Items Purchased, Returns, Angry Customers and Intense Sweaty Fever Dreams

Greetings!

Wow, it's been a rough week for me here. I was home a day and a half with my sick daughter then home sick myself with a fever of 104! Slept through most of the weekend in a chilly, sweaty, hallucinating fashion, but I'm feeling a bit better now.  Sold a few things over the week, bought a handful of things for the store and am working on our first 'return' from a buyer as well as a potentially angry customer.  Here goes:

Let's start with the return.  Someone purchased a pair of Red Wing boots from us. They were a size 13, the guy got them and turns out he needs a size 14. He said he'd ship the boots back right away and that they were great boots, just didn't fit. No problem - he pays for shipping both ways and we will relist them.

The potentially angry customer. Someone bought a scuba mask from us and paid for it around 10:30pm on Wed night.  Wed night leading into all day Thursday was my prime time for 104 fever and night terrors...so I somehow gathered the strength to find the computer and print the shipping label Thursday night, but I didn't get the item shipped out until Friday morning.  The buyer emailed me Saturday morning irritated that the tracking information hadn't updated yet and that he was annoyed I hadn't shipped the package yet (which I had).  It didn't get out 'next day' but well below the '3 day' window that eBay suggests. Anyway, I did some customer service work, did not mention my illness at all because he'd probably think it was a lie, and just let him know it was shipped Friday morning and the tracking info just hadn't upated. Looked at my positive feedback from this guy today and it looks like we turned a frown into a 5 star crown. ;) Goes to show - NEVER LOSE YOUR COOL with a customer unless it's an extremely rare case, even then you probably should try to remain as professional and courteous as possible - because my understanding is that eBay will have your back if they read through your messages and see that you were being reasonable and professional.

Items purchased this week.  Not much, but pretty good for a fever stricken' individual:

The Pin-Up by Ralph Stein - Cool 1970's pinup book, not super rare but has a good range of categories including Marilyn Monroe, Playboy, Pin-up, etc. Paid 50 cents (and felt like a creep buying only this item from an otherwise child-friendly sale).

 Battery Operated Vintage Tie Rack with lights. This thing was just too cool to let go. It is in working condition and will probably sell to a retro clothes collector who has a crap load of ties. Might have over paid a bit - $3.

Army Green Stearns Life Jacket. Liked this because of all of the pockets and the color. Stearns seems to be a popular brand in the life jacket industry. Out of season around here but it's always sunny somewhere! Paid $3.

 Another Tie Rack - This one had the original box and is in nice shape. It says "automatic tie rack" on the box ... yet it is not mechanical at all ... not sure what's up with that ... but I'll take it. Paid 50 cents.

 Took a risk on this Calligraphy set. Looks like it's from the 1970s. Pen stuff seems to do well, so I figure why not a Calligraphy set?  Has the original box and instructions ... not sure if I will get much for this or not - paid $1.50.

 Vintage decorations. Not in the best shape but I always pick these up when they are cheap to beef up my "lots" of different holiday decor listings. You always want to check for a brand. In this case we have Hallmark and Arrington.  Always be on the look out for Beistle ... that's another good brand. Paid 10 cents each for these.

 Snoozing Santa Ceramic Figure with box. Not very old - 1990s, but in great condition and has the box. Christmas is around the corner ... someone will probably buy him. Paid 50 cents.

 What??? ANOTHER TIE RACK?  I know ... I'm crazy like that.  This one is known as "The Selectie" and has info about where it is from and everything. We will see if my tie rack binge pays off or not. Paid 50 cents.

 The Hartford Insurance Glass Paperweight. Is there a market for this? I dunno. Paid 50 cents.

 My favorite find of the week. A 1990's Deluxe Talkboy. I ONLY bought this because it is the same style as featured on Home Alone. I see people listing (and selling) these with "Christmas" or "Home Alone" in the title and people seem to dig it.  We will see if it sells this holiday season or not! Paid $1.

Total Paid for items this week: $11.40
Hoping to make around $175 - $250 on these items.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman