The husband said this would happen to me. I told him no way.
We recently volunteered to sell things for a relative on a well-known online auction site. I thought it was a nice gesture for us to offer assistance. Plus, the husband has been casually selling things on this site for years. But, no way was I going to get caught up in it. I don't have the patience for the whole process of taking pictures, writing descriptions, responding to questions, and shipping.
What I didn't anticipate was how my analytical mind would be fascinated with trying to figure out what sells, for what price, and why. As I researched the potential value of the relative's items, I became further and further drawn to trying to understand buyers' mindsets. Some items in the same new-in-box condition sold for drastically different amounts depending if it was posted as Buy It Now or Auction. Sometimes Free Shipping encouraged people to buy at a higher total price than if they bought the item and paid a shipping cost. Even the headline or description wording seemed to impact what people were willing to spend.
So my role in Operation Relative Assistance has become lead researcher and pricing advisor. I likely overthink it but, for each item, I try to determine the best way to list it so that it will sell and we can maximize the revenue for our relative. My recommendations haven't always worked. We're making some course corrections.
We did have one item do well recently. Based on my research, I had a feeling we could get $X for it. Not that I would spend that for it personally but it looked like those interested in it would. I agonized over Buy It Now or Auction. We went with Auction. After we posted said item, we had some offers come in that were close to $X but no actual bids. We really had to think about whether we could do better if we waited and let the auction run out. I hated turning down interested buyers - what if the item never got any bids? What to do, what to do. Ultimately, we turned the offers down and decided to wait. And then, we watched bids come in. And come in. And come in. It was crazy and I couldn't help but check every few hours what the price was at. It kept going up. The auction closed today. The item sold for almost 3 times what I originally thought we might get for it. It felt awesome. What a buzz. Sending the check to our relative this week will feel great.
And, now I've got the bug. What else can we sell?
Last week, I was at a store and saw an amazing clearance bin. I started searching prices on the auction site while standing in the store. I thought we could make some decent money on the items. So I bought a bunch. When I came home with the bulging shopping bag of things to sell, the husband laughed. The next day, I went to another location and bought a bunch more. That night, I dismissed the husband when he reminded me I wasn't going to get caught up in this activity. Little does he know that I may go to yet another location at lunch tomorrow.
Will my excitement of watching items sell last through this current lot of bargain items? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
But that's just my view. From the 33rd floor.
