SecondMoonshot

In 2021, it took me all year to get about 100 followers, I have hit 200 at middle of August 2022, so making progress. Its probably one of my more cherished metrics as it is probably one of the best indicators your doing something right (or wrong). I am a single person operation for the most part, so my growth is only going to go so far, but I am very comfortable with the feedback I have received and think I am promoting a better atmosphere for eBay selling (or anything else I am involved in). Honesty, fairness, empathy…even today are still great behaviors.  Boy, I printed the web page out, circled in marker, scanned it, cropped it, just for this blog post. There must be a better way! Update: I ended the year 2022 with 288 eBay followers and hit 4000 totally item sales. Good year. John

I track a number of metrics on eBay. Probably a debated one is the number of listings that have watchers. The reason is because the competition often follows similar listings, either to watch what they sell it for, they are preparing for a future listing of a like item, or perhaps (on a rare occasion), someone is actually watching an item because they are interested in it. I actually watch items similar to new acquisitions so I can use it as a comp and unwatch after I list my item. In the above picture, I have a new high of roughly 28.8% of my listings having watchers. My only indicator is that it can’t be a bad thing, but just one of the things I watch. I used to keep a close eye on average item selling price, but got discouraged as we tend to sell a good bit of lower end items that I get at auction and just list them as they are reasonably good potential sales, so abandoned that for my own sanity.  Other things I keep an eye on daily: Rolling weekly sales $ Promoted vs Organic im...

  Amazing moon and cloud phenomenon that I only noticed after zooming on on our Surf City day trip pictures. Learning some photo editing tools.  This is me in January of 2017. A before and after…this is what COVID does to you. Looks like it ages you 20 years.  Some fun while learning about photo editing: Cat tattoo, nothing better than a cat that supports the brand. Branded flag flying high. John

I have been looking for a better safer and more professional looking DIY free book mailer I can make from available free cardboard boxes and stock. I worked out this method which I think came out well and offers lots of protection and can be used for albums, puzzles and anything that is generally ridges and square or rectangular. Hope you find this useful.  I have made a few changes to the design, primarily to not have the seam in the middle but have it cover the front (or back) completely, that way the tape goes on the edge and have an additional 1” which goes under the front flap. This makes it look much cleaner, easier to seal and a nice blank space for your shipping label. I used this design to ship a signed art print which I wanted to ship flat with the mat board. It worked better than any packing option I have used prior and super rigid. Once you get the hang of the dimension offsets, it looks truly professional. And a finished book ready to ship. John

Me…not so much. John

Friday evenings are usually booked for the OMT 6pm auction, but Zabrina and I wanted to do something, so a drive and a hike or new small town tour are always great candidates. Looking for a state park within a few hours didn’t turn up anything that sparked our interest, so decided on a small beach town where a friend of ours moved to last year…Surf City, NC. We tend to like smaller towns and cities, and this place was great, walkable, excellent beach vibe, less than average tourism domination (but still plenty) and a good locals spots and trendy spots to eat. We walked the beach when we got there for an hour as the tide was coming in, and true to the name, plenty of surfers. Wind was blustery to say the least and my beard felt like a sail. Great beach.  When we headed back to the car, we were a little disappointed there was no place to wash off. We later found the central strand beach access had decent bathrooms and two showers outside which we took advantage of. Parking was not to...

  https://www.facebook.com/SecondMoonshot I find Facebook to be counterintuitive most of the time, but muscle memory is kicking in and getting the hang of it via repetition. Even have my first follower! John

Here is the third volume of framing projects, a continuation of  Volume #2 .  For pricing estimation information, go  HERE . This was an inexpensive but nice picture my daughter bought at auction that needed a new dust cover and hanging hardware. Not for sale. A really nice multi medium sea gull signed short run print, love it. For sale on eBay here . This is a few framing projects for some of our auction friends. The map picture has glass on both sides so they can show the back if desired. Was a hand-made frame and there is a second one that is larger. Turned out to be more work than expected, but came out good. My amateur PhotoShop skills accidentally removed their heads. Not for sale. This was just a quick frame I made from a recovered cut down frame for a print Zabrina liked. Not for sale. Hiroyuki Tajima (Japanese, 1911-1984) “Capricious Red” Abstract Woodcut 1976. Got this at Rummage Warehouse and a great barn find. Had a good Japanese frame available in right size ...