I started school and I'm so excited! My professors are really cool and I can tell they're going to be really good, too. Also excited because I finally put the dyed shirts on Etsy and someone bought one already!
I'm trying to get into the habit of sketching every day even though it's discouraging since I'm kind of terrible...I guess the only way to improve is practice. I found this blog - Carving Paper - that's really inspiring. He draws every day and is so diligent about it. I want to take advantage of all the parks and people-watching places in New York before I move. Especially the park half a block from our house! I'm so spoiled.
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Ebay vs Etsy: A Guide
So, I've been selling stuff on eBay and Etsy for a while now and I thought I had familiarized myself with the fee structures. When I looked at my eBay account and saw that the $75 sale I'd made the other day had over $5 in "Final Value Fees" taken by eBay, I was kind of mad. So I decided to take another look at the two sites' fee structures. I made a little guide:
Here are my big problems with eBay/Paypal/life.
1. The outrageous 8.75% eBay charges you on the first $20 of anything you sell. That's $1.75! That's pretty ridiculous. On Etsy, the first $20 costs you the same as the rest, 3.5%, which for $20 is only $0.70. Even on low-selling items (or especially on low-selling items), Etsy is much less expensive than eBay.
2. So say you owe $5 in Final Value fees to eBay which you will pay from your $75 sale. You can't just pay the $5 directly from that sale - it goes to Paypal first. And Paypal takes 2.9% of those $5 just like they take 2.9% of the other $70. So you're basically paying Paypal fees on your eBay fees. This is kind of like being taxed twice. Really annoying.
3. Ebay charges you a minimum of $0.35 to list an item (unless it's media) and if you want to list anything above $10, it goes up to $0.55. If it's above $25, you'll pay $1.00. You could start your item at $9.99 to save on listing fees, but there's no guarantee that you'll get the $35 you want.
The list goes on, but I'm annoyed enough already. The only good thing about eBay is the fact that more people use it so you can (MAYBE, if you're lucky) get more for your item. And that you can sell non-old stuff on it.
Here are my big problems with eBay/Paypal/life.
1. The outrageous 8.75% eBay charges you on the first $20 of anything you sell. That's $1.75! That's pretty ridiculous. On Etsy, the first $20 costs you the same as the rest, 3.5%, which for $20 is only $0.70. Even on low-selling items (or especially on low-selling items), Etsy is much less expensive than eBay.
2. So say you owe $5 in Final Value fees to eBay which you will pay from your $75 sale. You can't just pay the $5 directly from that sale - it goes to Paypal first. And Paypal takes 2.9% of those $5 just like they take 2.9% of the other $70. So you're basically paying Paypal fees on your eBay fees. This is kind of like being taxed twice. Really annoying.
3. Ebay charges you a minimum of $0.35 to list an item (unless it's media) and if you want to list anything above $10, it goes up to $0.55. If it's above $25, you'll pay $1.00. You could start your item at $9.99 to save on listing fees, but there's no guarantee that you'll get the $35 you want.
The list goes on, but I'm annoyed enough already. The only good thing about eBay is the fact that more people use it so you can (MAYBE, if you're lucky) get more for your item. And that you can sell non-old stuff on it.
when i grow up...
I'll have an old house (on a lake if possible) that has a name, like in Gone With the Wind, for escaping wherever I normally live,
I'll have a black pug named Dot, short for Dorothy (I'm sure my grandma would love to know she was the namesake of a grunting, squirming dog, right?),
I might have to get a third cat named Pancake, regardless of gender,
I'll have a small garden like on The City Gardener,
I'll wallpaper all the walls in my house,
I can shop at antique and thrift stores all I want and never set foot in Ikea again,
I'll have a pied-à-terre in New York (did I mention I plan on winning the lottery?),
I will have really nice cookware, like Le Creuset, or maybe a certain other cast iron cookware company that bears my last name?,
I will have a really detailed family tree hanging in my wallpapered house,
My mom can knit and sew my (possible) future children all of their clothes,
I can work from home if I want to,
I'll be really good at ironing,
and
I'll go buy Aunt Jennie if my sister has kids (but really just Jennie because I'm not down with weird titles like that)
I'll have a black pug named Dot, short for Dorothy (I'm sure my grandma would love to know she was the namesake of a grunting, squirming dog, right?),
I might have to get a third cat named Pancake, regardless of gender,
I'll have a small garden like on The City Gardener,
I'll wallpaper all the walls in my house,
I can shop at antique and thrift stores all I want and never set foot in Ikea again,
I'll have a pied-à-terre in New York (did I mention I plan on winning the lottery?),
I will have really nice cookware, like Le Creuset, or maybe a certain other cast iron cookware company that bears my last name?,
I will have a really detailed family tree hanging in my wallpapered house,
My mom can knit and sew my (possible) future children all of their clothes,
I can work from home if I want to,
I'll be really good at ironing,
and
I'll go buy Aunt Jennie if my sister has kids (but really just Jennie because I'm not down with weird titles like that)
brown hair again
Today I re-dyed my hair! (my original hair color is light auburn and I've been dying it dark brown for the past 4 years or so.) I really just want to take a moment to appreciate Revlon Color Silk...
In the past four years, I've only gotten my hair professionally dyed twice (once to make it blonde and once to make it brown again after I was bored of blonde). Throughout this time, I've remained loyal to the same brand of hair dye over and over -
(that's the color I use, too!)
Why?
1. It costs $2.97
2. It doesn't have ammonia in it, so it won't totally ruin your hair
3. The conditioner that comes with it makes my hair shinier than it ever is normally, even if (according to my hairstylist) it can "leave deposits". I guess that means I need a clarifying shampoo?
Anyway, I don't think I'll ever stray from that gold box unless I suddenly become very wealthy and then I guess I'll pay someone to do it for me so I don't have to worry about missing spots in the back or getting dye in my eye as I rinse it out (it hurts) or getting spots all over the sink/rug/clothes I'm wearing.
In the past four years, I've only gotten my hair professionally dyed twice (once to make it blonde and once to make it brown again after I was bored of blonde). Throughout this time, I've remained loyal to the same brand of hair dye over and over -
(that's the color I use, too!)
Why?
1. It costs $2.97
2. It doesn't have ammonia in it, so it won't totally ruin your hair
3. The conditioner that comes with it makes my hair shinier than it ever is normally, even if (according to my hairstylist) it can "leave deposits". I guess that means I need a clarifying shampoo?
Anyway, I don't think I'll ever stray from that gold box unless I suddenly become very wealthy and then I guess I'll pay someone to do it for me so I don't have to worry about missing spots in the back or getting dye in my eye as I rinse it out (it hurts) or getting spots all over the sink/rug/clothes I'm wearing.