AND ANOTHER THING…. › Edit — WordPress

via AND ANOTHER THING…. › Edit — WordPress

eBay isn’t the fun it used to be

Once upon a not-so-long-ago time, eBay was an exciting place for your average punter to make a few pounds (and clear out the house a bit). You could list your daughter’s once-worn, well-kept dress bought from a reputable retailer and get a pretty decent return for it.

Then a couple of things happened that put paid (all puns intended) to that.

Firstly along came another reputable (but low-price) retailer – let’s call it P***ark.

Ahhh, thought browsers. Now why pay a small price for a secondhand dress they couldn’t touch, let alone try on (or send back in the majority of cases)? Here was an opportunity to buy new, at fantastically low prices, having tried on for size and bought with a guarantee for return.

P***ark undercuts charity shops, never mind eBay with all its postage costs. OK, the fabric may not be quite the same quality but at pocket-money prices that’s overlookable

So your outgrown, unwanted clothes are now best off back at the charity shop where you used to take them because you’re less and less likely to find customers on eBay.

And then there are eBay stores. I could be very wrong but the owners are what we used to call market traders, aren’t they? Didn’t they used to huddle under awnings in the street (close by the fruit and veg) flogging end-of-line wares that they buy up from I-don’t-know-where.

Don’t start thinking: I see, she’s against these people making a living from the Internet. I’m not. I’m just pointing out that it makes it a damn sight more difficult for you or I to sell a faultless beanbag (albeit sat on once or twice) that’s been stored in a cupboard for a few years if we’re competing against traders who have brand new versions in all sizes, shapes and colours.

The only time ‘used’ beats ‘new’ is in the antique category – and what is new stuff doing in there anyway?

No moan is complete without a suggested solution and this is mine: eBay is so huge now there needs to be a distinct line between your regular punter’s stuff and trader’s gear.

In short: eBay needs to level the playing the field and create two separate sites so sellers are pitching like against like and we all feel enthused again. Sorted?

Fight or fright

I’d genuinely thought that ‘fight or fright’ thing was a motivational macho motto meant to shake up anyone who ‘froze’ at the first sign of danger. I suppose it’s only when you’re faced with a truly horrible situation do you ever get to realise that there is real meaning in the phrase.

My horrible situation was a financial crisis (yes, I know health comes before wealth but I’m talking: a stay-awake-at-night-can-I-provide-for the kids type of brick wall). My initial reaction, I’m embarrassed to say, was 100 per cent pure, genuine, solid-rock fright.

The lunacy of the situation was that now, more than ever, did I need to work, work, work and squeeze every creative juice into action but I was too paralysed with shock to put one word in front of the other – which is a huge obstacle with writing being my profession.

There are people you can talk to when you feel….well, weak and useless. They are friends and members of your family (who aren’t going to solve your problems by shoving money into your bank account) but can talk the fight back into you.

None of mentioned the fight or fright syndrome, by the way, it’s only just occurred to me now and I realise that you don’t have to be in a ‘fright’ or ‘fight’ category – you might have to go through one to reach the other.

Nor am I writing from a position of ‘everything’s all right now’ position. I do need to ‘voice’ the obvious that fighting is the by far less frightening option in moments of panic and, of course, it has the upside of potentially positive outcome. Hiding away under the bedclothes, which may seem an attractive option, is certain to avoid any positive results.