Great video as always! One way we avoid burnout is to "keep it human". While out sourcing books, we take the time to chat with others, maybe other booksellers, or an elderly person who needs help getting a book from the top shelf, or a Mom with young children who needs help bringing a box out to her car, or a thrift shop clerk who looks frazzled. We try to always be kind and remember that, yes, it is a job for us, but that we aren't machines grabbing and selling books - we are people doing a mostly fun, very cool job where we get to meet many nice people. And when really stressed, we watch one of Shane's videos!! :)
If I had burnout in Belgium, I would find a local used book store and just browse, knowing it cost a lot to ship back to the USA, looking at all of the books, and just enjoy them.
I get burnout quite often. Usually when I go a while without a sale. Or if there are some bills that desperately need paying and I can't sell anything to save my life. I love book sourcing even though I have THOUSANDS of books in my death pile. My bread and butter sales are about $7.99 which doesn't add up to much. I sold a $30 book a couple days ago, so that helped me get perked up a bit. Cookbooks are my bread and butter, but I make more money on college yearbooks. There are so many genres of books that are fun to work with and books are my passion. I'm going through a burnout right now, but hoping it will go away soon. I think a little excursion to Belgium would help me tremendously. LOL I actually would like to go to The Dismals in Phil Campbell, but I'm just grateful that I can afford to just stay home. But burnouts are usual, but they are temporary, thankfully. Hang in there!
It is really hard to MANAGE the day but really easy to FILL the day. You are right when you say that tele-work did that. I've been reselling full-time for a year (brick and mortar store) but on eBay for 6 months seriously and consistently. Finding stuff is so fun, putting your knowledge to work... listing requires more effort in my opinion. Getting to the burn out part, my death pile is huge and makes me anxious, sales not going fast (near 500 items in the store), rent and other bills coming in. I'm burnt out but I can't take a break. It's the hustle. Can't stan Dolly Parton's 9-to-5 anymore lol
I can feel a touch of burnout sometimes when I'm sourcing and people are getting aggressive or there are lots of other book buyers or prices are high or the sellers checked ebay for pricing every single item. It knocks the wind out of my sails and makes it no fun. My solution has been to note which estate sale companies I dislike and I avoid those categorically. I also try to go to estate sales that are in less desirable parts of town as there is often less buyer pressure there and still treasures to be found. At garage sales, I ask if they have books for sale and sometimes, pretty rarely, they bring out books that were inside, or they let me in to look at books that they did not have outside at their sale.
Demanding a proof of life picture of you wearing your WKRP Turkey Drop t-shirt and holding today’s dated newspaper. Happy Thanksgiving, hope all is well…
Welcome back, Shane! :) I always seem to lose a bit of enthusiasm for selling in the summer, when sales slow down. I just remind myself that sales will pick up again in the fall, as they always do. But, I think setting selling boundaries is important, as you suggested. It's hard though, for instance, when an offer comes in at midnight, just to ignore it! I'm curious - did Belgium have any thrift stores?
Shane, I'm kind of at the opposite end of the financial spectrum - I'm selling part-time on eBay to supplement my "bare existence" retirement - and let me tell you, lately I've experienced seller burn out from a different perspective. I've been on foot for much of the past year, because my vehicle's transmission went out, and I couldn't afford $2,000-$3,000 to get it replaced. (Funny side story: in desperation, I finally contacted my sister and brother-in-law, as they repair their own vehicles. They agreed to drive 3-1/2 hours to stay a few days with me and repair my transmission instead of replacing it. While they were here, their transmission went out!) Anyway, with me living in a tiny town, being on foot, and the nearest thrift stores 30-45 min away in any direction, I've been forced to list items I'd previously gotten from clean-out jobs. So it's been mostly "all work and no sourcing fun" for me. I didn't realize how stressful it could be. A friend finally took me to a few yard sales in another town, so I could "get out of Dodge." Lol.
I get extremely frustrated when Ebay throttles my sales to zero for couple days, after using the 50% refund on a fraudulent return. Ebay is like the worst pimp in the world, with billboards telling johns that it's open season on whores.
I have a question, and I hope you can help. I just downloaded the FBA Scanner and was scanning books that belonged to my mom. The book has several prices on Amazon. 17.00 new, 10.00 good and 3.00 used. Which price am i supposed to be looking at? I also found it on eBay for 6.00 sold. I have a book sale I'm going to tomorrow and I'm hoping to find something sellable. Thanks for any help. Tara
This one was a happy circumstance. I was in a thrift I don’t often go too and my eye saw the mass of Joyce Meyer audios. You know me- mass of stuff- I’m thinking lot sale! That said there was no pricing on the books or audio media. I asked and they said it was a sale- all media was 4 for $1. Woot! Turned a nice profit on those. I have started looking at the audio books. Most successful with them on Amazon. Price there can be crazy. Hope all is good with you!
Another case of being lucky and in the right place and time. Had a similar experience recently with a bunch of JD Robb audiobooks. Got to look for those Joyce Meyers audiobooks; they do well on eBay also. All is good! Hope the same for you!
Hey Shane. Hope everything is good with you. Looking forward to your next video. Your end of the year video is very insightful.
Great video as always! One way we avoid burnout is to "keep it human". While out sourcing books, we take the time to chat with others, maybe other booksellers, or an elderly person who needs help getting a book from the top shelf, or a Mom with young children who needs help bringing a box out to her car, or a thrift shop clerk who looks frazzled. We try to always be kind and remember that, yes, it is a job for us, but that we aren't machines grabbing and selling books - we are people doing a mostly fun, very cool job where we get to meet many nice people. And when really stressed, we watch one of Shane's videos!! :)
I like that- keep it human! Great advice!
Glad you had a break and glad you are back.
Yes, make a Trappist Ale video plus books! 🥳
Come back to the selling light! We are about to start selling next year. We miss seeing your videos!
If I had burnout in Belgium, I would find a local used book store and just browse, knowing it cost a lot to ship back to the USA, looking at all of the books, and just enjoy them.
I get burnout quite often. Usually when I go a while without a sale. Or if there are some bills that desperately need paying and I can't sell anything to save my life. I love book sourcing even though I have THOUSANDS of books in my death pile.
My bread and butter sales are about $7.99 which doesn't add up to much. I sold a $30 book a couple days ago, so that helped me get perked up a bit.
Cookbooks are my bread and butter, but I make more money on college yearbooks. There are so many genres of books that are fun to work with and books are my passion.
I'm going through a burnout right now, but hoping it will go away soon. I think a little excursion to Belgium would help me tremendously. LOL I actually would like to go to The Dismals in Phil Campbell, but I'm just grateful that I can afford to just stay home.
But burnouts are usual, but they are temporary, thankfully.
Hang in there!
Great topic.
It is really hard to MANAGE the day but really easy to FILL the day. You are right when you say that tele-work did that. I've been reselling full-time for a year (brick and mortar store) but on eBay for 6 months seriously and consistently. Finding stuff is so fun, putting your knowledge to work... listing requires more effort in my opinion. Getting to the burn out part, my death pile is huge and makes me anxious, sales not going fast (near 500 items in the store), rent and other bills coming in. I'm burnt out but I can't take a break. It's the hustle. Can't stan Dolly Parton's 9-to-5 anymore lol
I could listen to this guy ramble for hours.
I can feel a touch of burnout sometimes when I'm sourcing and people are getting aggressive or there are lots of other book buyers or prices are high or the sellers checked ebay for pricing every single item. It knocks the wind out of my sails and makes it no fun. My solution has been to note which estate sale companies I dislike and I avoid those categorically. I also try to go to estate sales that are in less desirable parts of town as there is often less buyer pressure there and still treasures to be found. At garage sales, I ask if they have books for sale and sometimes, pretty rarely, they bring out books that were inside, or they let me in to look at books that they did not have outside at their sale.
Demanding a proof of life picture of you wearing your WKRP Turkey Drop t-shirt and holding today’s dated newspaper.
Happy Thanksgiving, hope all is well…
Miss your updates
Welcome back, Shane! :) I always seem to lose a bit of enthusiasm for selling in the summer, when sales slow down. I just remind myself that sales will pick up again in the fall, as they always do. But, I think setting selling boundaries is important, as you suggested. It's hard though, for instance, when an offer comes in at midnight, just to ignore it! I'm curious - did Belgium have any thrift stores?
Shane, I'm kind of at the opposite end of the financial spectrum - I'm selling part-time on eBay to supplement my "bare existence" retirement - and let me tell you, lately I've experienced seller burn out from a different perspective. I've been on foot for much of the past year, because my vehicle's transmission went out, and I couldn't afford $2,000-$3,000 to get it replaced. (Funny side story: in desperation, I finally contacted my sister and brother-in-law, as they repair their own vehicles. They agreed to drive 3-1/2 hours to stay a few days with me and repair my transmission instead of replacing it. While they were here, their transmission went out!) Anyway, with me living in a tiny town, being on foot, and the nearest thrift stores 30-45 min away in any direction, I've been forced to list items I'd previously gotten from clean-out jobs. So it's been mostly "all work and no sourcing fun" for me. I didn't realize how stressful it could be. A friend finally took me to a few yard sales in another town, so I could "get out of Dodge." Lol.
How were the waffles in Belgium?
Waffles, chocolate, and beer were all incredible! And the double cooked fries with some Flemish stew topping!!!!
I get extremely frustrated when Ebay throttles my sales to zero for couple days, after using the 50% refund on a fraudulent return. Ebay is like the worst pimp in the world, with billboards telling johns that it's open season on whores.
I have a question, and I hope you can help. I just downloaded the FBA Scanner and was scanning books that belonged to my mom. The book has several prices on Amazon. 17.00 new, 10.00 good and 3.00 used. Which price am i supposed to be looking at? I also found it on eBay for 6.00 sold. I have a book sale I'm going to tomorrow and I'm hoping to find something sellable. Thanks for any help. Tara
Finding inventory and listing is the worse.
What's the backstory on the Joyce Meyer audio books? Nice sale! Audio books are over looked category....
This one was a happy circumstance. I was in a thrift I don’t often go too and my eye saw the mass of Joyce Meyer audios. You know me- mass of stuff- I’m thinking lot sale! That said there was no pricing on the books or audio media. I asked and they said it was a sale- all media was 4 for $1. Woot! Turned a nice profit on those.
I have started looking at the audio books. Most successful with them on Amazon. Price there can be crazy.
Hope all is good with you!
Another case of being lucky and in the right place and time. Had a similar experience recently with a bunch of JD Robb audiobooks.
Got to look for those Joyce Meyers audiobooks; they do well on eBay also.
All is good! Hope the same for you!