Hifiman
Senior Member
Well recently I took the plunge and decided to downsize my audio equipment to the bare minimum. I spent so many years doing the constant upgrade thing, never being satisfied with what I had. I finally saw the silliness to it all and have become an audio minimalist. Well sort of, I still can't bring myself to buy the junk on the lower end of the spectrum, but I think I've got a good compromise. I bought a receiver at a great price. To pay for it I've decided to sell my old stuff on Ebay, plus my tires and wheels I just took off my new car. I haven't sold a lot on Ebay, but I'm proud of my feedback score. I want to keep it high so I make sure I list my items accurately. Silly me, I even go so far as to make sure people know I will answer any questions they have. That's where I went wrong.
I'm learning that Ebay is not much different from the classroom. In the classroom I carefully prepare my lesson ahead of time. I try to be thorough so there's less chance of problems that could have been avoided. In my classroom my voice is often on the edge of going out, not because I constantly yell, but because after I give detailed instructions, ask the class if anyone doesn't understand, and tell them to get to work, I usually have 30% of them come up and tell me they don't know what to do. Half of those think we're working on math when in fact we're still right in the middle of our 2.5 hour block of language arts. The other half are unaware that we're in the middle of an assignment because they desperately want to tell on someone. I'm always amazed that they are always amazed to hear me tell them I don't want to hear it. After all I've only said that to them ten times a day for the last 4 months, maybe I didn't really mean it.
Through Ebay I'm learning that my students will probably never learn to read for information. Those that do read the information will still think it doesn't apply to them. And they will definitely never learn to use capitals and periods consistently (Ok I know I'm walking on shaky ground with my own posts, but...).
My auctions do not have a "Buy it now" option. Silly me, I'm not in a hurry to sell and I want the best price I can get. I also don't want to deal with shipping outside of the U.S. And then as I previously mentioned, I want to keep things honest and keep my good rating as long as I possibly can. This means I put plenty of detailed information, including a good amount of photos. I'm very picky with my audio equipment and treat it very well. My stuff essentially looks like it just came out of the carton, except for the shakers I'm selling, but that's because they were mounted inside our sofa. I listed the auctions and I'm waiting to see how it all turns out. With two more days till they close the questions are getting on my nerves.
Each item, with the exception of the wheel set, has generated numerous questions about shipping. People want to know if I'll ship to Canada, Israel, and Brazil. I always thank them for their interest and explain that I'm only shipping in the U.S. What I'd like to say is that it's plainly listed if they'll only take the time to read the listing thoroughly. C'mon, were not talking a novel here. One minute and your done! I had one guy respond to my answer about shipping out of the county by asking me "really." No, just like in my classroom, I like to repeat myself endlessly.
I had one guy this morning ask about the condition of the amplifier I was selling and what model was it. WTH? I wrote what I felt was a very detailed description of the amp, including the manufacturer, model number, and several photos that included this information as well. I need this guy in my small reading group in the morning to go over QAR strategies to help his comprehension. "Here, give your hand, stick out your finger, let me show you the exact place in the text where you can find this information. See, it's right there."
In two weeks I'm back in the classroom. I'm going in there with a different strategy. Apparently they'll never learn to think for themselves so maybe my focus will be on life skills. Loop, swoop, and pull.
I'm learning that Ebay is not much different from the classroom. In the classroom I carefully prepare my lesson ahead of time. I try to be thorough so there's less chance of problems that could have been avoided. In my classroom my voice is often on the edge of going out, not because I constantly yell, but because after I give detailed instructions, ask the class if anyone doesn't understand, and tell them to get to work, I usually have 30% of them come up and tell me they don't know what to do. Half of those think we're working on math when in fact we're still right in the middle of our 2.5 hour block of language arts. The other half are unaware that we're in the middle of an assignment because they desperately want to tell on someone. I'm always amazed that they are always amazed to hear me tell them I don't want to hear it. After all I've only said that to them ten times a day for the last 4 months, maybe I didn't really mean it.
Through Ebay I'm learning that my students will probably never learn to read for information. Those that do read the information will still think it doesn't apply to them. And they will definitely never learn to use capitals and periods consistently (Ok I know I'm walking on shaky ground with my own posts, but...).
My auctions do not have a "Buy it now" option. Silly me, I'm not in a hurry to sell and I want the best price I can get. I also don't want to deal with shipping outside of the U.S. And then as I previously mentioned, I want to keep things honest and keep my good rating as long as I possibly can. This means I put plenty of detailed information, including a good amount of photos. I'm very picky with my audio equipment and treat it very well. My stuff essentially looks like it just came out of the carton, except for the shakers I'm selling, but that's because they were mounted inside our sofa. I listed the auctions and I'm waiting to see how it all turns out. With two more days till they close the questions are getting on my nerves.
Each item, with the exception of the wheel set, has generated numerous questions about shipping. People want to know if I'll ship to Canada, Israel, and Brazil. I always thank them for their interest and explain that I'm only shipping in the U.S. What I'd like to say is that it's plainly listed if they'll only take the time to read the listing thoroughly. C'mon, were not talking a novel here. One minute and your done! I had one guy respond to my answer about shipping out of the county by asking me "really." No, just like in my classroom, I like to repeat myself endlessly.
I had one guy this morning ask about the condition of the amplifier I was selling and what model was it. WTH? I wrote what I felt was a very detailed description of the amp, including the manufacturer, model number, and several photos that included this information as well. I need this guy in my small reading group in the morning to go over QAR strategies to help his comprehension. "Here, give your hand, stick out your finger, let me show you the exact place in the text where you can find this information. See, it's right there."
In two weeks I'm back in the classroom. I'm going in there with a different strategy. Apparently they'll never learn to think for themselves so maybe my focus will be on life skills. Loop, swoop, and pull.
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