Simply My Business

Still looking for ideas to make my eBay office more efficient and thereby more pleasurable and productive. I am still have difficulty being organized with how listed auctions are kept separate from pending. I started containers of items that needed to be photographed, items awaiting listing, and items that had been sent to auction. That was fine until I started having some auctions not sell.
When an auction does not sell, I sometimes go back and take more photos, or rewrite the auction description or possibly even decide to hold back on it for a few weeks before re-listing. Where does it go from there? That entire system is a now a mess again.
The other area that continues to be a complete cog in the wheel of my success is the “shipping station”. Quotation marks should be followed by a huge belly laugh because it is NO station at all. A few shelves stuffed with different sizes and types of envelopes and mailers. USPS Priority Boxes stacked in a box beside and the small space I had set aside to actually wrap packages up…..well, I cannot see one inch of it because it is covered in more envelopes and stacks of boxes that will not fit anywhere else. In addition, those containers full of awaiting auctions are blocking the front of it.
I am a sad excuse of a home office manager, aren’t I? Productivity is thwarted by my lack of organization. So here it goes….I am asking for your ideas and suggestions for what makes your home office more productive. What tools of the trade save you time and help you be more successful? What organization tips have you learned or want to try? Feel free to comment away…I AM LISTENING…errrr READING!

No! No television show has offered an eBay room makeover for me. No clutter buster professional showing up at my door to help me rid my room of the piles and PILES of boxes, junk, clutter, or general mess. No “DRIVER,MOVE THAT BUS!” being shouted from my neighbors’ yards. Just li’l ol’ me trying to figure out how in the world to fix my mess of an ebay room. Before I go on, please notice I use the word room, rather than office. the word office would imply that some kind of work would be produced in such a place.

You see, my eBay room is also the “i-don’t-know-where-it-goes” room. For a moment (and I do mean a BRIEF moment) I thought about posting a photo of my ebay room. Then, with what minute bit of good sense I have left, thought better of humiliating myself publicly. Let me just say….that there is a very narrow path (term used loosely here) to my desk, which can barely be seen, much less be able to provide an efficient place to work.

I have been researching ideas for home office organizing and came across an interesting short article….How to Organize Your Ebay Home Office that gave some generic ideas for getting it all together. I have also been looking at one of those really awesome Shipping Center Armoiresto streamline my eBay work, but they are fairly expensive.

Last year was the first that I began calling my eBay an actual business and keeping the profit and loss records. My year end was most definitely in the red…BOLDED CAPITAL RED. Being on a budget and trying to reduce my load with the Lighten the Load Challenge, I am trying very hard to make-do with what I have this year, so the armoire organizer is destined to remain dream at this moment. Maybe if I rid the room of some “stuff” and eBay sales are lucrative, I can afford to pay cash for a new shipping center. Until then, it will be me fashioning a shipping station, as well as a photo station on my own…with what I have.

Since March, I have not been very productive with eBay. The death of a very dear loved one in late February numbed our household for some time, then Hais’ graduation and festivities had to be planned. Two days after her graduation, we learned that our oldest daughter (22) wanted to move here to return to school. With so many changes in our life in such a short period, there was no time for eBay. I finally had to place my store on an extended vacation setting.

The Lighten the Load Challenge has been on hold for as long, as well. We have continued to strive toward a debt free household during this time, so yesterday I finally posted my progress in the Challenge. It made me remember that though my store was closed, I am still paying for the service. It is time to “fish or cut bait”….so here I am….attempting to get things in order to go full speed ahead. That room though! What in the heck…how in the heck….can I work in there?

The room is not going to be fixed in a day. Well technically I suppose it could be if I just move the “stuff” to another room, but that really causes more difficulty and shouldn’t really count. So, I am setting a mini goal for myself here….spend two hours working on the room every day for the next seven days. In the meantime, I am hoping that maybe some of you will offer ideas and suggestions for organizing my eBay room into an eBay office. Please feel free to post links or send emails with any ideas you may have. Prayers and positive thoughts are very welcome also. I think I am going to need every bit of help I can possible find at this moment. oh, and if I am not up for air by the end of the week…please send help!