E-bay! Wow...I'm having a great time.  I barely have time to get all of these fun items listed.  The fun has only just begun!  The learning curve is great for me....mailing out has been a big deal for me with my post office karma....but considering what an integral part of an e-bay biz it is...I guess I have no choice.  My mom is laughing at me from above.  Oh, how she would love to be doing this with me. Not the computer end but the SHOPPING end and even the post office end.

I love the customers.  They have been a delight and I marvel at the shipping destinations.  Some Limoges to Beverly Hills, some Limoges to Poland?  Who can figure.  I love it and I love the communication with the customers.  Each customer has there own story and there own style.  Some are generic e-bay people with no communication and I sometimes wonder how well their purchase was received!  The fun bit for me is that I can have my "store".  My very own store.  Selling things that I enjoy.  I wish I could do that Bewitched thing and wiggle my nose and list all of the goodies that I have arranged to sell.  I've even had to call in Biff.  

The kids love the business.  They enjoy hearing how high customers will go on their bids.  While we were on the cape, eight of us  watched a bidding war over some vintage sneakers, pre-owned in great condition....go figure.   All of the kids were appalled when I turned down an offer from a customer to buy the sneakers "buy it now"....just 12 hours after I posted the listing.  The kids told me that I would be sorry. They thought I should go with the rather large sum of money offered.  I explained my reasoning.  It's been a great learning experience for us all. 

We all waited and watched as the bids moved slowly at first.  In the last few days, the numbers seemed to change little by little and then KABOOM the bidding wars began.  That was great fun.  Who knew?  We were all amazed to see this bidding frenzy over sneakers.  Maybe the Furla Handbag...maybe the Tiffany Bracelet....maybe the "New With Tags" Lilly Pulitzer Dress......but sneakers?  From the 80's? There's something for everyone out there.

I'm a little slow on these photos lately since I'm using our desktop computer....note the capitals!  My dear old friend will be so pleased to see that I'm doing my best to work on my typing with CAPITALS.  Typing is still a challenge.  The kids still think I'm a slowpoke and lost in cyberspace when it comes to some of the basics....but all of this is new to me since last Halloween. 

 I've come a long way.  It's funny because now that e-bay is a part of our lives, they see that my efforts at learning something new....from facebook to blog to e-bay and paypal has been great for all of us.  They even enjoy giving me ideas. They have suggestions about pricing and what to sell.  Now that's learning.  They have a real respect since it is happening right in front of them.  

Grace and T.J. may come with me to the Post Office but they still choose to sit in the car if I have a few things to ship.  I have a large hot pink quilted bag with lime green piping....very large....o.k, gigantic hot pink quilted bag with lime green..... I carry all of my outgoing packages into the Post Office with this bag.  It's perfect.  I have tape and markers and tissue and ribbons....just in case.  I like to make the packages look pretty.  

Grace and T.J. seem to feel that the pink bag screams out...."Hey! over here!  Look at the crazy lady crossing the street in the center of our town!"  At these moments I laugh.  I'm sure as teenagers they feel that all of the traffic on our Main Street will come to a halt while people whisper to each other that I am the mom of T.J. and Grace! 

 I laugh.  I also mention that I could be singing at the top of my lungs and dancing across the street and many folks wouldn't even notice....just because they are busy doing their life....

getting the lettuce out of their teeth, 

checking to see if their zippers are pulled tight,

trying not to trip on the sidewalk, 

diving head first into the car to keep their dogs' from eating the groceries,

looking in store windows to see if the walking has helped trim the body down, 

carrying a tantrumming toddler out of a store because I wouldn't buy a lollipop, 

figuring out how to fix a jog stroller flat tire in order to get 2 small children back home, 

going from store to store looking for their wallet, 

wiping their babies' noses so no one thinks they have cooties

returning late library books. 

I know this because those are some of the things I've had to take care of ....and that's all in an average day.... they don't believe me.  They beg me not to sing and dance.  I'd love to....but my packages are heavy.  So, I lug them inside....solo.  That's o.k.  The postal workers behind the counter always smile when they see me. That's more than T.J. and Grace do in public now that they're full fledged teens!