for promoting my CuppaJoe Cozies and Wradical Wraps that I may just follow through on. I was also approached by someone in Connecticut about wholesale pricing on some of my products, but since my Etsy pricing wasn't well thought out, when I went to do wholesale calculations, it didn't look great. Of course what really blew it all out of the water was the cost to ship things across the border. Sigh. So, I will be re-examining all of my Etsy and online sales, with thoughts toward both wholesale and retail pricing.

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And now, it seems Kiddo is done playing with LEGO and wants to sew. I have told her I will teach her to use the sewing machine... carefully... so that's my next task for the day!

Crappy customer service

Puretracks.com you are on notice!!! Many months ago, I signed up for Puretracks through a cross-promotion where I got "10 free songs." However, when I signed up, I must have missed the ticked box for "send me your crappy eNewsletter filled with offers I don't want" -- because I would have un-ticked it. But, what really grinds my behind is the fact that when I click on their little tiny link buried at the bottom of said crappy eNewsletter that says "click HERE to unsubscribe" (note the actual link also includes "?email=[my email address]") I get a mysterious 404 error.

So, I go to the website where I realize I have no clue what my password is. No problem, I figure, I type in my email and click "forgot password" at which point it tells me there is no account with that email address.

So... I try to contact someone and get another error in trying to submit their email form!!! GAH.

Weeks pass. I keep deleting the eNewsletters. Then I start marking them as spam. Today I thought what the heck, I'll try again.

I still got the 404. There's still no account with my email address, but at least I could email them. Let's see what happens next....

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You'll notice in the photo above that Mr. Colbert is also showing The Bay as being on notice. Here's why:

Last week, when I managed to wheel myself through Mayfair Mall, I eventually needed to use the washroom. I chose to attempt using the one at The Bay but I was unable to do so because some softheaded twit had placed a decorative table in the corner beside the toilet. Normally, I would look at it and think, "oh, OK, nice place to put down your handbag," but in this case it actually prevented me from being able to fit the wheelchair into the "accessible" stall. I even tried backing in.

Since I did actually need to use the facilities, I did not take the time to track down a manager or other employee but figured I would do so on my return home. Well a couple of days later (when I remembered that I was going to call), all I managed to get was a voicemail phone forest that eventually led me to the voicemailbox of a manager which, after leaving my message, kindly told me that the mailbox was full and my message would not be saved. GAH!! WTF???

But here's the thing. I only shop at The Bay rarely and even then it's usully out of some sort of cultural guilt -- it the last remaining Canadian department store and even it's owned by an American. So by saying I'm not going to shop there any more, it's really not much of a threat, but I'm putting it out there nonetheless. With Mr. Colbert's help, of course.

[p.s. to generate your own sign, go to shipbrook.com/onnotice -- just be sure to save the image and upload it yourself instead of stealing their bandwith like a clueless dork.]

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The Vanishing Neighbourhood Market

And in today's episode of Short Attention Span Theatre, I offer this link to a flickr slideshow of Neighbourhood Markets in and around Victoria, BC.

I actually find it fascinating because they are vanishing... some pretty quickly....

This photo of Banfield Market was taken by R. A. Paterson in December 2006, as part of the above set:

You can see, on the left, a for sale sign... and when we went there yesterday afternoon (because it's in this month's grid), we found it closed for business, it's windows papered over; hubby took this photo:

It was an interesting market, attempting to be organic and upscale... when we lived in the area 10 years ago, it was a pretty typical corner store that I could usually count on to have a handful of fresh produce available. I can't remember when it went upscale... but it was after we moved out of the neighbourhood.

Is it time already?

I guess my level of busy-ness should be an indicator that Christmas day is around the corner. This time tomorrow we'll be well into opening what's under the tree... which is going to be a long process because we have all the grandparents coming over with their armloads of gifts, too. Hubby will be preparing a ham for lunch and a turkey for dinner.

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Earlier this week....

The local WalMart (evil retailer of doom) is one of a handful in BC open 24 hours for Christmas shopping (they started on the 18th) and we decided to head in at about 11:00 at night on Thursday night thinking it would have settled down -- Kiddo was staying at Nana's -- but it was as zooey as a Saturday morning! Craziness! Only bonus was the distinct lack of small children screaming around.

Friday was Kiddo's last day of school so Hubby and I went downtown to gather last-minute stocking stuffers (for each other, mostly). The bigger stores were lined up out the door, but most of the smaller stores were eager for my few dollars, which I happily spent on this and that in small packages. Once I decided I had enough for Hubby's stocking, I checked my watch and decided I had juuuuuust enough time to check Sally Ann. I went in looking for something I had wanted to add to another gift (which I found), and then I stumbled on the most amazing find -- two tubs of LEGO, one of which included some vintage "LEGO System" boxes. At $24 for the two, I had to buy them. When I sorted them out later that evening, I found that one ofthe vintage sets was complete, the other incomplete; there were also many minifigs, accessories, creatures (a manta ray, shark, monkey, scorpions, parrot and a snake!) and vehicles -- plus hundreds of basic bricks. One of my best finds ever. (Most of it will be under the tree for Kiddo; I'm keeping the vintage LEGO and a few minifigs, though I may sell the vintage stuff.)

Yesterday was mostly puttering around here (putting up the last of the decorations) and then we went to a friends' open house and Kiddo disappeared into their daughter's room, reappearing in costume...

....then disappearing again. Eventually, she got cranky and started to fight with the boys, so we took her home. She fell asleep almost as soon as we started driving, poor tyke.

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One more sleep.... then we can start tidying for our open house on the 30th.

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