May 12, 2009

• Just riffin’ today.  Haven’t done that in a long time.

  My Little Analysis On the Economy and My Ebay World

  I’m slowly getting my life back.  After working 60 hour weeks for the past four months, the work load is finally dying down.  The extra 20 hours per week were all put in on Ebay.  It was worth it, because it was profitable, but I took some major hits the past month.   That tells me the economy is still slow/slowing down and not close to being right yet.  If there is to be any sort of pick up, I don’t think that will happen until the middle of next year.  All this talk of the recession being over at the end of 2009, maybe, but all that means to me is that the economy will stabilize and there won’t be more cutbacks.  It doesn’t mean that employers will start hiring at the end of 2009.  The bleeding will stop, but the healing and physical therapy sessions will take another six months after that.  Just my unscientific opinion. 

  The sales trend of the last two years:

  • 2 years ago:  Good. 95% of things sold.
  • 1 year ago:   Solid.  85%-90% of things sold, as long as I didn’t overstock.
  • January-March 2009:  Good acts sold, but only a little profit to be made.  Even if shows were sold out for two months for well-known established bands, people weren’t racing to gobble up tickets on the secondary market.  The trick was buying enough, but not overstocking.  A few hot shows still sold like hotcakes (Lady Gaga, Jimmy Eat World reunion, Flight of the Conchords).  Lakers regular season tickets were blazin’, the highest they’ve ever sold for. 
  • April-Current 2009:  The market seemed to hit a standstill in April.  I don’t know if it was job losses or just people paying their taxes, but sales just stopped cold for about 2 or 3 weeks.  I ate it on a variety of shows in multiple cities.  Even many sold out shows were barely selling for cover price or less than cover or not selling at all.  After the hottest regular season sales ever for Lakers tickets, sales for playoff tickets slowed to a crawl.  Lakers playoff tickets are only moving at cover price or 10%-15% over cover price. 

  I don’t know if it’s just because it did more volume, but the percentage of dumb buyers is up.  Also, there is more supposed credit card fraud (people claiming they didn’t make a purchase when they clearly did).  I think it’s people wanting to go to something they can’t afford, going, then trying to get that money back by filing a credit card chargeback.  I don’t experience many real loses this way because I follow shipping documentation procedures so that I’m mostly covered by Paypal. 

  A couple of idiot examples are: 

  1. People not updating their shipping address after moving, then claiming they didn’t get their tickets.  If the tracking number shows delivered to their initial address, then I’m covered.   This happened three or four times.  Not my fault they didn’t check their shipping address before paying. 
  2. Last Friday I had a buyer send me an offer for tickets on a show on Saturday.  I listed at $110, he offered $80, then messaged and said he could do $90 if that would seal the deal.  I messaged back, “I can do $90.  Just know that it’s $90 + $16.99 for overnight shipping.”  I’m in Cali, he’s in Philly.  Then I send the counter offer, he accepts.  I send invoice and he only pays $90.  I email him and say, “I think you forgot to pay for overnight shipping.”  He tells me he thought it was for $90 total including overnight shipping.  That I should refund him and relist.  I tell him I would do that, except a relisting takes sever hours to show up on Ebay, by that time, I wouldn’t have a chance at selling the item.  His bid was binding and that that’s why I emailed him before purchase to explain the shipping fee to avoid this.  I say I can discount the overnight shipping to $10 for him.  He counters back and will only give me $5.  I tell him overnight shipping was not promised anywhere in my emails or auction page, I’m more than happy to ship it out USPS Priority Mail as promised if he doesn’t want overnight shipping.  He tells me $5, take it or leave it. 

  A sold out show, tickets were $95 cover, if you wanted to go to a show and you could get them the day before and only pay $10 over cover and have them overnighted to you, wouldn’t you be happy?  At some point, this guy who couldn’t read English thought his fighting over a $5 difference in shipping fee was more important than him being able to go to the show.  He pissed me off royally, wasted so much of my time that morning so I said, “It’s $16.99 for overnight shipping.  If the money is in my account by this time, I’ll ship out that way.  If not, I’ll ship out via Priority Mail, as promised.”  He told me he’d win his case with Paypal and Ebay.  

  I’m not trying to piss people off.  I want people to get their tickets on time.  My shipping terms are stated clearly on the auction pages.  There’s been a higher occurence of people like this, this year.  Instead of people planning ahead as in past years, in 2009 more people are buying things last minute (sounds like the same trend that the TV and radio advertising is experiencing).  And they expect the tickets to magically appear on their doorstep in time when the show is a day or two away.  For this guy, he didn’t understand that Paypal doesn’t care when the package gets there, they only care that a package is shipped and trackable.  It blows my mind.  If I wanted to go to a show bad and it was a day before the show and I could get them at near cover price, of course I’d want them overnighted to me.  I didn’t ship them overnight.  He didn’t get the tickets in time.  He spent $90, didn’t get to go to the show, and he’s gonna fight a case with Paypal that he won’t win.  What a dumb ass.  

  Random Thoughts

  I get turned on by those Falcon Waterfree Technology urinals in the men’s room.  It doesn’t flush, has little smell (due to the multi layered bowl?), and it’s fun to watch pee droplets pinging around the metal rim like heated electrons.  I would love to have one in my house. 

  

  Stopped by Newport Beach Fashion Island this weekend and it looks ghosty.  Seemed like 25% of the stores were either closed or closing. 

  I know it’s not rocket science when the market has been beaten down, but my stocks are up 25%-100% in the past two months.  Still not close to even, nevertheless, I’m happier.   

  More and more I’m coming to the conclusion that online dating is a waste of time.  It’s good to have your “resume” out there, because you never know, but I just don’t think the pool of women that are online in SoCal are that quality.  Why is it so hard to find cultured and diverse women that have family values?  And the trend still holds true… it seems like lawyer types, moreso than any other profession, are intrigued by me.   Chinkyz, I know you’re disappointed! 

   

  • 2:05 pm
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