SecondMoonshot

I bought several lots of vintage tools at auction…some good, some just some tools. But I wanted to clean off the rust before I listed some of them so after watching some YouTube videos and seeing what I had and needed, came up with this contraption. No DeWalt was injured in the process.  Iteration #1 Used a lot of zip ties and will improve down the road. I wanted to do a hanging implementation as sounds like it will agitate better. Pictures of the ultrasonic cleaner DIY (ok, agitator): The bucket is a safety in case something goes wrong and the container somehow comes off. It is held on with Velcro but wasn’t too confident so added some zip ties as well. I had an old plate for the sander and bolted that to the lid and put Velcro on it as well. For solution, went to Harbor Freight and got Evapo-Rust and we’ll see how that works, kinda pricey at $30 for a gallon (or less), so hopefully you get what you pay for. Also got some CLR to try for larger items as I can mix with water. Result...

I got my first neutral review feedback from an eBay aBuyer. A relatively new eBayer that didn't read the description and thought they were getting 2 bowls vs the clearly states ONE bowl. I gave them a full refund before I could talk myself out of it and then requested a revision to correct. They may or may not but didn't want that to influence my decision and mantra that if a buyer is not 100% satisfied, they get a full refund. They never reached out to me or anything…future buyers: let me know if not 100%, if I can’t get you there…full refund (or option B, don’t communicate, give poor review feedback and get blocked)…I blocked them. Moving on. They have since revised the neutral feedback, but will stay blocked.  This makes me wonder if some demented eBay buyer uses the negative or neutral feedback to hold the seller hostage, trying to get full refund to have the less than positive feedback removed. There are all kinds. Who knows….I may have just encounter one of them. ...

Very cool. He got this for $0.99 and paid a lot for shipping to the UK…committed to his craft and have tremendous respect for that.  Thanks, John

My neighbors, Mira and Natalia are Ukrainian, they do a lot to support the country and saw this sign in one of the upstairs rooms. For about 20 years I thought I was Ukrainian but a few years ago my father informed me I was Russian. We’ll, doesn’t matter, still Ukrainian at heart.  John 

 90% of out lawn art is estate sale picks. Kudos to Z for bringing it together.  John

 Well, now that I have time on my hands, I decided to take on the service work for the 2016 C4S. Dealer would be charging me between $2500 and $3000. Parts and misc needed tools came to about $550 and ended up taking me about 8 hours. I have a Quick Jack which I love and makes lofting the car a breeze.  Service included: Spark plug replacement Oil and filter change Cabin and pollen filter change Serpentine/drive belt replacement Air filter change I was a little nervous taking this on and YouTube, RennList and a few other sites got me through it. Spark plugs were probably the most frustrating part because I had to use some combination of extensions to get to the plugs. Serpentine belt probably took the longest mostly because you have to remove rear bumper, wing, and airbox, but easier than I thought - its like a big lego set. When I removed the carriage bolt the engine dropped a little and was glad I got a bottle Jack to lift engine up again to put it back in. Before I took off...

 He’s 87. Classic. John

Every time I see my kids, it’s special….this was no exception. Carrianne is my oldest and well known for her impeccable choice of fashion as you will agree with the one-of-a-kind t-shirt (well, 6 of-a-kind technically). She just moved into a new house (rental for now while she saves and invests at a mammoth pace for a home to call her own). She was on the hunt for vintage (I.e. free) furniture and acquired a nice wood veneer computer desk, dining room table and 2 dressers.  She is the one that created the SecondMoonshot current logo and created its own font! How cool is that. Her second job is VP of Branding for SecondMoonshot…honorary title as it comes with no pay, but she earned it. John

I decided to just dispense of the handling charge for everything from books, posters, and pictures. EVERYTHING. Even insurance when needed (at my sole discretion since I alone carry the risk) is included.  Maybe one day I will go for free shipping, but not any day soon.  John

Well, the ultimate goal was accomplished. Make a couple people happy and clear out the attic. Done with only 1 trip to the donation center at the end of it. Even had a repeat customer from my first one last year and he brought his sister. Best part was the people we met.  At 12 noon, every thing was free…that’s when it got fun.  John

About half of the artwork and framed pieces are in climate controlled storage and half is hanging in my office and in spare bedroom. The other works in storage are bagged and sealed with silica gel packs. No real rhyme or reason what goes where and driven by what fits in a spot on the wall and my desire at any given time to hammer a nail. All signed books stay in the same two rooms but non-signed books (a few exceptions, mostly some leather books) stay in the attic right now; moisture and sunlight isn’t an issue but keeping an eye on them for a future move.    John

I am always looking for new opportunities for sourcing and revenue, here are my primary directions:  Present: eBay and Sourcing: Less known in-person auctions where the bidders don’t congregate in such huge masses and drive the prices up. I have found one in a small rural town outside Raleigh 30 minutes where people are nice, prices usually fair or better; I continue to seek out more. eBay and Sourcing: Estate sales are still a big staple but I am getting pickier on which ones I attend and continue to build relationships with a few key ones. They aren’t as fun as auctions, well…maybe a few, but finding in-person auctions fun….and at the end of the day, I am in this to do something I enjoy.  eBay and Sourcing: Thrift stores. Me and Z will still hit a thrift store if we pass one that we haven’t been to before. As our experience builds month over month we are able to find things we might not have picked up on in earlier days.  Consignments within my social network and custom...

  Most of this is common sense but like everything else, may have variations depending on category. I have been looking over the sales trends for about a year since and now that I am setting most of my listings as Promoted Listings, it makes it easier to see monthly and weekly sales trends.  Observations: Common paycheck periods definitely have a major play with 1st and 15th of the month (starting a day before) being the biggest sales periods of the month, especially for higher priced listings. But I have found to take the best advantage of it, have your listings posted a week in advance if possible. I did a large number of listings 2 days before the end of the month and they seemed to have missed the wave. People have probably already made up their minds days in advance on bigger purchases. Government paychecks go every 2 weeks and can be found pretty easily with a Google Search . Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are generally the worst days of the week with it bottoming out on ...

Some nice Waning Gibbous pics from Z. John