ilovemygirls

2012-01-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

What exactly do people want?

Had a shearling coat - yes, another shearling, and believe it or not, from the same store as the other troublesome coat :( Listed it for $99.99 in a 7 day auction. Someone contacted me and asked me if I had a Buy It Now price. I told her that she could buy the coat for $200 as a Buy It Now (BIN). She said no, that she would wait for the auction to go through to the end. Her call!

Bids started coming in and a bidding war occurred. She was bidding it up a few times each day. I told her about Auction Sniper - I felt badly that she was getting involved in a bidding war - I liked her and didn't mind if she went to Auction Sniper and wound up buying it that way. Perhaps she looked up Auction Sniper and perhaps she didn't. In the end she wound up buying the coat for $371.

I do not charge very much for shipping and I incur the cost of insurance. She probably paid less than $10 to ship this heavy coat. OK - all's well.

Well, only for a little while.

She emails me to tell me that the coat was too big for her. She really liked the coat, but her husband told her that it did not fit and she should return it.

Fine, I tell her - return for a refund immediately.

I get the coat back and return her $371 AT ONCE. I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you, I tell her and that's that. She had to call PAYPAL to find out when the refund would show up in her account and the agent at Paypal proceeds to tell her that she should get her shipping back too! Now, the agent at Paypal was not correct - my listing states that if the item is as described, the shipping is not returned.

But this gal proceeds to email me and tell me what the agent said. I was shocked - after being as nice to this person as one could be, is she asking me for the shipping back?

So, I emailed her in my shocked state and perhaps she didn't like what I said to her. She emailed back to tell me that "the customer is always right".

EEK!

We emailed back and forth a bit, but it is always disappointing when you go out of your way for someone, that they turn out to be NOT SO NICE! I deal with so many people each day. Online with buyers, clients and at the store with customers. I love people and overall, people like me. Nice.

Imagine my surprise when I checked my feedback this evening and see this:

	Item did not fit as M/L... fit as 1x or 2x... very, very big coat..
	Reply by ilovemygirls3 Seller BEWARE! Ungrateful buyer. Measurements were given, refunded immediately.

Please explain this to me - NEUTRAL feedback because the coat did not fit her! Does that say anything about my selling? The measurements were given - she knows what her shoulders are, her waist, her hips - I don't. It is the buyer's job to read the description and decide before purchasing if the item is for them. I had 3 coats from this same "client". All of the coats were M/L. This is eBay - not Bloomingdales - you are buying things at a price - well, unless you let yourself get caught in a bidding war! and you should be careful when you make a purchase. When did I become responsible to be sure that the item will fit you?

I buy many things on ebay. I read the listing carefully - I look at the photos carefully and then I make a decision as to whether I think the item is right for me. I would not BLAME the SELLER if something didn't fit me unless the measurements were way out of whack. But even then, would I leave a NEGATIVE?

I tried to help this gal from the very beginning. In the end - she gives me a huge SLAP.

EEK - PLEASE DO NOT COME BACK!

Buyer has been put on my DO NOT SELL to list. Luckily for me, I have many wonderful buyers who come back again and again - this one, well, she can stay away!

2011-12-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

What would you do?

Had a CHANEL Camelia Black Leather Wallet up for $675. A good price for a wallet used only a very few times. It just wasn't right for me - you know - the search for the perfect handbag doesn't end with that - there's the search for the perfect wallet, the perfect make-up case, the perfect card holder, etc. etc.

So here it was, what I thought was the perfect wallet, certainly pretty enough, but in the end, not the perfect wallet for me. I listed it on ebay and I received an offer of $600. I was out having lunch with a friend - something I don't do very often and immediately responded that I would sell for $650. The buyer agreed and I attempted to change the Buy It Now price. I did not have my MIFI modem with me (eek - how could I have forgot it at home - not my style at all) but luckily my friend had her iPad with 3G. The connection was soooo slow, but I finally managed to get in there and change the price. I was pleased because I wanted her to be able to bid and have it in time for Xmas.

I was out when the wallet was paid for and my assistant quickly wrapped it up and got it out to the post office. We do a good job :)

Later that day I noticed something funny - she only paid $625 - not $650 as we agreed upon. I realized immediately that I had made a mistake and changed the price to $625 not $650.

Now I will say that along the line similar things have happened and my eBayers have ALWAYS gotten right back to me to let me know that there was an error. Overall, my eBayers are really honest and they appreciate what I do for them - and of course it works - vice versa! One of the things I love about eBay and my eBayers.

I immediately emailed this gal and sent her a PayPal invoice for the $25 difference. I emailed her our agreement.

You tell me........

Did she pay me the $25?

Would you have paid the $25?

There are two people who know the answer. The gal who bought the wallet and me. What's your opinion?

Obviously, becoming unhinged was the answer!

2011-11-15T18:34:00.001-08:00

I guess that is what works - I will have to remember that :)

My primary doctor's office called me at least twice today to give me updates of the appointment for the "test" and they couldn't have been nicer. My guess is that my doctor gave them the "what for".

I hate that it is what it took for them to be "nice".

On the other hand, it didn't take anything for them to be "nice" at the oncologist's office. A call last night and a call this morning following up with my appointment with the urologist.

Truly, I am not overly concerned, but anything that might be wrong must be discovered quickly and followed up on - moving forward is the only way to deal.

I will tell you that my day was topped off yesterday with the loss of my iPad. I love my iPad - it is the iPad1 and I love it. I love all of my "equipment" and can't be without it.

I discovered that it was gone midway through my afternoon. I ran back to the toy store to see if I left it there - called the restaurant where I had lunch, called the Leather Spa where I made a quick stop to pick something up and called Mackenzie Childs because I stopped there to use their ladies room. Don't tell - but they have the nicest ladies room in all of New York City. On the second floor - with all of their beautiful tiles, silk, etc. Even the nicest soap and hand lotion.

NO - no one had it and I was devastated. So devastated that I didn't even mention it to my husband. I couldn't even talk about it.

Headed off today to run my errands and at around 12 pm received an email from someone at Sephora asking me to call them. Now yesterday I stopped there to return something and had completely forgotten that I was even in there. Yup - that's where I left it! They had hoped that the person who left it would come back for it - but when I didn't they decided they had to turn it on and see if they could find info on me - they found my email address and emailed me.

How do you like that?

I do - and now my wonderful iPad is back in my possession.

How nice are they at SEPHORA?

........and, yes - the primary doctor's office called again this morning to tell me that my appointment will be the "test" and not a consultation.

Becoming unhinged is definitely the way to go :)

EEEK, EEK and EEK again

2011-11-15T06:41:00.001-08:00

Sometimes there are things in my life other than eBay. Is that possible?

About six months ago while I was in NYC with my boss buying for the next season, hubby got a phone call from my primary doctor reporting that some blood work showed an infection. Hubby calls to tell me that I had an infection! How crazy! I was fine.

What went on from there was a visit to a new doctor for follow up. I won't go into all of that, but I was not that concerned.

Finally a couple of weeks ago my primary doctor, whom I love, sits me down and explains that I need to have this unpleasant test. NOT that he is concerned about results, but that I must follow through. Of course, being the adult that I am, I agreed that he was correct.

I called the other doctor to see if I could move up my appointment and to be sure that the test was scheduled.

The test was NOT scheduled.

Two weeks later I had to go back to another doctor for a re-test (not giving you the intimate details :) but again, just a regular test and no reason for concern. Asked him to do that other test again, just as an aside and discovered that the minor concern has changed to minor concern with a little extra.

On my way to Sally's Pizza in New Haven (yum yum and yum) I called my primary doctor's assistant to request that she ask my doctor to get in touch with the other doctor (is this confusing yet?) to try to move up the appointment and to be sure that the "test" is scheduled.

Yes, she said, she will get back to me as soon as she speaks with the doctor.

Next day comes and I do not hear back from her - I'm not happy and at the end of the day I called her again. She didn't want to get on the telephone with me but finally did. She told me that my primary has not gotten back to her yet.

Next day is Friday - I give her until the end of the day to get back to me. NO CALL. I call the office and she would not get on the telephone with me - I was STEAMING! Left my cell number and explained that I would be in NYC on Monday and expected to hear from her.

NO CALL. Monday morning I called and asked that my primary call me leaving my cell number. I discover that he is OUT on Monday but usually calls in and gets his messages.

By 3:00 no call. By this time I am FUMING!

But more than that - feeling very concerned that perhaps I am not well and that my doctor and his office has done nothing for me - what does one do? I guess I was brought up that doctors were G-ds and we mustn't step on their toes at all.

I called the doctor's office and must admit that I became totally UNHINGED - and when I was finished with my tirade the gal who answered the phone said "and what is your message?" Perhaps you can imagine how I responded to that one!

Within the next 15 minutes I received a telephone call from my doctor - apologizing profusely and very upset that this whole "misunderstanding" has taken place.

He said that he actually walked over to the other doctor's office LAST WEEK to ask them to move up my appointment and to be sure that the "test" was scheduled.

That leaves 3 people who could have called me on Thursday, the day after my initial call, to let me know this.

I heard from no one.

Finally I called my oncologist's office and explained the entire situation. Within an hour I had a call back saying that there are two tests that I should have and that they will immediately take care of making the arrangements.

This morning I called the doctor's office where I had an appointment for a month from now - the appointment that my doctor tried to move up.

They had NO RECORD of any appointment on their books!

Tell me, please - what is wrong with this picture?

I love my primary - but this seems too crazy. I would guess this is how people wind up dying! Supposedly they will call me back to let me know why - they do not show my appointment on their books and why, if my doctor walked over there personally, no one did ANYTHING.

I would like to mention that the first time I went to the other doctor he told me that he wanted to do this "test". When he described it to me I wasn't thrilled but worked up all of my "bravery" and agreed. Then the doctor came back in - I was totally braced for this discomfort and he told me that he didn't have the equipment to do it.

I think that should have been my first clue that I was in precarious hands! The next time I went, again prepared with Xanex, he told me he wasn't doing the "test". I guess I was so happy that I didn't ask why and happily ran out of there.

That's where I fell short -

The moral of this story, for me, is that we must take care of ourselves and not allow these G-ds run our lives in any way. They are NOT G-ds and if we think so, we are in big trouble.

Both my primary doctor and my oncologist are really fabulous and I am happy to be in their hands - but what happened here is very bad. The oncologist's office picked up the pieces and got the puzzle together. I am grateful to them for that.

THE SHEARLING SAGA :(

2011-11-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

I think I understand what happened and I am not happy at all.

Believe it or not the same Shearling coat got sent out again - the gal received the coat and emailed to say that there was no label in the coat. My heart sinks - what is going wrong? I look at the photos and I see NO LABEL at all in the photos. This is crazy - so I called her and she tells me that there is absolutely no label in the coat. How strange this is.

OK - I think I understand what happened - because I packed the coat myself and sent it off this time. I did not pack it the first time. The coat was in a SAKS FIFTH AVENUE garment bag.

Now my assistant is a pretty smart gal, she has worked for me for one year and I love her. She does a great job. She described the coat as SAKS FIFTH AVENUE Brown/Black Shearling coat because it was in the SAKS GARMENT garment bag. (Could that be it?)

What to do, what to do? Unless there is a label in the coat that says SAKS FIFTH AVENUE and 100% SHEARLING - we can't say that it is. It should have said NO LABEL - and we think it is 100% Shearling.

I emailed the original owner and hope to hear from her soon.
I don't want the woman who received the coat to be unhappy. I have issued her a refund, but I am really distressed about this whole thing.

We would never try to pass anything off to anyone without a full and honest description.

It is a beautiful coat though. I want this woman to enjoy it and be happy.

EEK!

OK - this is it - I promise you won't hear about this again.
This is what happened - my friend bought 3 shearlings at a Wholesale Shearling Outlet - this was one of them - this does not explain why it did not have a label, but it is indeed shearling. Why she put it in a Saks Fifth Avenue garment bag, I do not know - but that is what must have happened.

I feel terrible - but this is it - over and done with - I have really upset myself over this - I'd better learn to "lighten up".

I know, I know - I PROMISED not to say another word. But you know me better than that :)

I did receive this lovely email from this woman this morning and I can tell you that it made me very happy.

This is how, I feel a situation like this should end up - not without a word - just a cruel NEGATIVE for what was an honest mistake :) THANK YOU EBAYER - thank you very much.

"I will accept your offer for you to let me return the item to you and you will pay for the shipping in return. I can see that you are an EXCELLENT seller. I will give you a rave review. The most important reviews are when there are problems, anyone can sell things when there are no problems and send it quickly, it it when there are problems like this that show the quality of the seller and how they handle the problem. You have proven your self to be a world class seller with your emails, your offer to accept the return and pay for the return shipping shows me you are a seller I would like to buy from again in the future and I would recommend to everyone."

YES, this is what I love about eBay - people like this!

NOW, I PROMISE - not another word!

oh well, just one more

	Excellent seller, we had a problem, she fixed it! I recommend her 100%
	Saks Fifth Avenue Dark Brown & Black Long Shearling Coat-soft/warm/beautiful-M

How awful is this? How wonderful this is!

2011-11-07T05:05:00.000-08:00

August 1st I sold a bag of my very own. A little black quilted CHANEL bag. I bought it 11 years ago and treated it like it was made of gold. On a long classic CHANEL chain - brushed silver with leather and LONG! an amazing little bag. The other thing about it was that you could remove the chain to carry as a clutch or better yet, you could put a belt through it and wear it as a belt bag. Ah, it was special.

BUT as wonderful as it was, I just didn't use it and hard as it was to give up, I listed it on eBay. I really do hate to see things like that linger on the shelf. Things like that should be used, loved and enjoyed.

It was in BRAND NEW condition. I probably carried it a handful of times and then my daughter borrowed it a few times. She took it to CHANEL and had it cleaned and polished (it didn't even need it) for $100. So really, the bag was in BRAND NEW condition. A little jewel of a bag.

The bag sold immediately for $1050 to someone in Russia. Nice - I love to send things all over the world but Russia! I admit, it made me somewhat nervous.

YUP - you got it - the bag never made it to this gal. Lost in customs! Well, you know that someone is enjoying it, but not the gal who bought it.

I can't tell you how fabulous this gal was. She NEVER opened up a CASE against me. She filled out the forms necessary for me to file the claim and she waited patiently for the money to be sent to me from the insurance company. It took 3 months for this to be completed. When I sent her the money - she thanked ME!

YES, eBay is a special place.

THANK YOU!

It's AMAZING!

2011-11-07T04:55:00.000-08:00

My eBayers are the best - both my buyers and my sellers. I believe that I get the best merchandise to sell on eBay - this makes my site a "favorite" among my buyers and that makes me so happy.

Sometimes I can't even believe the things that I get - how do people part with things like this? Brand New and gorgeous GOLD LEATHER WOVEN PRADA handbag - $1260 when purchased at the PRADA BOUTIQUE in New York City. It is so beautiful, so special and no matter where in the world you live, you can come online, anytime of the day or night and BUY IT NOW! How fun is that when you can't sleep?

So this makes it all worthwhile. I just keep listing/scheduling/wrapping/packing and selling. I really do love it!

It all goes round and round and round and round

2011-11-03T12:38:00.001-07:00

You know how much I love eBay! I really believe it is the most amazing market place.

Last year one of the customers at the store gave me this fabulous sweater coat and scarf from an Italian company - MELY's. Mely's is one of those manufactures that produce under their own name but also produce things for some of the very top companies - CHANEL, HERMES, etc. Great things.

The coat and sweater were really wonderful, but the gal who bought them never wore them and gave them to me to sell on ebay. A great opportunity for someone. I listed the two things separately and the scarf was bought by one person and the sweater by another.

The sweater was purchased by a gal in California - who, it turns out, never wore it and sent it back to me the other day to sell on eBay :)

Today I get an email from someone asking if this was the same sweater that I had listed a year ago because she bought the scarf and has wanted the sweater too!

NOW, how good is that? and what are the chances of something like that happening? Pretty slim, I think.

I like that story - everyone is happy. The gal who bought it originally got some of her money back when I sold it for her on eBay. The gal who bought the scarf is happy because now she has the sweater that she wanted and the gal who bought it originally on eBay is happy, because she gets back some of her money.

I do love eBay :)

No soap - RADIO!

2011-11-03T12:24:00.001-07:00

Now really, what does that mean? I'll never know, but it is a saying that I grew up with. Kind of crazy really!

But this is more crazy!

There was a TV episode (can't remember the name :( but in the episode the gal goes to a department store and is accosted by a salesperson to try some kind of moisturizer. Not wanting to buy anything, she gets caught up (don't we all) and tries it and loves it. Looking at it and seeing the price, she decided that why not? Why can't she spend $20 on herself for a cream that will keep her young and beautiful.

She buys the cream and the next morning her daughter sees it and her mom tells her how she bought it the day before. Her daughter says "but mom, this was $200!" "Oh, no, it was $20" said her mom! Well, you know - she thought it said $20 but it was $200 and when you charge something, you sign and not necessarily notice - eek! She goes back the next day and attempts to return it - well, Good LUCK! She was not able to return it and it meant that their bills weren't going to get paid that month. Her husband was so angry and on and on and on.............

Yesterday I went to Bergdorf Goodman needing to replenish my Clea de Peu face make-up, lipstick and under eye cover. Their under eye cover is the BEST! I have been using it for years and their make up is pretty terrific too. It is pretty expensive though, but the face make up lasts at least six months and the under eye cover even longer. The lipstick is the only one that I actually use up - so I went and bought the things knowing that it was going to be costly. On the counter there was a bowl with an interesting looking concoction - all foamy and soft looking. "what is this", I innocently ask - "oh, it's our new soap and it is the BEST". At that point I said "OK, throw one in". Well, I won't tell you what it toted up too, but let's say - it had better last more than six months.

Last night I opened the soap - so beautifully packaged, and used it. Scrumptious and beyond! All lathered up I thought to myself - wow - this will make wonderful XMAS gifts. Today the dogs and I walked up to Bergdorf's and visited with one of the salespeople, whom I love and I told her about the soap. Oh, it's so fabulous, blah blah and blah. So she called down to the department to see how much it was - I figured probably $25 - because after all, it is quite special and decadent.

Well, if it was $25, I could have had 4 of them for what it cost! I was totally aghast! shocked and appalled! Maybe I can sell the story as a sit-com and get my money for this damn soap!

How can I enjoy it now? My goodness! I'd better be really gorgeous tomorrow morning!

Thank you eBayers

2011-11-03T11:53:00.001-07:00

Well, I guess it was going to happen eventually. How can you sell for 9 years - 1000s of items and not have one mean unhappy unfair person? Luckily for me, my experiences have been interesting, fun and many of them good learning experiences.

So now I've gotten over the initial pain of the NEGATIVE. That didn't take too long. Of course the 5 mile walk with my dogs today helped. The weather in New York City is beyond perfection today and one cannot be unhappy about anything on a day like this. We walked and walked and it was great. I even walked enough to have a little peanut butter yogurt (60 calories for 3 ounces) after my lunch at Grand Central.

While at Grand Central there was a homeless woman following me - unfortunately there are many homeless people there - lots of food gets thrown out and there is always a good place to sit down. I guess no one bothers them as I actually recognize some of these people as we are there a lot.

I know that we are told not to give money to these people as it just encourages them, but it is so terribly sad-so heartbreaking. So this woman finally comes over to me and asks me for money for food. I took her over to the counter where I buy my salad and told her to pick out a sandwich and a drink. She was very appreciative - but where will her next meal come from? I love NYC - but the homeless really break my heart. Like the woman sitting on Fifth Avenue with a sign that said "Pregnant and Alone - my boyfriend left me 3000 miles from home". Oh boy!

And I'm worrying about a NEGATIVE from a mean spirited woman - no, I am going to put that behind me and move forward.

Of course it also helps when I get something like this from one of my ebayers:
I hope you received my other message about the negative too. You are a sweetheart and I know how much it troubles you. You and I are the same in that. We try so hard to do things right that it's very sad when someone takes advantage or is too mean spirited to do things in the proper manner.
Kind regards,

this was her original message:
I have purchased a few things from you in the past and I was reading your blog last night. I sell too on my other user id so I can always relate to your thoughts on the ebay experience. I even had to take a break for awhile as it was just so frustrating as an honest seller.
Anyway, I know this is basically impossible but please, please don't let the negative from one unreasonable person cause you so much grief. I am a smart, savvy ebayer and as a buyer, I would be able to recognize immediately that your overall feedback speaks volumes and this one ridiculous negative means nothing! Especially when you allow returns anyway. This entire transaction was mute the moment she returned the item and you issued a refund.

To that ebayer - THANK YOU SO MUCH! It means a lot to me. Like I said - my EBAYERS are the best! and there is too much real trouble and sadness in this world. Ebay is here to make us happy and to feel good for a little bit :)

On the other hand............

2011-11-03T05:35:00.001-07:00

Obviously I have to put that behind me and try not to let someone like that get me down. I guess my OCD makes that very hard, but it also is what drives me to always do the best job possible with my eBay selling.
This gal is not going to retract her NEGATIVE and I would have to believe that this is a pretty mean, unhappy person - with the ability to leave NEGATIVES for strangers, perhaps she is able to be in hurtful control. I mean, really...........
BUT at least I wake up to the following:
OMG !!!!
Barbara,you're THE ONE !!!That is from a gal that just bought a fabulous bag from me and I let her know last night that the owner found the long shoulder strap for the bag :)

Hi Barbara! Thank you for your patience, that we finally done it! It's amazing that all the troubles have been solved. Thank you very much!
That is from the gal in Russia who bought a Chanel bag from me on August 1st. The bag never turned up (my best guess-STOLEN in Russian customs). She waited totally patiently for the insurance to be paid from the insurance company. I sent her the $1050 last night and that was her thank you. Not once, did she suggest opening a case with either ebay or paypal-she just waited patiently for the money to come back.

and while I was writing this another email from the first gal I love u,Babs !!!

This is what I love about my ebay - people are soooo nice and over the years I've gotten to know some of these people really well.

So, as hard as it is, I will move forward and hope NEVER to run into another mean person such as that woman - I think she needs some counseling.

Perhaps you should go to my feedback and read what my OTHER ebayers have to say about me :)
http://bit.ly/shfQEp

Have a great day and check out my items - lots of great things :)
http://bit.ly/vOVQWK

Sellers have no opportunity to leave NEGATIVES

2011-11-02T20:02:00.001-07:00

Here is a letter I just wrote to the gal who left me a NEGATIVE
Dear Sanda
Obviously I am very distressed about this situation. I did call and speak to someone from eBay and he said that there is always someone who will do this - even to an honest eBayer.
I looked at the feedback that you have left for others and I see that you have left 11 feedback - 2 of them NEGATIVE. I wonder if you really realize the impact that this has on a seller.
Sellers do not have the opportunity to leave negative feedback, so buyers can leave negative with no fear of it happening to them.

I would like you to please consider taking back this NEGATIVE against me. I would ask you to please read the FEEDBACK that I have received over the last 9 years. After reading that I'm sure that you would see that I would never ever try to sell something to someone that was not what I said it was.

This coat was purchased at SAKS FIFTH AVENUE - one of the best department stores in the USA. It is 100% shearling-and unfortunately a photo from another coat got into this listing.

I must tell you that in my 9 years no one has ever returned anything to me without an email before hand. I was very surprised when the coat came back but immediately issued you your REFUND and only asked that you tell me what was wrong so that I could be aware of any problems before relisting the coat. Unfortunately you did not even give me the opportunity to talk to you before leaving a NEGATIVE.

I really enjoy eBay and the people that I have met all over the world. EBay, I think, is a very special community and people, from my experience, have a high regard for one another and treat one another with great respect.

So, I ask you to please retract this NEGATIVE because the coat is 100% shearling and you are besmirching my reputation unfairly.

In the end, if you decide not to - well, certainly that is your prerogative. I will be sorry about that. I will just continue to try to sell high end special items to people who appreciate my efforts and hopefully they will take the 1 Negative and put it in its place.

Just remember, you are using this sword too quickly. You are hurting people who work hard to bring special things to people all over the world.

BEST
Barbara

It's truly amazing to me that someone would do this. She received a really beautiful 100% Shearling coat from SAKS FIFTH AVENUE for such a great price. When my husband photo'ed the coat, he even commented to me how beautiful it was and when it sold - he could not believe the value that someone received. He doesn't comment on too many things, after all, you can imagine how many things he photos each day :)

A week after the coat was sent to CANADA, it came back. No note, no email saying that it was coming back - just returned - frankly, this is very disrespectful and something that no one has ever done - not in the 9 years I have been selling.
I am always happy to take a return. I do not believe you should be asked to keep something that you are not happy with-not for any reason. I once took a handbag back after SIX MONTHS! - OK - that's another story.

Anyway-I gave the person a full refund and just emailed and asked her what might have been wrong. NO RESPONSE - until today when I received this NEGATIVE saying that the coat was NOT SHEARLING!

I'm shocked that someone would do this to another ebayer - just like that. AND there is nothing that I can do about it. NOTHING!

SELLERS have absolutely NO RECOURSE when a buyer does this to them. When I spoke to eBAY he basically told me that unfortunately there are some real nasty nutcases out there - I guess this is one of them. I actually gave her a call - and you know what - she HUNG up on ME!

I love eBay, but really resent this little bit of unfairness.

OK - perhaps I feel a little better getting this off of my chest.
THANKS for listening :)

Re low compliance :)

2011-10-02T06:14:00.000-07:00

It was actually very funny in the end - eBay was dealing with me and the seller. Whomever I spoke with totally agreed with me and I would guess that whomever he/she spoke to agreed with him! It was really going back and forth - changing my compliance level, removing my feedback, putting the feedback back. I believe that in the end they must have had a little meeting and decided to satisfy us both.
They told me they were putting the feedback back and raising my compliance level back to HIGH. They must have told him that they were taking the feedback off!
As far as I can see, they removed the feedback and that made him happy and at my end they raised my compliance level back to HIGH and made me happy.
They did tell me that they were putting the feedback back in place so I could have followed up, but luckily I cooled it, backed off and sat back happy with eBay's solution.

Keep both sellers as happy as possible.

LOW COMPLIANCE!

2011-09-09T05:18:00.001-07:00

Eek, Eek and Eek AGAIN!

You know, I love eBay - I do believe it's a fabulous worldwide marketplace. I work very hard at eBay and I am so lucky to receive the best things from my women to sell - I am a lucky lady - perhaps I should change my use name to LUCKYLADY! No, no, I'm not going to do that - I'll stick with ilovemygirls3 - my fabulous daughters and my wonderful Beanie of blessed memory. Oh, I'm getting mushy, when in fact, I'm just so damn MAD!

Hubby didn't do his homework, obviously he has not read my blog! He told me two weeks ago that he wanted to buy these Tommy Bahama jeans that he found on eBay. Assuming that he did the work required before buying anything - he gave me the number and I bought the item. The homework? Well, he should have checked the seller's feedback - not very good - a lot of Neutrals and a lot of Negatives - definitely a NO NO!

The pants came and they were too small for the already very thin hubby! Now my husband wears a lot of Tommy Bahama and this is the size that he wears. This leads me to believe that these pants are not, in fact, AUTHENTIC Tommy Bahama. China is unfortunately making everything in their factories and putting labels in them. Frankly though, I didn't want to go there with the seller - perhaps they're just SECONDS! OK - that is really not the issue.

The issue is that the seller said that he will happily take them back and will be charging me a 15% RESTOCKING FEE! OMG - this is the craziest thing ever. A $75 pair of jeans and he is going to take $15 for putting them on the shelf. Perhaps if it were a dishwasher!

I have been selling on ebay for 9 years now and happily take any returns from my customers. Please read my feedback and you will see how hard I work to please my buyers - and frankly, I do it happily.

I emailed this seller and explained all of this to him - that I felt that the 15% restocking was crazy and that unfortunately if he deducted it, my feedback would have to reflect my feelings.

Years and years ago I bought a CHANEL bag at a fabulous price - $355. I knew that it was a great deal (that's what ebay is all about - the opportunity to get a GREAT DEAL). 10 days - two weeks went by and the bag did not come. I emailed the seller and asked him where my purchase was - "try getting back your money from PAYPAL". Luckily I did get my money back but in my naiveté I left him NEGATIVE feedback. After all, he did NOT send the bag AND didn't want to give me my money back. The reason I say - naively leaving him NEGATIVE - is because ebay tells us (well, sellers can no longer leave NEGATIVE/NEUTRAL, but you could then) to be HONEST. So, what happened? He left me NEGATIVE feedback saying that he told me he didn't have the bag! I fought with ebay for one full year, but they would not remove it. In my 9 years of selling that is the ONLY NEGATIVE I have ever received.

So, here we go again - I left this seller a NEUTRAL (I would not leave a NEGATIVE for another seller) saying that I felt the 15% restocking was ridiculous! Later that day I received an email from ebay telling me that my feedback was REMOVED and that I (me!) violated their policy by trying to EXTORT the seller!

Did I see RED? Every color under the sun! I was beyond upset! The two times I try to HONESTLY rate my seller, I am the one ebay comes after. By the by - that seller who sold me the CHANEL bag was removed years ago from ebay for dishonest practices.

I called ebay and spoke with someone who 100% agreed with me and told me that my feedback would be restored. I had to call two more times, but did manage to get the feedback restored. All 3 members of eBay's support team agreed that I was 100% right and that in no way did I try to EXTORT anything! The next day the feedback was restored.

When I woke up this morning - it was REMOVED again!

I sat by my telephone waiting for the clock to strike 5AM Pacific time and called and spoke with FRANKIE! We talked for a long time and AGAIN - he totally agreed that I was correct and that in no way was I EXTORTING (I even hate the word) anyone. He said that he is going to take it to the highest up TRUST & SECURITY to get it restored.

What do you think?

I do love eBay but I believe that as a buyer I should be treated the same way I treat my buyers.

What would you do?

2011-08-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

I have now worked 8 years building a successful eBay business. Things like this just do not happen on their own. One thing led to another which led to another - I believe that is how a lot of things happen.
What I have developed is a business based on trust and honesty - on my part, the buyer's and the consignors. There are so many fakes out there and I have to know the people who are giving me their things to sell. I have to have trust in them that they would never, knowingly, give me a FAKE to sell.
100% feedback after 8 years is a big accomplishment and I really do take pride in it. I received (from a consignor in England) a beautiful Louis Vuitton cashmere and silk scarf. In the LV box and a certificate of authenticity (and in a black shiny pouch). It was truly gorgeous and felt so good. So why was I somewhat concerned about the authenticity? I was concerned because this consignor buys a lot of things on eBay. I know how careful I am when I am buying something like this on eBay - the homework that I do before buying something like this. But I have no idea where this gal got this scarf - although I must say - it is beautiful and feels so good. Generally I have a pretty good idea of what to look for in a handbag or scarf. I sell so many Hermes scarves but I am totally unfamiliar with this style of LV scarf. All that I knew was that it sure was beautiful, felt good and seemed fine. I did try reaching my consignor, but she seems to be unavailable right now. I think that she is in Turkey. I listed the scarf. The dilemma is that my buyers trust me. They trust me because over the last 8 years I have worked very hard to build that trust. I am a Top Rated Seller and only 1% of all eBayers are Top Rated. I take this very seriously. I listed the scarf as a 7 day auction - something that I don't usually do. Because I really didn't know a fair price for the scarf I felt that was the way to go - let the eBayers determine the final price. Bidding began immediately and with 3 days left to go, it was already over $200 with approximately 50 people watching. Good or Bad? Well, frankly I was becoming more and more uncomfortable. People were asking if I could prove authenticity - I could not! They were asking if I had the receipt - I did not! and then I received this email from another ebayer.........

Dear ilovemygirls3, Hi, I was looking at all of the lovely designer items that you are selling and came across the scarf and spotted it as a fake straight away. I then saw your feedback and thought you might not know that it is fake and can be purchased online for $25.00. A genuine LV scarf comes only with a cotton dust bag and no "authentication" paperwork (this can be verified at fashionpearlsogwisdom.com. The tag should be black with gold writing not orange, it should also be smooth and flat and held on with 2 fine stitches. It is always a pleasure to see such honest sellers. Regards,

What would you have done? I immediately removed the listing from eBay. The thought that I could be selling a FAKE was very distasteful for me. Frightening too! I take this selling very seriously and the thought that I would be passing off a fake as real - well, that doesn't fly. The most amazing part of this story is that you would be amazed at how many people were begging me for the scarf - real or fake - they didn't care! They just wanted this scarf. I was offered as much as $220 for the scarf - off of eBay - real or not! What would you have done?

note: Just heard from my consignor - she is in AFRICA, not Turkey :)
Hi B
Just got your email. I am in Africa 1st time in a week with internet. Do you really think I would knowingly send you this as real if it is fake? All I can say is that I paid a lot of money for it on ebay and bought it as real thing!

Well, I hope that she is having a great trip and I never believed for one second that she would EVER send me anything thinking it was FAKE - NEVER!

Check out my listings - all authentic top of the line items :)

Babsy's Closet

Nightmare or not?

2011-08-24T06:49:00.001-07:00

I have a gal who is sending me 15 cartons of high end shoes/clothing and accessories. I don't know exactly where she got my name - from someone who knows someone who knows someone :) We've chatted back and forth regarding shipment and delivery. She said that she will have it delivered next week.
Of course that has to set my mind as to exactly how we will deal with it when 15 cartons - each weighing about 15-20 pounds - arrive.
Probably that is what was on my mind when I fell asleep last night.
How did this translate into my dreams? CRAZY!
I dreamt that these two women (mom and daughter) drove up with brown bags and cartons in their truck :) We chatted and then they left. I started going through the daughter's things first - and what was in the bags? All of the daughter's old toys - Minnie and Micky, kids clothing and blankets - I was not happy :( Instead of Prada, Chanel and D&G - here were dusty toys and broken trains.
Oh boy - eBay is taking over my dreams too.

What is this about?

2011-08-15T06:34:00.001-07:00

After selling for so many years on eBay, I find it fascinating that you can still learn something new each day. Not always a good thing :(
Woke up this morning to discover that a claim was opened in PAYPAL for an item that I sent to Belgium.
It was purchased on August 12, paid for on August 13th and shipped out that same day.
So - what is the claim about? Luckily I can call and speak to someone at PayPal and was told that it was Paypal that opened the claim. Not against me, but that they have suspicions regarding the transaction.
DUH! So they pulled the $225 from my account!
What was established in my phone call was that I am protected with PayPal's seller protection (well, good thing!) and that all I have to prove is that I sent the item. I had to supply the USPS tracking number and he did check that the item was sent to the address provided.
NOW - even though I did nothing wrong - the money does not come back to me until PayPal has completed their research at their end.
I asked what that might be and was told that basically it was none of my business!
They can just pull money from your account - just like that! and you have no say! AND you have no choice because eBay tells you that PAYPAL is the ONLY way that you can accept payment.

Look, I love eBay and PayPal has been great over the years. I have no complaints with either and am grateful to them as it has proven to be a wonderful situation for me. They will work this out at their end - basically it has nothing to do with me - but I am the one who did exactly what I should have and they are holding my $$$

Looks like eBay and PayPal have it all figured out for themselves :) All that I can do is sit back and hope for the best. He did promise that it shouldn't take more than two weeks to figure it all out and that basically all I had to do was prove that the item was sent out with a valid tracking #.

We'll see.

PLEEZE!

2011-08-09T19:28:00.002-07:00

Come on, you're being unreasonable. We really do take great pride in the job that we do on eBay. It's a lot of work.
Beautiful things come in every day - how lucky am I? and you.......to buy some really great things at much better prices -
We take each item - measure it, describe it and put it on "the line". Then it goes down to get photo'ed - hubby takes the pictures and his obsessive compulsive nature makes sure that he gets really good photos - remember, this is not VOGUE!
I take the descriptions, measurements and photos and get them listed on eBay. We try to take photos of the items front, back, sideways, labels, and any marks, stains or problems. We probably show about 8-10 photos of each item (at least). When it is a really expensive handbag - there might be 20 photos given.
That same pair of shoes I talked about - the Roger Vivier - $225 - I received the following email:
Would you please send me more raw pictures of the shoes? I just want to know more about the condition of the shoes, and do they run smaller or bigger?
My response:
I'm really sorry - I cannot take more photos of these shoes. We work very hard at our ebay and everything takes so much time. I believe that we have supplied photos of every angle of these shoes. I wear a size 9 shoe so there is no way I can let you know if these run big or small. This gal wears a size 6 - and we do give dimensions. Taking more photos requires us to go and get the shoes - take more photos (which will be the same as the ones shown) and then taking the time to send them to you. If I had to do that for every item, I would never be able to sell anything. I appreciate you concern - but please read my feedback - we really work hard at this and take pride in selling fabulous items.

I could have said a lot more - but hopefully what I said is enough. The photos supplied show the condition of the shoe (along with our written description) - what is this about? Oh yes, she also wants a lower price :)

Oh, by the way - while she was busy asking for more photos, the shoes were sold for $225 and have been shipped to the happy buyer. What did she have to say then? "Oh no, do you have another pair?" When you see what you want on eBay, it's best to grab it right away - or else you can lose it. I've seen it happen so many times.

I must keep this going.........

2011-08-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely day out with a friend today and realized that writing of this blog is important......I enjoy it and it is a way to share some of the things that I learn everyday on eBay or in life, in general - and I always have a lot to say :)

Received an email from someone who wanted to offer $190 for a pair of Roger Vivier fabulous shoes that I have listed for $225.

This is the newest thing - people make offers for things even though you are offering the item as a BUY IT NOW for a set price. It really makes me crazy. Sometimes, it's OK, I can go down a few bucks - but it makes me feel badly for the people who don't make an offer and just buy! Sometimes though, I feel that the price is really fair and that's that - you want it at the fair price, buy it, or move on. A great item that is priced fairly will be sold. But I really believe that there are people who just won't buy unless you knock a few dollars off of the price. This really goes against my grain. I see it in the store too - people offer less than what the item is being sold for. UGH. Well, we NEVER EVER would take less for something at the store - but of course, that is not eBAY :)

Sorry, I just love the smiley :)

Anyway - this person went a little further - rather than offering a bit less, she also suggested (assuming it is a female) that she pay me directly through PAYPAL and that way she omits eBay altogether and suggests that I will save the fees for eBay.

I really find this just awful and unfair. Yes, eBay's fees are high - but here is this amazing marketplace that brings people together from all over the world. This morning I sold a pen to someone in Brazil and pretty much everyday I am sending something to someone in another part of the world - Russia, Italy, England, France, Norway, Denmark, etc. etc. etc.

Isn't it amazing? How can something that is in a closet in Boston wind up in a closet in Russia? Yes, that is what eBay does - it brings all of us together. So why should we knock eBay out of the equation? Does that seem fair to you? It doesn't to me - I appreciate eBay and the marketplace that they have built - people who sell on eBay have to realize this and pay the price.

So this gal didn't buy the shoes from me - because she wanted to cheat eBay out of their profit for bringing her together with me? People like this are always figuring out ways to screw someone else - I really can't stand it.

BUT I LOVE EBAY!
Check out my items http://bit.ly/ebcUZt

I'm screaming!

2011-06-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

I'm SCREAMING!
It's all so terribly frustrating. I just went to look at my reports from eBay and I see that people out of the USA are giving me low marks for shipping costs. I do ship within the USA for free (eBay gives us no choice - free shipping and we also pay for the insurance!) if the item is less than $100 buyer pays for the shipping.

A lot of eBay sellers won't even sell to people out of the USA but I love shipping things all over the world. I think that it is so fabulous to be able to get things from my ladies in the USA and have them wind up in closets all over the world - and I do ship to places I've never even heard of! I love that!

But I think that there are things that people out of the USA do not understand about shipping expensive items and the risks that are involved as the seller.
So I am writing this and hope that you will read it and understand my predicament.

Years ago I used to send all of my packages via United States Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail. I was always impressed that it was pretty fast and definitely reliable, expensive, but not crazy expensive.

THEN it happened! Over a Christmas holiday two different people in two different countries told me that they did not receive their items. Hmmmm - strange, nothing like that ever happened before - but I said OK, I knew that I could track the packages and we would figure it out. BUT - what did I learn? I learned that once a PRIORITY package leaves the USA it cannot be traced beyond that the USA. Crazy, right?

I had to refund these two people their entire payment. The packages NEVER came back to me.

I would like to say that I do not believe these people because I have shipped 1000s and 1000s of packages, and really - although there are occasionally problems - everything gets figured out - but not those 2 items.

Where did that leave me? I was shocked to find that I couldn't track the PRIORITY packages once they left the USA.

From that day forward I have shipped things via EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL. The items are insured by Auctiva (at my cost). Yes, it is expensive - but if you are shipping expensive items, you must ship them the safest way. It is also pretty fast - they say 3-5 days. I don't know if it gets there that fast - but it gets there quickly, it is trackable and the item is SAFE.

So please, if you complain about the shipping costs when leaving feedback (you know - those little stars) eBay will throw me off of eBay (yes, that is what they will do). I do not pocket a penny of these charges and in fact, because I pay for the insurance myself, it costs me money to ship you these things. But I offer up wonderful merchandise - people are happy to find these items on eBay and I do want to continue shipping all over the world. But if eBay suggests that my shipping charges are too high I will have to stop shipping to anyone outside of the USA. I am selling for "clients" and cannot absorb the shipping costs to people out of the country.

I love eBay - I have been selling for 9 years now and with 100% feedback, you know that people enjoy the things that I have sold them. Up until now people's feedback outside of the USA regarding shipping costs didn't get reported - but now they do - and what will happen is that I will have to stop shipping out of the USA.

So please think about what you are doing when you click on those stars! I know that everyone is pleased with the things that I sell and I hope that you like me too - I love eBay and really want to continue shipping you these great things. I don't believe that you would want me to ship you things in anything but the safest way. When I can, I will send something in a FLAT RATE envelope, that helps the cost go down - but only small things fit in those envelopes. If the item is under $100 I am willing to ship via Priority Mail and if the item is under $100 and fits into a PRIORITY FLAT RATE Envelope, then we've got the shipping down pretty good :)

OK - how does that sound?
You don't want me to scream now, do you?

why oh why oh why oh my!

2011-04-08T20:11:00.001-07:00

Ebay is just great - but sometimes some of the people make me want to SCREAM!
Sold a pair of great big PRADA BLACK PATENT LEATHER sneakers - size US 10 womens. Gal receives them and emails to tell me that the size must be wrong because they don't fit her. Well, they are marked size 10 and belonged to a woman who wears a size 10. Perhaps they just don't fit this person - that doesn't mean they are not a 10. She wants to say that the size is wrong because that would mean that the item is not as described and she would get back her shipping.
In any event, when she emailed me to tell me that they didn't fit I told her that she should send them back to me and when they are received, refund will be issued. Seems fair, yes? So she emails me to tell me that she feels she must open a case with eBay. Now please tell me, why would she want to do that? Does she have any reason to open a case? What more could I possibly do to have pleased her? There is no reason to open a case. You open a case when the seller tells you that you can't return the sneakers - or you open a case when you return an item and a refund is not issued.
I deal with 1000s of people. 95% of the time people are more than satisfied with the item that they have purchased. When they are not, I ask them to just return the item - they do, I issue credit - case closed.
It really aggravates me when someone comes along who obviously does not understand the way this should work.
UGH!

POSITVE-NEUTRAL or NEGATIVE

2011-03-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

What constitutes a POSITIVE sale on eBay? I received a NEUTRAL from someone yesterday (and you know that made me totally beyond crazy).
She said that the RALPH LAUREN pink snowsuit was too big for her baby.
NOW - let's start with the fact that all measurements are given in the description and I personally believe that the buyer should look at those measurements and be aware whether the item should work according to those measurements.
I have received items back (well, once) because the measurement was off by an inch. The item was received back with a smile because there is no other way. The buyer felt that I should have known that the 9 month Ralph Lauren snowsuit ran big. I do not feel that is reasonable - how would I know whether it runs big or small. Yes, if it had been my child's snowsuit and had been worn, I assume I would know whether it ran big or small. BUT my children are grown with babies of their own and I have at least 360 items listed - I can't possibly know whether any of these things run big or small unless they were mine and I had worn them. This was BRAND NEW and the funny thing is that I happen to know that generally Ralph Lauren runs small.
She receives the beautiful pink snowsuit (and it was beautiful) and discovers that it is too big for her little doll! That can happen - but does that mean you leave NEUTRAL feedback? I would have gotten in touch with a seller if I was unhappy with my purchase. I have bought many many things on ebay and overall have been very happy with my purchases. BUT when I have not been happy I have resolved the issue with the seller. I believe that the seller should be made aware of any unhappiness before leaving anything but a POSTIVE feedback. Feedback is very important and even though NEUTRAL does not effect your overall number-it does effect what people read about you.
So, what constitutes a POSITIVE sale?
The item was shipped immediately upon her payment. It was wrapped and packed carefully and I'm sure it arrived to her in Australia in perfect condition.
The item was EXACTLY as described - photos were clear and item was exactly as shown.
Measurements were given and item was in fact, described exactly. If it didn't fit her baby, should that make her feedback NEUTRAL?
I don't think so, but I would like your opinion. My listings clearly state that if for any reason you are unhappy with your purchase you are more than welcome to return for a full refund (minus shipping if item was as described).
You can see that I am very upset about this. I emailed her and she was very offended - saying that now she wishes she could give me a NEGATIVE. I truly love ebay and am very lucky that 99.9% of my buyers are fabulous - but I guess I take it too personally when that .1% acts up! Tell me what you think and check out my listings.

http://shop.ebay.com/ilovemygirls3/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562

oh ha! yay! hooray!

2011-03-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

We close the store at the end of January. The weather here leaves a lot to be desired in February and March and it's crazy to be at the store when no one wants to leave their homes. So a few years ago we started closing for those two months. This past year, the owner and I actually stopped working at the store right after xmas. That was so good - things were slow and everything was on sale - too many other things to do - so that worked out well.

And now this awful winter is finally coming to an end. It was not a great winter for many reasons. The weather brought us much too much snow - it seemed like it wasn't going to ever end. Life being unfair brought the death of my dear boss' loving husband of 41 years - she is brokenhearted and we are all so sad just for the thought that something like this can just happen right out of the blue to a healthy man. He loved life, his family and cooking for all of his friends - he will be sorely missed

I topped all of this off with a case of the SHINGLES - on my face! UGH! Lucky me though - and believe me, I count my lucky stars - I was diagnosed sooo fast that the medication actually stopped it in its tracks. It was so awful, uncomfortable, ugly, itchy, painful for 3 days and then BINGO - marched right off. Saw the eye doctor again this morning who suggested that my immune system must be very strong (then why did I get it?) and that hopefully this will not wind up in my eye. The type of SHINGLES that I had tends to go into the eye - not a good thing! But with the fast diagnosis and quick medication, he feels that I will be lucky. Hope he's 100% correct.

So today - just one week later, I was back at the store helping to unpack for our re-opening on April 1st.

It sure felt good to be touching the beautiful clothing again. Lots of beautiful things from Rundholz, Annette Goetz, Trelise Cooper, Rubinacci, Les Copains, Issey Miyake - so far that is what we have unpacked - wonder what will come in tomorrow.

So, like I said
oh ha
Yay
Hooray

I love this time of the year - the worst of winter is over, we're getting to re-open the store and warm weather and hopefully happy times are coming.

The Magic Word

2011-03-13T15:59:00.001-07:00

What is the magic word?
I guess each of us have our own.......
With the terrible situation in the world - where does one even begin - with all of the terrible things that are going on - Japan - suffering from the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami - nothing is really important in the light of that. The nuclear power plants - Libya - Eqypt - have I depressed you sufficiently? I'm sorry, I don't mean to - my blog is supposed to be fun and happy (at least, that is my intention).
So - I hope that you have all made a donation, no matter how big or small to help the people in Japan - they will need all of the help that they can get.

The thing is, life goes on, and we must all live life to its fullest - we learn that everyday.

So anyway - let's get back to the Magic Word - and the magic word for today is HERMES! Again!

One of my great gals gave me two Hermes bags - a bag called TRIM. This particular size and style sells for $5000 at the Hermes Boutique on Madison Avenue in New York City. Did you know that these stores are franchised? I had no idea and I feel that it diminished the name in my mind - I wonder why that would be? I guess somehow I loved the idea of HERMES being owned by a main corporation, family, etc. - But OK, they're certainly successful enough! :)

Anyway, these two bags, one black and one British tan were used, loved and very worn. Not worn to the point that you would want to toss them, but worn where they needed the proper work done on them. You could take them to one of the fine leather spas in New York City, but it seems to me that the only ones who should handle these bags would be Hermes - they can match the leather, color, etc. These bags needed work. I brought them to the store on Madison and chatted with the craftsman in charge of repairs. Very nice gentleman and of course, very knowledgeable. He felt that it was worth the work - $500 for new leather trim at the top of each bag and one bag definitely needed a new handle for another $500. The other bag, probably didn't need a new handle. So what do you do? Invest $1500 and then wind up with two bags that would sell for what (on ebay)? Yes, if you bought one at Hermes - $5000 - but we're talking ebay, not Hermes and we're talking "refurbished" not NEW!

I decided that the best thing would be to just offer them on ebay "AS IS" - start the bidding at $99.99 and let them roll for 10 days. The first bag went for $364. I think that is great. Someone got a fabulous bag - leather in very nice clean condition, interior, suede, clean and nice. This person can put in the $1000 investment and when the bag comes back it will probably look new. Hermes will clean and polish - fix the corners and do whatever other "spa" work that will be needed.

The second bag, the British tan one is up right now - it is up to $182.50 and it will be fun to see where it will go. Again, this person will have a good investment - and I believe this is the bag that only needs $500 worth of work.

Personally, if I wanted one of these bags I would make the investment. I think that the buyers will be very happy.

The gal whose bags these were will have moved them on for a tidy profit for something she probably would have just given away. She will be happy, the buyer will be happy and I am happy too!

Win Win

So, the magic word today is Hermes!

Let's all take some time from our busy lives to think of the people in Japan who need our thoughts, prayers and donations. I made my donation through the American Red Cross through PayPal. Whatever little bit it is, I hope it will help. I will give more next week.

I will come back to this post and put in the photos of the bags. Probably tomorrow - pushing the clock ahead has lost an important hour!

NIGHT

I really don't get it!

2011-02-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I can't be happier when I sell something amazing like an Hermes Kelly! Have not been lucky enough to get any Birkins yet, but I will look forward to that. I do get amazing things to sell. That is great! BUT I must say that as happy as I am to get certain things to sell - I just don't get it. The Hermes Kelly leather (just leather - not skins) sell for approximately $7500 and you're lucky to be able to get one! Yes, I believe you are put on a list - is that really possible? Now I love beautiful things and I know that these things are very expensive.

So one of my favorite gals gave me an orange Kelly to sell. I brought it into the city over Christmas to drop of at Hermes for a "spa treatment" :) They refurbish the bag for approximately $200 - worth every penny as the bag comes back looking like new - remember - this is an investment. Before I brought the bag into Hermes I will admit to you that I carried it for two days. Yes, I did tell my friend that I was using it.

The bag came back very quickly and it looked great.

So what is my opinion of this $7500 handbag?

The shoulder strap is too short - I like to carry a bag crossbody.
The closure is a pain in the neck! Unlike the Birkin you must close it or it will hang open unpleasantly.
It doesn't hold it's shape the way I think that it should.
I did love the color.
I was actually uncomfortable carrying a $7500 handbag and I carry very nice bags - CHANEL, PRADA, etc. - but a bag that costs $7500 - well, obviously not for me! Don't get me wrong - it's a beautiful bag and certainly a very sought after one. It sold for $4500 immediately - had two offers as soon as it was listed. The previous one sold for $5250 - that one was chocolate brown and also gorgeous!

Ah well - if you read this and agree - send 'em to me and let's sell 'em! Ha Ha

Stock Photos :)

2011-01-09T07:00:00.001-08:00

Ebay is such a great marketplace, but I agree - you must be careful. You can find wonderful things there that you can't find anywhere else - you can also be cheated by the bad ones out there! No question about it - I know that eBay tries to get rid of the thieves and I appreciate that!
So yes - you must be careful - no question.
I received this question/comment the other day from an eBayer:

Dear ilovemygirls3,

The pictures you show of this item are stock pictures, do you have any pictures of your actual bag?

Now, this was a fabulous compliment to my hubby's photos. He truly works hard at this and takes it very seriously. Who knows more than me how many hours he spends downstairs in his studio with the mannequin? Should I be concerned - I mean she is in great shape and doesn't give him a hard time about anything - except sometimes her left arm just won't come off! :)

I emailed her back and explained that they were indeed NOT stock photos and if she needed a particular photo, a number, a label, a mark, etc., we would be happy to supply her with another photo - but just to get the item out and take another photo of it "on a chair" as she requested was not going to happen.

A lot of things are involved here.
One - I'm stubborn - I work very hard at my eBay. I take great pride in my 100% Feedback and the wonderful items that I sell. I believe it is up to the buyer to know who he/she is buying from. There are many ways to do that. Read the feedback of the seller, look at the other items that the seller is offering and the items that have been sold. This is your end of the homework as a buyer - KNOW WHO YOU ARE BUYING FROM.

We spend a lot of time on each item that we list - whether it is listing at a starting price of $9.99 or offered at $12,000 - we examine the item, we describe the item, we measure the item and we photograph the item. The photos are cropped - and the listing is prepared for listing on eBay. I would think that the entire process for each item is almost an hour. We have approximately 300-400 items up at a time.

When I told this gal that she should do the above mentioned things to know that this wasn't a "stock photo" she wasn't interested.

Good - frankly, I have so many repeat buyers - reason being that I LOVE MY EBAYERS! Truly - I love them. I appreciate all of my buyers (well, 99.7% anyway). They appreciate me and I appreciate them.

BUT please, you do your homework. Ask as many questions as you would like, if you need another photo because you have a particular question about something, that's great - we will provide it as quickly as we can - but please, don't ask me to provide a photo of the bag ON A CHAIR because you don't trust us!

Yes, I'm stubborn - but truly, I bend over backwards for my eBayers - and I'm happy to do that - because they are reasonable and know who they are dealing with.

In the end - I really didn't want to do business with this person. If you don't trust me - I don't want to do business with you.

If you can read my feedback, look at the other items I am selling and see the things I have sold (so many in the last 9 years) and then you don't trust me - yes - better not to buy from me! People like that frighten me.

Oh, included are some of the photos - taken by my husband of this particular bag. Believe me, I can bet there weren't STOCK PHOTOS anywhere of this bag. :)

How KOOL is KOOL?

2010-12-31T09:55:00.002-08:00

I love it - yes, I really love New York City. I love the country too - but New York City is my real home! Love the hustle and bustle - love the people - love it all! We are so lucky to be here every other week (at least) - just to see our grandson would be enough, but we love everything else too.

Last night we saw "BRIEF ENCOUNTER" - a definite surprise for us. The show is closing next week - but you have a few days to get a fun unexpected time - very clever performance and stage display.

We saw TRUE GRIT, THE KINGS SPEECH and today we will go to see THE ILLUSIONIST at my most favorite theater - THE PARIS THEATER. Besides NYC, I also love going to the movies!

We had some fabulous dinners - Artisinal - my most favorite! always!

But what do I love the very most?

I was at Bed Bath & Beyond the other day and the man in front of me (who wound up in back of me - don't know how that happened) said to me "you look really KOOL". Ahhhh, I mean at 63 years old, how many people do you think tell me that? and yes - it's still good to hear! Guess it's not the same as when I was 17 and working in the Garment Center - can't even repeat those comments! Yes, this is better!

Then......to top it off - I was on the Madison Avenue bus uptown when the man sitting next to me - BERNIE (in his 60s) said "did you make your muffler?" :) "Well, no" and I explained to him how I work at this fabulous store TANGLEWOOL in Lenox, MA and that this muffler was from a designer called ISSEY MIYAKE!

He was very interested in finding one for his wife. His wife was sitting a seat away from me and I must say she was a very attractive woman. Didn't want to tell him that he probably couldn't find another and that the cost was $650!

But the fact that he liked it enough to want to find one for his wife was so nice.

And that is what I also love about NYC! By the time I got off the bus he had my two business cards and I had his phone number in Albany! He suggested that we all have lunch sometime!

Took the doggies to the dog park on 27th and Fifth - roamed around Eataly!

It's been a fabulous week in New York City - blizzard and all!

I love technology

2010-12-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

I really should just be being born right now! I love technology and would love to be able to see where it takes us in the future.
People are always rather taken when they realize some of the things that I'm capable of doing. Not because it's so amazing - but because I'm 63 years old and have absolutely no fear of technological things. Last week I bought and set up a ROKU player in our little studio apartment because our tenant does not have any TV channels. I can't live without news and movies. I heard about the ROKU player on Morning Joe and went to Radio Shack immediately to get one. My husband laughed - like I was really going to get this thing to work! My son-in-law was impressed that I even knew what a ROKU player was! HA HA HA - I showed them all! Working with ONLINE CHAT on the ROKU site, setting it up was as easy as pie.
There's so much out there and it is great.
This morning I printed out all of the labels for all of the items that have sold over the XMAS holiday and blizzard day, here at my daughter's apartment. After printing them out I just faxed them all to my house in the Berkshires so that my assistant can get all of the packages out.
Now, I know that this doesn't sound like THE MOST BRILLIANT thing in the world to do - but the idea that I can order the labels here on my computer in New York City and get them faxed over to my house in the Berkshires is really great!
Yes, she could have ordered the labels on the computer there (well, if the satellite is cleaned of the 30" of snow) but because she is not as familiar with ordering up the labels as I am, it would have really taken a long time for both of us. Me on one end of the phone and her on the other.
OK OK, the fact that I had the pages in upside down and that they came through blank at the other end, well - that's OK, I'm sending them again. :)

So yes - this made a real difference and without all of the wonderful technology, it would be impossible.

XMAS in NYC

2010-12-26T15:37:00.001-08:00

There is nothing like New York City at Christmas time! I love it so much.
Got up this morning and ran out to catch the Blue LIGHT Unlimited Bus uptown. What a great bus! especially when there is no traffic. Talk of a BIG STORM got everyone out early along with the shoppers looking for the BIG SALES. Stores opened at 8AM this morning - how fabulous is that?
I took off making BED BATH & BEYOND my first stop, and damn - didn't I forget my coupon? That's me - plenty of coupons sitting on the table! Luckily BB&B lets you bring in the receipt and get your 20%! YAY! I mean really, the gal in front of me had her coupon and she only bought a chocolate bar - she saved 20 cents. I could have bought her coupon for 40 cents and still come out ahead! I bought my Tassimo coffee discs and walked over to Bloomingdales. I love that they opened at 8AM! But there was nothing for me there and I moved on to Saks Fifth Avenue!
BEDLAM! The place was packed - I couldn't believe it. Here we have a HUGE STORM predicted but that doesn't stop New Yorkers from looking for their bargains - myself included. But really, I wasn't looking for bargains - just wanted to get some make up at the Cle de Peu counter - $300 later I went up to the shoe floor! Yes, they have their own zip code! Bedlam - no, that word doesn't describe it. You had to wait on line just to get to the shoes! How funny is that? And then, you get to the shoes - and then what? How could you possibly find someone to help you? How could you find what you might want? No, I must not be the shopper I think that I am - because there was no way that I was going to be able to find anything there today! But the gals were doing it - people even had shopping bags filled with shoes! NOT ME!
I moved on to Lord & Taylor and Sarabeth's for a nice delicious yogurt with granola and honey. YUM YUM & YUM!
When I was young I would never have gone anywhere to eat all by myself - now, I love it! It gives you the opportunity to look around and see the people! See what's going on around you! and the yogurt was delicious!
After that I actually went to the Men's floor and bought my hubby boots! This is a man who stays in any shoe department for hours deciding if the shoes/boots/etc. are going to be OK. I mean really, 13 Narrow! Impossible! But not for me - do these Timberland's come in a size 13? They do? GREAT!, I'll take them! and in 10 minutes I was out of there - boots in hand and perfect for the hubby! He loved them, and they fit! WOW! I think that is a riot. If he were with me, we'd probably still be in the department.
From there it was off to Grand Central Market to get provisions for being snowed in. Fabulous Chilean Sea Bass that was beyond delicious. Listening to PANDORA in our little studio in Manhattan - it's great!
A couple of drinks and a few dances - married 37 years! We're lucky!
It doesn't get better than this - not for me, anyway!
I LOVE NY!
and yes, it's snowing - beautiful from up here looking out at the city.....lots of snow....a paradise!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I'm back!

2010-12-23T14:06:00.001-08:00

Like a bad penny! I keep turning up again. I really hate that I have so little time for this blog but it's been calling out to me and perhaps I can start again.
So many things have happened since last MAY!
The business has been growing by leaps and bounds - it's so interesting to me that I started my eBay selling about 9 years ago just by selling things from my own closet. Now my house looks like a consignment shop - I'm not thrilled about that - not at all! I guess it's the price I have to pay for the way this has grown - and that I'm happy about.
I have so many fabulous women sending me such fabulous things that each day it's hard to decide which items to list. My "clients" are all anxious to see their things get listed - and believe me, once they get a check - they're hooked! How wonderful to receive a nice big check for things that you don't want anymore. But they're great things and for years they have just given them away - but a big check! I don't care how much money anyone has - when you hand over a check for almost $13,000 - well, how good is that?
Of course I haven't handed over too many $13,000 checks but I have sent people thousands of dollars and that's good for everyone!

Both eBay and my selling have changed so much since I started - but the idea is the same! Getting the things from one closet to another. From the closet that doesn't want them anymore to the closet that can't wait to get them.

Today I delivered a CHANEL bag to a very handsome young man at Grand Central Station. He bought it last night and I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to call him. I already had it wrapped and packed to mail out but something told me that perhaps he needs it "right now". We were coming into the city and he lived in the city and I thought that I would give it a shot. I think that he was very happy - he met us at Grand Central (my dogs were yapping away) and I was able to hand deliver the bag in time for Christmas. I love that! And - it is a beautiful bag. I hope that his wife will love it.

I really love my eBay selling and try to do so many things that can help people out. What I love is that so many of my eBayers tell me that they wish all of the sellers were like me. When I get emails like that - it makes it all the more worthwhile. I love selling! and I love that my eBayers (most of them) are really quite special.

It's amazing too how many people I communicate with that I've met on eBay - people from all over the world. Probably that's why I don't have the time for the blog - I'm busy typing away all of the time.

So now it's just about Christmas - hard to believe another year has gone by. I hope that it's been good for everyone - I know that it's rough out there!

It's really amazing!!!

2010-05-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't written here in soooo long.
It's just impossible because there just aren't enough hours in a day or days in a week. Between working at the store and seeing our beautiful adorable brilliant grand baby each week there just has not been any time. And now that we have another grand baby - there will be even less time in each week.
BUT I was just scrolling through my listings - 123 in all at this moment and I can't believe how many fabulous things I have listed. It's amazing the wonderful things that my ladies give up. I think that ebay is just the best marketplace there could be. Where else could people scroll through listings of so many wonderful things? and I'm not just talking about my listings. I'm talking about all of the great things listed on ebay.
I'm so surprised when I talk with someone and they tell me that they have never even been on the ebay site. They are missing so much and so many wonderful values. I think that everyone should look on ebay when there is something that they are looking for. Look there first! You will be amazed.
I love when people say they would not buy "used" clothing. Gee - if you wash or dry clean any item then it is now "new" and totally clean. Why not? I don't get it. So many of the things that people give up are probably better than the things already in our closets and we're given the opportunity to buy things that we couldn't afford if we saw them in the department store but on ebay they are attainable......spoke with someone today who bought a $10,000 wedding gown on ebay - BRAND NEW - never worn! I don't know what she paid - but I know that it was a great deal! What's wrong with that?
So everyone - get with it!
Check out ebay and get started - it's fun and there are amazing things there for you!

Time for a lesson!

2009-12-11T17:25:00.001-08:00

We were out for dinner last night - before going to see "Pirate Radio" - which I really enjoyed! when I made the terrible mistake of checking my messages. Why - why do I have to do that? I'm out for the evening - relaxing - and I check my messages. "When will I receive the Hermes necklace?" - yes, that's the email that I received - he was referring to the $1000 Hermes silver necklace that I sent out on December 1st. It certainly should have been received - no question. So now I'm upset and I have no way to check the tracking on my iPhone - yes, it's great and does so many things - but going on eBay on Safari doesn't give me the option to track the shipment. I mean, yes - I could go onto PAYPAL and try to find his payment there - but that wasn't going to be easy. So I called my daughter and discovered that she was putting the baby to sleep - son-in-law was on the telephone with a client! No help there.

We left the restaurant and went to the movie theater. Now you have to understand that this is a small theater - 3 movies - not one of these 20 plexes and it's a more personal kind of place. When we went upstairs to get to our movie the door to the office was open and I went in and asked if I could just check something on his computer. Obsessive compulsive - would you say?

He was somewhat apprehensive about letting this crazy woman use his computer - he doesn't go on eBay and knows nothing about it really. I was able to find the item quickly and right on the eBay site you can track it. Item was delivered on 12/4 and signed for. A small sigh of relief - but remember - this is eBay - they protect the buyer no matter what!

I took down the tracking number and during the previews I emailed him with the information. I heard from him this morning. I had already emailed him all of the information - tracking, address item was sent to, etc. etc. and suggested that perhaps his post office was holding the package.

Well, this is what happened. His postman left the little yellow slip that you sign when a signature is required. He left it so that it could be signed and then he would leave the package in the box. Now by "box" I'm not quite sure exactly what that means - an open box, a locked box? So my man signed the little yellow slip, the postman left the $1000 necklace and someone must have stolen it. My man does not have it!

Don't ever sign one of those little yellow slips unless the package is in your hand! It is so easy (well, for me it is - but it is worth the trouble) to go to the post office and pick up the package yourself rather than have it left where anyone else can get it instead of you.

I'm lucky - this is a good honest person - he knows that it is absolutely not my fault and he told me that he appreciated whatever it is that I did - getting the package out quickly, sending it properly (needing a signature and insured) and that in no way was I responsible for the loss of the package.

I feel terrible - $1000 - that's a lot of money to lose just like that AND he wanted the necklace - it was quite special and a real value at that price. At least a $2000 necklace - BRAND NEW! Hopefully he can collect the money from his insurance company.

So - have you learned something from his bad experience? I certainly did. Of course my post office does not deliver to my house - in order to get my mail I MUST go to the post office - a small rural post office with the best service and cheery post people!

DUNCE! In the corner I go!

2009-12-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hi

OK - so the sandals sold and I ordered up the label. I knew that I had already packed them (which seemed a little surprising but sometimes when I know that something is sold I pack it beforehand). So I ordered up the label and looked for the package. Couldn't find it - so I went downstairs and looked for the sandals. Knowing that I had them in the bin with all of this gal's shoes/boots and handbags. I knew exactly where they had been - so when I couldn't find them and I couldn't find the package I was not very happy. But this happens once in awhile and generally if I walk away and come back a little later or the next morning - somehow, someway the item appears. Ebay is great but you can't even imagine how much stuff is all over my house!
I always try to remain as calm as possible when something like this happens - I mean, what else should I do? Go crazy? I try not to.
So I was very happy to lie down after a long day - with my wonderful little dogs. Told a friend what happened and she said "don't worry - you'll find them".
Then a lightbulb went off in my head - afterall, I really remembered packing them up - so what did I do? I did a search in my SOLD items and discovered my biggest nightmare of them all - and this is something that has NEVER happened - and I've sold over 5000 items in the last six years! Yup - they were listed twice and sold twice. Now you ask - how can this happen? Well, I list on AUCTIVA and sometimes an item winds up being scheduled twice. I won't even go into how this happens - but I have ALWAYS caught it - sometimes I have to remove an item from ebay because it's there twice - this time - I didn't see it. I even have friends and other ebayers who catch little things like this when they happen. Ebay is great - and people like that are terrific!
So - the very bad news is that I do not have the sandals to send to you.
How can I apologize enough?
The item # where they sold before is 110452788269 and they were sold November 8th. At least I wasn't going crazy - I really knew that I had packed them up. Just so you can see that I am telling you the truth. Could I make this up?
I am so very sorry!
I am a good ebayer - I work very hard at this - I really love it - but for something like this to happen is terribly upsetting.
I hope that you are one of those great understanding ebayers!
I am going to cancel the label and cancel the sale, refund your payment, and just hope that you will forgive me.
I get a lot of great shoes from this gal - so please, if you see anything on my ebay that you might want - please remind me of this - I will remove the item and sell it to you before anyone else.
I don't know how else I can make it up to you.
Barbara
ilovemygirls3

The psychology of ebay!

2009-11-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

Boy - I sure wish I could figure it out. When someone does they will have a blockbuster book. There is really no figuring it out - although I'm sure someone can. It would have to be a real statistics person - is there a word for that? Statistician? Sounds right! You would have to compile everything - the time of the very most winners - starting very low and hoping to go high? Starting high and hoping to go higher? Offering a BUY IT NOW - going for a multiple day auction - giving buyers an option to MAKE AN OFFER! Putting all of that information together and coming up with the right time to list and the right way to offer it. That answer will be worth a lot! - well, it would be to me!

Terapeak offers a service that allows you to research an item - gives you all kinds of information - # of bids, starting prices, ending prices, times of listings, etc. etc. - yes, it helps - but of course it is another venue of support for ebay - well, I don't know if they own that too - but they probably do. So clever - they're the real winners here - they charge for EVERYTHING! So anyway - that does offer some help - I use it but I think that perhaps my own gut is the best - what do I think?

Of course watching other people's listings and how they do it - that helps too. I've learned a lot from others and hope that there are people out there who also learn from me.
I've been offering more things up at a BIN price with the bidder having the option to MAKE AN OFFER. Here ebay lets you put in an amount that is the LOWEST that you would accept and the HIGHEST to accept an immediate bid. I'm thinking now that this is the best way to offer things up, both for me and the bidder. I think that people want to win the item right away - that old "instant gratification" thing - we want it NOW!

On the other hand..............I have a Bottega bag up that I put up at $200 for a 7 day auction - last count it was up to $555 with 6 hours to go - so that is good!

You figure it out - I can't! What is the very best way to list something on ebay? When I figure that out I will make a real buck! That will be worth money. Ebay is an amazing market place - I think it's great.

Let's see what happens...........

2009-11-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

Duh!

Packed up the 3 items to take to GUCCI in New York City. The tote, the telephone case and the shoes. My intention was to take them with me to the city the other day and drop them off at GUCCI for refurbishing. This way I would have a bill from GUCCI that would be proof that the items were authentic. GUCCI would not repair any item that would be fake!
My hope is that I can clear this nonsense with Ebay up once and for all. It so upsets me that they removed authentic items calling them FAKE and besmirching my reputation.

Driving to the train station with my husband it occurred to me that I left the things home! Damn! Put them in a bag, hung the bag from the front door knob so that I wouldn't forget it. What happened? My husband opened the door and I followed him through it and never saw the bag! Closed the door and went merrily on my way.

So upset when I realized that I forgot it as that was my main reason for going into the city for the day.

Called GUCCI's customer service and she told me to just send the three items to them and that they will let me know when the package is received and will give me an estimate for the repairs. Gee, that was very easy - easier than if I had brought them with me.

Now, I will wait and see what happens. I do hope that I can get this cleared up. They just remove things - just like that and you do not have any power - well, I'm trying to get the power. I hope that I can succeed!

My father was right...........

2009-11-25T04:55:00.000-08:00

I went to Parsons School of Design in NYC - lived at home and took the subway back and forth to school each day. My dad, an attorney, worked in Manhattan and also took the train into and out of the city each day. He always said that I would come home with a litany of stories of things that occurred on the train - while he never had anything to report.
Yesterday I took the train from 59th Street to Grand Central. Took a seat next to a young man who immediately asked me how I was doing. "Fine" I said and then he kept going............although he was very hard to understand (I do believe he was a bit inebriated - I'm being kind) he managed to tell me that he was just at the shelter where they were serving Thanksgiving dinner. "Nice" I said - while everyone across from us were rolling their eyes! Then he rolled up his pants leg and showed me his "fake leg". On and on he went - asking me if I had a husband, asking me if I had anything to worry about, etc. etc. - We carried on our conversation for the short trip to Grand Central - at that point I said "Good-bye" and wished him a "Good Thanksgiving". And then he said "Thank you Pretty Lady"!
Ahhhh - how nice a present was that for me?
It just made me sad that everyone on the train were rolling their eyes and definitely uncomfortable with the goings on - but I knew that he was harmless and frankly it makes you realize how good you have it! Whatever my problems are - they are nothing compared to his! I do wish him a Happy Thanksgiving - and everyone else too.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The good news..........

2009-11-18T15:37:00.002-08:00

Got a phone call yesterday from my ebay support person. Unfortunately I didn't get to speak to her personally - she must be one busy gal! but she did leave a message. My Power Seller status has been re-instated. I don't know how or what she did to get this accomplished but I do feel better about that. The whole thing is so crazy! But at least that's good news.
I wasn't even upset anymore - just discouraged - it seemed that I was really battling the unknown. I mean how good you can be at this and still lose your POWER SELLER status? Just seemed crazy to me. Hopefully I will get to speak with her but in the mean while I am feeling better.

Redemption-it means so much to me!

2009-11-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Received this email!
I apologize for overreaction. I never meant to criticize your integrity. You seem like a truly reputable dealer. I am going to keep the scarf. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

p.s. Please be so kind as to let me know you have received this email so that I can leave you positive feedback.

Ahhhhhh, I feel much better now!

My integrity is at stake!

2009-11-13T07:07:00.001-08:00

I really do not mind taking things back - I mean, I don't like to have to take something back but I don't see any reason why people should have to buy and keep something that doesn't make them happy. I know I'm not Bloomingdales - but I think it is fair to give someone the opportunity to return something if they are not happy with it.
What I do mind is this:
Received blue cashmere scarf. Not what I expected. Definitely NOT TSE. Have 2 TSE scarves, not like either one. More like Macy's or Bloomingdales variety. Will you take it back?
My response which I would put here but now I can't find it......(duh) was that I am happy to take anything back if a buyer if unhappy with their purchase but that I don't like my integrity being questioned. There is no question that the scarf (which is beautiful, by the way and of excellent quality) is TSE. I had the matching 2 pieces (with label) - a sweater/tunic and a pair of leggings. All in the same color, yarn and quality. A set - 3 pieces - all TSE.
So please, go ahead and tell me that you want to return something - I have no problem with that but do not accuse me of selling something that is not as I described. Why would I offer something up as TSE (I mean - this is still not the crème de la crème of cashmere.......it's just cashmere - sometimes not even from Italy! and the point is that you probably would find TSE at Bloomingdales - I don't know about Macy's - but that is possible - I just don't know.
AND let's get down to the real nitty gritty here - I offered the scarf up at $30! I could have just given it away - it's not my fault that it got bid up to over $100!
Ahhh - ebay!

I'm a hostage!

2009-11-11T05:16:00.000-08:00

When ebay removed the ability of sellers to leave Negative or Neutral feedback they left the sellers to all be hostages! It's like "lie down and I'll shoot you"! There is nothing that we can do when a buyer says that the item is NOT as described.

I received an email today from a buyer who is telling me that the "BRAND NEW TOD'S LOAFERS" that she received have a little chip, a little mark, a little this and a little that! And gee - she would have NEVER paid so much money - $75 - if I had mentioned these things. Well, I didn't mention those things because they don't exist! The shoes were BRAND NEW! and perfect! But what do I do? I can't win! They were sent out of the country. If I take them back (which I'm happy to do) I have to eat the postage both ways (this could be as much as $60). Believe me, she doesn't want to return them! They're beautiful and for $75! We all know how expensive these shoes are. So what has to happen - I have to give her money back! I'm over the barrel - no choice!

I understand ebay's situation with the feedback - it is such a great way of working - but not with our society of cheaters, thieves, liars, etc. Nothing as straightforward as the feedback system could work in our society. Instead sellers were blackmailing their buyers by telling them "we will mirror your feedback"! I understand why ebay has done what they did - they want buyers to be honest without the fear of receiving a negative in retaliation. I understand and appreciate that because that was the ONE negative I had received in over eight years! So yes, I understand. But it leaves the sellers in a very bad situation - buyers can do this to us - I have to bend over backwards out of fear of a negative from this person! I don't like it at all!

I guess I have quite a few complaints with ebay's dictatorship system. But this is really the only game in town. Where else could you sell things from your closet to people all over the world? It's such a great concept and overall it really works - it's great!

I did receive an email from my gal at ebay and she is working to help me get this POWER SELLER thing straightened out. I have to send these Gucci things to GUCCI for refurbishing and hopefully that might take care of the situation. BUT just the fact that she is on my side trying to help me - well, that makes me happy. POWER SELLER or not - I'm busy selling and listing all of these wonderful things - that's what is really important!

Just a note: I received this email from the person......If I had to return these they would cost me more than 20$. Even though I don't like asking for things, I think a credit would be a good way to show well being and on the other hand i would not give you bad feedback. This is also the reason I wanted to discuss this before going ahead with feedback. Thank-you

So - that's it - give a credit or I will leave you negative feedback! Luckily EVERYONE is not like this. I have spoken with other sellers and they are all having the same problem. It's unfortunate but it is the way it is.

This is what it is all about.............ebay, I mean!

2009-11-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

Although I have my gripes - and you know that I do - I really do love ebay. I think it's great that we can move things around from one closet to another.
Here is a really beautiful genuine Black Alligator Handbag/Clutch from Italy that a friend gave me to sell. Unfortunately her mom can no longer enjoy any of her beautiful things - it's sad, I know, but how great is that we can move it on to someone who can love and enjoy it rather than to have it linger alone on a shelf unloved and not being used?
It is truly a beautiful vintage bag in very excellent condition - it was loved and well taken care of.

Listing it on ebay it has moved it on to a new home - and at a very excellent price (if I do say so myself) and look at it now. How wonderful is this? It seems to me that this lovely bag has found a wonderful and beautiful new home.

Thank you so much for sharing that photo - I really love it!

Tearing my hair out!

2009-11-01T15:03:00.001-08:00

I love ebay - I really do! There is no place else like it! But they are driving me to drink......ah, that's OK - a nice glass of wine will help.

I must tell you that selling on ebay requires so much time and patience - you can't imagine all the rules, etc. that must be followed. That's OK - they are trying very hard to make it a safe haven - as a seller I like that - as a buyer, I like it even more.
BUT when they attack an honest seller like myself - well, all I can do is tear my hair out - there is nothing else that you can do.

It seems that whoever it is that owns the GUCCI LOGO - they watch all items (well, at least mine) that get listed on ebay and at their discretion - pull off anything that they deem is FAKE! So they pulled off 3 items from my listings. A Gucci Logo telephone case (REAL), a GUCCI tote (REAL) and a pair of GUCCI LOGO shoes (REAL). All of these items are without question AUTHENTIC having been purchased at GUCCI retail stores in New York City. How much more real is that?

The first time it happened I was totally bereft! I have no way to prove that it is real. OK - I guess it can happen and there is just no fighting it - not without a receipt. I didn't give it too much more thought (I should have!). Months later a lovely Blue Canvas GG tote was pulled! I couldn't believe it. It's totally REAL! Purchsed from GUCCI by my daughter's friend - who has a ton of GUCCI! all REAL! It's an old piece and again no way to prove that it is real. You would think that I would have learned my lesson - but you know - I know these things are authentic and went ahead and listed a pair of GUCCI shoes - logo with leather. Please! They did it AGAIN! and again I have no way to prove it.

So - with 100% feedback and selling for 8 years without any problems I have lost my POWER SELLER status! If I was bereft then I am totally beside myself now. I am so unhappy. I am such an honest seller AND I bend over backwards to please my ebayers - totally apparent in my feedback.

I called and spoke with a manager from Gucci in NYC - he couldn't have been nicer and was/is totally aware of the problems that people like myself are having. I won't go into the whole conversation - but he did make a suggestion that I will follow up on. I hope that it will work. He did tell me that they can absolutely NOT give any letters to anyone saying that an item is REAL. I gather from what he said that some problem occurred after they did that for someone and the item turned out to be FAKE! Oh my - he told me that the FAKES are so good that sometimes they can't even tell!

I hate it - I really do - it's such a shame that there are such thieves out there! I know, I know - that is the least of it - that should be the worst thing going on in the world today. Yes, I agree - but within my little ebay world - for me this is a bad thing!

How did it happen?

2009-09-02T04:23:00.000-07:00

About a week ago my husband said "you look really good" - now, after 36 years of marriage - isn't that nice? Especially because in 36 years I don't think he has EVER said that! Ah well, we take what we can get!
Needing a haircut badly I just couldn't decide exactly what I should do. I knew that I would go to Sassoon - the only place that I would have my hair cut but who exactly was going to cut it? My gal - who I really love - has listened to me and because of that my hair has gotten too long (for my comfort) and I really couldn't go downtown - they're located on 18th Street in New York City. So I decided to go to the uptown Sassoon - they just opened a new place on West 56th Street (really nice) because I had a very small window of time. No time to get downtown as I had to get my husband after his doctor's appointment. Post Op appointment and I knew he would be waiting. See, nothing is simple!
So I asked them who should cut my hair and the decision was CLINT - he has been with Sassoon for ten years. I met him and immediately liked him - beautiful blue eyes - dimples and a winning personality.
"Love the length" - "we'll just clean it up - fix it here, fix it there" - "Great" I said - but let's take a little bit off. My hair grows so fast (thank goodness) and I wouldn't have minded if he took off about 3/4 of an inch.
So my hair was washed - love the massage and the Wella shampoo and conditioner really smelled good. Came back to the chair and waited for Clint, who seemed to get lost in the back somewhere.
"OK, we'll start in the back - which is where they always start as the back seems to grow faster than anywhere else on my head - and he's cutting and cutting and working away and I'm sitting there happy as a clam (if in fact, clams are happy). At some point I realized that he "wasn't leaving the length at all" and in fact seemed to have cut off most of my hair. Am I a real dolt that it took me this long to realize this?
"ah - I thought we were leaving the length"
"well, from listening to you, I decided that you were really ready for a change"
"should you have asked me?"

OK - the last thing I never mentioned because I can honestly say I was not unhappy - I did want a change - I couldn't stand looking at myself anymore - I was bored with what is really the perfect haircut for me! After all, there must be a reason I've been wearing my hair like that since I'm about 5! It's what my hair does best! NEVER MESS WITH PERFECTION!

I was not unhappy - my hair felt light and as CLINT put it "sassy".

I got to the doctor's office where my husband was waiting patiently for me - well, after taking the Oxycodon that the doctor suggested he take before the painful appointment - he was in a very calm state. Not calm enough though to tell me how much he loved my NEW DO!

"How could you let them do this to you" - "Didn't I tell you just last week that I loved the way you looked?"

Well, my sassy DO didn't feel so sassy anymore and I really felt like crap!

I told my girls today to please - "not comment" about the new hair do - hopefully it will grow back quickly.

It's just hair - afterall!

Obviously I'm not ALONE!

2009-08-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

I found this online:

I'm in Massachusetts, and I've been researching this. So far, I've found no authority for the police to tow a vehicle merely because it has an expired sticker. However, it is clear that they routinely do it.

In some towns, there are explicit local ordinances governing the towing of abandoned vehicles. If a vehicle is parked in a public way, and it has an expired sticker, it may be considered abandoned. However, with what I've seen so far, the police must place a sticker on the car warning that it will be towed if not moved within a certain period, two or three days I think. Only if the car is parked in such a manner as to constitute a hazard can it be towed immediately. And that is true whether or not the registration is expired.

In the situation that aroused my interest, my wife was driving to pre-school with two small children (ages 2 and 4). She was stopped on the next business day after the tags expired. Indeed, I'd intended to get the tags the previous week, but we just adopted one of these children and the family is ... making adjustments. Bottom line, even though I only had to go downstairs to renew the registration, with two screaming children and a wife who was pretty much losing it, a few things did not get done that week. Had we not lived upstairs from the RMV, I would have, in fact, mailed it in and there would have been no problem.

So she was stopped, and she parked the car at the side of the road in a place where there was no hazard and no apparent parking regulation. The officer told her that he was going to tow the car, so take the children out. He was apparently ready to leave her and the children by the side of the road, with traffic whizzing by. Two children, both ready to run in any direction at the drop of a hat. However, she had a cell phone and called me and I arrived. We removed the car seats from her car and put them in mine, and proceeded to take the children to school. Of course, they did go ahead and tow the car. Now, the question is, why? They issued her a $100 citation, which is the statutory fine for the violation of driving with no registration. The law is unclear on the point of whether or not expired tags are "no registration," but obviously it is being considered that way. (Expired registration is not identical to no registration, on the face of it.)

If she had stopped the car in a place where there was a hazard, it is clear that Mass law would allow the officer to direct her to move it according to his instructions.

Now, she was violating the law by driving the car. It is also a violation of the law for the car to be parked in the public way. However, routinely, and by regulation in at least some towns, cars parked in the public way with expired tags are not immediately towed. In other words, the "violation" is allowed to continue for a certain period of time, allowing for notice and correction. It would appear that towing a car in the circumstances described would be a punitive action. Or, more darkly, corrupt. Towing generates local revenue.

In most states, driving with an expired sticker is not a moving violation, and it appears that most states do not tow for this reason alone. Indeed, most states seem to routinely give warnings that turn into real citations, with fines, if the violation is not corrected. That's what I expected would be the case here. Had I not expected this, instead of rushing to the scene to help her, I'd have gone downstairs and registered the car and would have taken the plates to the scene, so the car being towed would have had current registration on it; in fact, I'd have gotten there before the tow truck. In most jurisdictions, if the tow truck were called legitimately, this would be half-charge. Further, the officer confiscated the plates. That created a whole extra difficulty, since the officer, even though only minutes away from the station, did not return the plates to the station so we could pick them up for three or four hours.... And the police at the station complained that they had too few officers for the work load.

Of course, they *created* the work load, this particular part of it. It took two officers about thirty minutes to finally get the children into the second car and see the tow truck off.... (The arresting officer called for backup, I suspect, when I arrived. I'm sure I was not smiling at him when he confirmed that, no matter how much trouble this was causing, he "had" to tow the car.)

In any case, we will contest the citation and we are informed by an attorney -- as well as my own experience before magistrates and judges in Massachusetts, that the probable outcome on the citation is that it will be dismissed, when we show the registration and the timing of it. We still had to pay $110 for the towing and minimum storage to get the car back. And, unless I can find authority in the law for the police to tow the car under the circumstances, I'll be filing a claim against the town for reimbursement for costs. My attorney friend, an ex-cop actually, tells me that I could go for more than that. The children were pretty upset!

So people in some forums have asked about this situation and how it might affect their insurance rates. Massachusetts is unlike most other states. This is considered a minor violation, but it *can* affect rates. Essentially, a major violation, like speeding or going through a red light, is five points. Expired tags is two points. If I'm correct, the average cost in insurance of simply going ahead and paying the citation is about $400 over the period before it becomes moot.

Out of Control!

2009-08-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

Left for work early Saturday morning. Was meeting a friend before my manicure and then had to get on to the store.....it wasn't raining - which was a real treat! The sun was shining - it was going to be a great day!
I dropped off some packages at the Post Office and hopped back into my car anxious to get back to my story on my iPod - Sarah's Key - excellent! Just as I was starting up the police officer knocked on my window. "Let me see your registration" - ahhhh - who needs this? So I grabbed the papers from my glove compartment (I love that term - reminds of days of old) and could not find it among the various old registrations, warnings, etc.). Told him that I couldn't find it but that I had to have had it when I was recently given the warning that my front headlight was out. Whatever - he told me that I could not drive my car as it was not registered. Gee! OK - I said that I will take the car home and use my husband's car for the day and that we'll take care of the situation on Monday. "OH NO" said the town policeman! "You're not driving this car anywhere". "Come on" I said - "it's a mile from here - I will drive it home". Under no circumstances was he going to allow me to drive the car. He told me that I had to get a tow truck to get my car home. I pleaded with him - to no avail. I told him that I felt that he was harassing me! At which point he told me how lucky I was that he wasn't giving me a ticket.
Now you have to understand how small this little town is - the entire "downtown" consists of the Post Office and the General Store and on a Saturday in the summertime - the little "downtown" is quite busy - people all around - cars all over - busy busy busy! Everyone was watching this little scene and when the officer decided to take the plates off of my car - I felt like a common criminal must feel. I was horrified! YES - he took the plates off of my car!
I called my husband and told him to "get down here quickly" - It cost me $125 to tow my car the one mile from the Post Office to my home and now my car is sitting outside my home without any plates.
I have spoken to many many people since this event on Saturday - many of whom have been stopped because of an expired registration - they can tell from looking at your license - ALL of them received WARNINGS! No one had been told that they couldn't drive their cars and absolutely NO ONE had the plates taken off of their car.
I have had trouble sleeping these last few nights - the outrage of what this police officer did to me has had a profound effect on me!
Why would he do what he did?
I tried calling the police chief today but he is out on vacation for a week - hopefully I will get some sleep in before he gets back to town.

Oh, do you know when my registration expired? The day before - not even 24 hours had passed that the registration was expired!

Honest Ebay Sellers are Held Hostage

2009-08-02T20:38:00.001-07:00

That's right - that's what has happened! I understand that Ebay has been working hard to help the buyer from being cheated by people selling counterfeits - that's a good thing! In the process they have really hurt the honest seller. In so many ways - more than I can even talk about here right now.

But one thing that has happened is that someone buys something on ebay - gets a great deal and then holds the seller up for a "discount" because of some minor little thing - doesn't even have to be a real thing - just that the buyer knows that the seller can't leave him negative feedback. So he tells the seller that all is well but will be better with a $30 refund. Like the gal who held me up because the shoes were 1/2" higher than she thought. Even though my measurements were correct. Funny how she could wear them with a REFUND! It would have cost me money to have them come back to me and I stood the chance that she would leave me negative feedback! She leaves me negative feedback for no reason and there is NOTHING that I can do about it.

How annoyed was I? But what did it matter - she had me over a barrel and she knew it.

In talking with other sellers I am starting to see that this is what buyers are doing - nasty! OK - 99-9/10% of my buyers are fabulous and would never do such a thing. But that tiny percentage can really wreak havoc with a seller's feedback percentage.

SCARY!

How proud can a mom-in-law be?

2009-07-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

Well, let's start with the most important and best accomplishment - CLARA! I mean how can anyone top a grandchild?? Impossible, but I give my son-in-law credit for trying.

Trying with his fabulous first novel - SOMETHING MISSING - coming out tomorrow and published by Broadway Books. .........and psssst.........he's already sold his second book - yup - that's right - a totally unknown has already sold his second book even before his first had come out.

When your children bring their intended home - they're in love - we're so happy for them! What choice have we? All we want is for them to be happy. But lucky for us - we're happy too! Happy and proud of Matt's grand achievements.

The Boston Globe has an article about the book in their Sunday paper today- check it out. Go to Amazon and order the book - it's fun and good! You'll love it!

Oh, and keep checking out my ebay - psssst - where do you think he got the idea for Barbara Teal in the book? Ha Ha and HA! Good that I can offer some inspiration.

ilovemygirls3 for fabulous things at fabulous prices.

HELP!

2009-06-30T04:05:00.000-07:00

My patience is failing! Really, I am truly losing patience. I have a gorgeous HERMES - very VINTAGE bag up - between 50-60 years old. The real thing, the real quality of Hermes - vintage beauty. You can look at the photos and know without doubt that the bag is real - and tell me, were they making fakes 50-60 years ago - I don't think so!
Why do people ask such dumb - yes dumb, questions?

"Hi, is that original Hermes since I can't found Made in France"

I know - I know - I must be patient - but if you look at this auction, if you read my feedback, if you look at the photos - you wouldn't ask a dumb question. I certainly wouldn't. Yes, I know - you want to be sure before you buy something on ebay - yes, I agree. But please - that was a dumb question and unfortunately followed by so many stupid questions that people ask.

I know that many sellers like myself are feeling the squeeze that we're getting from ebay. Ebay wants to be Amazon - they want to forget how they started. It was so brilliant-how to sell things that you have to people anywhere in the world. The internet - it brings the world together in so many ways. I don't believe they really want sellers like me anymore.

Of course that has nothing to do with stupid questions - and I get so many. Look, I don't blame people for being careful. I'm very careful when I buy things on ebay. But the question is NOT - is that authentic? The description says it's authentic - if I ask the question and it's fake is the seller going to say that it's fake? I don't think so. The job to discover if the item is authentic is up to you, the buyer.

Look at the photos - come on, look at these photos and then you tell me, is this authentic?
Then, read the feedback - know who you're buying from - what kind of items does this person sell - car parts or high end clothing and accessories?

Ahhhh, really - this is nothing - people are really getting to me.
The gal with the 4" heels - it is making me crazy to be held hostage by these people. Now that ebay has taken away my right to leave negative feedback I am forced to bend over backwards so far that sometimes it gets very uncomfortable.

Don't get me wrong - I love ebay - I love that I'm able to offer up these great things to people all over the world and I meet so many fabulous people. Met a gal from New Zealand who really gave me some good advice and steered me to a new auction listing manager site that I would have never found on my own. Most people are so nice! So nice! But some people really make you crazy.

So in the end - it is really not this particular question - it's a lot of things and I'm not alone. I speak to many sellers like myself and we are all feeling the ebay squeeze!

HELP!

I'm really losing it!

2009-06-26T04:43:00.000-07:00

Yup - that's why I do not have time to post blogs! Ebay is killing me! I gather I'm not alone - but that doesn't make me feel any better.
Yes, ebay wants to make their site a SAFE HAVEN - that's great! They should - better for you, better for me - but why are they removing AUTHENTIC items from my listings? GUCCI INFRINGEMENT - they have removed as FAKE two AUTHENTIC GUCCI items from my listings. There is nothing that I can do about it AND it effects my rating as a seller. Ye G-d!

Ebay really (probably) doesn't want sellers like me anymore - we can't leave NEGATIVE feedback and therefore we are at the mercy of the buyers.

I sold a BRAND NEW pair of patent leather pumps last week for $30! I mean, really - is this a great buy or what? 3-3/4" heels if you measure (not at the outside of the heel - but the inside). If you measure on the outside - 4". So the buyer tells me they are NOT AS DESCRIBED! and she wants to return them and have me give her back ALL of her shipping (meaning it will cost me $20 if she returns them) or a $10 REFUND!

Oh, you mean - if I don't give you a refund for $10 they are too high - but if I do give you a refund they are fine? Give me a break! I HATE PEOPLE like this! This is what is making me want to give up selling on ebay - this and ebay's treatment of their sellers.

What did I do? Gave her the $10 - put her on my BLOCKED buyer's list and then knocked my head against the wall.

Two little things that are just part of so many other hair pulling out issues with ebay.

What to do - what to do? Overall I really enjoy it - but it is a lot of work and meeting the really awful people takes away much of the pleasure of selling. Ebay is not helping either.

I'll stop complaining now and get on with my day!

This is what it's all about!

2009-05-26T03:26:00.001-07:00

Sorry......but ebay is like the laundry - you are never finished! All of my time has to go to listing, listing, listing......so many things happen but the blog, unfortunately, is at the bottom of the list.

Selling to people with 0 feedback is a real risk! Someone with 0 feedback bid on the gorgeous FENDI bag - $630! She actually bid it away from someone else! Did she pay for it? NO! Explain this to me please! Why oh why does someone do this? She ties up the bag for the two weeks while I have to wait for her to pay - I can't offer it to the other person until the two weeks is over and by then the person will have definitely moved on to something else. Many sellers won't sell to people with 0-3 feedback and I can understand why.

On the other hand, these people are new to ebay and they have to start somewhere. Perhaps they should start with items that are $3.99! You know - that is a good idea - their first 10 feedback should all be required to be under $10! That is what they are doing with sellers now. Until you build up GOOD FEEDBACK for selling HONEST merchandise you can't list another item. I wouldn't know this except for the fact that my sister is selling on ebay too and she can only list ONE ITEM AT A TIME! Yes, it should work both ways. Honest sellers AND honest buyers!

Of course I have completely veered away from what I intended to write about..........

I had a really nice VINTAGE - about 25 years old - CHANEL bag listed. Certainly looked good to me! Lots of questions about the bag......but the last question was...."I was told that if there is only Chanel stamped on the inside of the bag instead of Chanel Made in Paris , then it is a fake...is this true?"

I immediately went inside to check my own Chanel bags - all of them purchased either at Bergdorf Goodman or Bloomingdales in New York City over the last ten years. One of them said CHANEL Made in France, the next said CHANEL, Made in Italy, 2 of them said CHANEL with the R (registered mark) and the 5th said CHANEL with the CC Logo underneath. Therefore - there is definitely no set rule which is what I responded to her.

In the meanwhile I did ask the owner exactly where the bag came from and her reply was.....
Dear Barbara
The bag is authentic Channel. It was a gift from my mother and I imagine she bought it in New York. It is about 25 years old. I know for certain it is real. It was my only bag, which I used, until I had others which I will get to you in the future..It is real. Does that help. It really is vintage and an unusal beautiful design. She might have bought it in Europe. She was always buying me beautiful things.
Thanks. Let me know if this is helpful.

I knew that the bag was real but felt that it didn't hurt to ask. I loved her reply - I loved that it was her mom who was buying her such beautiful things - how nice is that?

After the auction - I received this email from the buyer with 0 feedback: "Hi, and thank you, you just made my day! I have wanted an old vintage Chanel purse like this for many years and I found it my first day at ebay:) You seem like a serious seller, and I hope the purse is authentic!
The payment will be completed as soon as possible, on Wednesday at the latest.

Nice doing business with you!"

Ahhhhhh!
This is what ebay is all about. When it is paid for the bag will head off to Norway! I wish I could go with it!

You've got to keep your sense of humor!

2009-04-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Really, if you don't you will put a gun to your head and shoot yourself! Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration!
I sold a pair of wonderful silver sneakers to a really nice guy in Switzerland. I couldn't find them anywhere when it came time to send them out. That always makes me nuts but the item always turns up. A day later I noticed a package all wrapped and ready to go Express International and said to myself "oh, there they are". Of course I did find it odd that I would have wrapped them up before they were sold AND wrapped them for international delivery - odd, right? If I knew these things in advance I would just buy lottery tickets! So I opened the end of the package and saw that they were the same size (so I thought) and knew those had to be the sneakers. Happily I sent them to Switzerland. Of course when they were received they were not SILVER, but BLACK! and a 1/2 size different! Oh, I hate when things like this happen. So I went downstairs and checked and checked again and of course I found the SILVER ones. I sent them right out to him and he received them quickly.
So now what - he asks if he should send them back to me. Now we're talking $34 each way for the USPS charges. No - I said - and he suggested that I sell them and that he would send them off for me when they were sold. Maybe I suggested it to him - I don't know - but we agreed that would be what we would do.
So they sold and the fellow gave me the address where they should be sent - to ITALY! OK - not so bad - from Switzerland to Italy - another $35 for mailing.
How nice is this fellow from Switzerland? He sends off the package and to date the BLACK sneakers have not been received - he even went back to the Post Office and there is no problem - this is how long it takes (makes me appreciate our USPS even more) and this fellow will get them - probably by the end of this week. BUT what you must understand is that the fellow from ITALY has NOT PAID ME! No, he won't pay me until he gets the sneakers!
Oh, why do I do this?
Why - because luckily I do have a sense of humor and realize this is just ONE BIG JOKE! (on me!)

Good Bye my friends!

2009-04-17T05:25:00.001-07:00

Yes, GOOD-BYE my friends - my beautiful CHANEL shoes that I wore to my daughter's wedding! How long does something wonderful have to sit un-used before we are willing to get rid of it?

Let's see - it will be three years since I wore them (ONCE) - and they are in 100% PERFECT condition. Yes, it breaks my heart, well, relatively speaking - I mean they are ONLY shoes! BUT so wonderful, so beautiful! BUT they must move on.......it is important that someone enjoys them. I really feel that way - they need exercise, they need love, they are like pearls - you can't keep them in the closet.

It will definitely make my heart thump when I wrap them and send them off to Germany tomorrow - I hope they have a good trip. I hope when she gets them that she will wear them to death! As hard as it is for me to send them off - I really feel that they should be worn and enjoyed.

Why don't I wear them, you ask.......impossible - I can't wear shoes like this anymore - living in the woods - where am I going to wear them? and why should I lift myself 3" off the ground anymore - I just can't wear shoes like this anymore - those days are over.

So - good-bye my beautiful friends - have a great trip and a great life. You did your job with me - you walked my lovely daughter down the aisle to a very happy marriage with a beautiful and wonderful new baby - you did your job well!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

NOTE: I did hear from the gal who bought them and she told me that she is going to wear them to the Christening of her friend's son. She is the boy's God Parent.

Now, isn't that great? They will be doing G-d's work - I can't ask for more than that.

Wear them well! and keep up the good work!

2009-04-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

It's a rough world out there - that's for sure.
I mean when I get an email asking if a pair of HELMUT LANG sneakers are authentic - do they even make copies of these things? Are they making copies of everything? I can't stand it!

Look, I can appreciate people's concerns - I don't blame them at all - I've been caught more than once. Remember that fake BOTTEGA that I bought - luckily I got my money back - but yes, I thought from the photos that it looked real - but as soon as I had it in my hands - there was no question - FAKE FAKE FAKE! and the watch - the HERMES CAPE COD (although to this day I can't be sure) - I guess I should take it to Hermes - it sure looks real to me and I love it! But that guy - well he was removed from eBay before I received my purchase and I had to run him down in Canada before he sent it. But he did - I don't believe it is real though - the strap didn't look good (I replaced it with a wrap around strap purchased at Hermes and I love the watch - real or not - it works and looks great!

So I know that no matter how careful I/we am/are - we can get caught - but do they make fake HELMUT LANG sneakers?

Last week I sold a Prada Messenger bag - a really nice one - the person who bought it emailed me to tell me that she took it to Neiman Marcus and the salesgirl told her it was fake. She said it was fake because there was no dust bag. Now please - I have plenty of bags that I do not have the original dust bag - that certainly doesn't make it fake AND she said it didn't have some number inside - I've sold an awful lot of PRADA bags and there are no numbers inside. My guess is that she told the salesgirl that she bought it on eBay and the gal wanted it to be fake. She is sending it back and I will bring it to Saks or Prada - but frankly, I really believe that it is real. If I didn't I would never ever have sold it. It came from a gal in San Francisco who received it as a gift from a good friend - it was in the Neiman Marcus box and she said that she just doesn't believe that this friend would ever give her a fake. You know what - I don't believe it either - these women have a lot of money - are they really buying fakes to give to their friends? I do ask my women though to give me things that they have personally bought - just to avoid this type of thing.

Of course it could be a re-gift situtation! We don't know where it may have started! That's kind of funny really. Maybe it went through 4 or 5 women before coming to me. You just never know. I'm pretty fussy though and this particular bag was a really nice one. And I still believe it is real. It's coming back to me - I'll find out for sure - yes, I'll take it to Prada - they should certainly know. Of course, what does it mean if it's such a good copy that even Prada doesn't know. Oh, this copy thing is a mess! People are so dishonest! I really hate it!

The injustice of it!

2009-04-01T03:00:00.001-07:00

I'm so angry!
Ebay has changed their policy regarding payment options for buyers. OK - they can do this. After all, they own PAYPAL - so why would they want people to pay any other way! I can live with this. They advised their sellers some time ago. I don't know why I thought that the payment option would just disappear. I mean, wouldn't that make sense. Why do they give you a place to check off Money Orders and Cashier's Checks if they don't allow it?
OK - so they left the option there even though they don't allow it. Go fight City Hall!
A week ago they removed 5 of my listings because that option was still checked off. BOY - I learned my lesson quick. I immediately UNCHECKED the option and relisted my items. I can learn real fast when I have to.
Out with the baby yesterday - ah - what's better than that? Oh yes, being with my daughter too! (Just one of my bad jokes) my pleasure and delight to be with them both. Arrived home late last evening only to discover that eBay removed 3/4 of my 51 listings! Most of them having been bid on and some with a lot of bids! I can't tell you how I felt!
BUT the injustice is that the option to pay with Money Order or Cashier's Check was NOT there. My listings had ALL been corrected. Yet that was the reason given for having removed them.
This does not seem fair.
Of course I have to wait until 9AM Pacific Time to try to speak to someone.
I am so angry!
The only thing that keeps me from tearing out my hair is this...................

It's GREAT! Lose WEIGHT!

2009-03-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well - thank you to my son-in-law!

I knew it - I had to lose weight - and believe me, I have tried before! Weight Watchers - it worked, but then it didn't anymore. I lost patience with those points! Especially when they lowered my 20 points to 18! I mean - really! 20 points was hardly any food at all - what could have 18 been like? Nope - that's when I stopped. I had lost 8 pounds that time and gee, I think it was at least a year and a half ago.

So now that my daughter is getting married in May - I really wanted to lose those 15 pounds. Everyday I got up and started my diet - by lunch - it was over!

I was at my daughter and son-in-law's and he told me about LOSE IT! an application on the iPhone. Now we're talking! It's G-R-E-A-T!

Here are some of the things that will appear on your iPhone......

You put in the information - how much you weigh, how much you want to weigh, your age and how many pounds you want to lose a week. I said that I wanted to lose 15 pounds and that I wanted to lose 1 pound a week. I started on February 2nd and have lost 9 pounds to date.

It will tell you how many calories you have a day - you add the foods that you eat all day and it deducts the calories for you. You start to get a feeling for what you can eat and how much. At first I was hungry - but after a day or two it was just fine.

So, I have 6 more pounds to go - and I can't thank my son-in-law enough. Without this - I'd still be "thinking" about dieting!

If you don't have an iPhone I believe there are similar programs on the internet. GOOD LUCK!

Hard to believe

2009-03-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Last year I sold a gorgeous Orange Kelly - Hermes - to a gal who has a second hand store in New York City. I don't remember the price she bought it for - but you know it was quite pricy. The problem with the bag was that the long shoulder strap was missing. I went to Hermes and ordered the strap. Didn't know how much it would cost - but ordered it as I promised this gal that I would get the strap.

Two months later - no strap

Four months later - no strap

Six months later - no strap

Eight months later - I send her a check for $400

Ten months later - yup - Hermes calls and they have the strap!

Can you believe it? Ten months!

Well, that's it for me - I paid her the $400 and she will have to decide whether or not she wants to go to Hermes and take the strap - seems to me that she should. Her investment will be another $110 and if she doesn't feel that she can sell the bag without the strap - then she would be wise to get it.

Her call.

I'm sorry............

2009-03-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

Time just goes by toooo fast! I really enjoy writing the blog - but there doesn't seem to be enough time. I was busy most of February in New York City buying for next fall. A scary thing in this economy. Are people going to be buying? Buying expensive sweaters, coats, pants, shoes, bags? I hope so - we want to see things get better and what better way than to be buying beautiful things. We found some great great things for the store and now I can't wait for next winter! Ugh - not really - this winter's snow is finally melting and it really seems like spring might be on the way.

Let's start with getting back to the store and getting into all of the boxes of the brand new spring merchandise. What fun that is! All of the merchandise comes in at the same time - and the store is filled with huge boxes filled with fabulous clothing. No matter what the economy, I know that our wonderful ladies will be there - we've been closed for two months and we all can't wait to see the new clothing. Yay!

So that was February - after that - eBay - dealing with everything. When I'm busy in New York things go wrong with eBay - ie the two bags that I managed to get switched! I hate that - I try to be so careful but things do happen when you're sending out so many things......my eBayers though - they are great! Overall, most are so nice. They will each send each other the right bag. How about the gorgeous Hermes scarf - It was paid for and I wrapped and packed it carefully - all of these scarves are so beautiful. I had already been to the post office and was just feeling so tired that I decided it would wait until the next day. Two packages on the counter ready for the post office. Next thing I know I look at the counter and see the water all over...........hmmm.......where is that water coming from? THE ROOF! Yes, the roof - the ice is melting and coming through the cabinets onto the counter! Can you believe it! I freaked - grabbed the package with the scarf and ripped it open. Two of the tiniest water stains right down the middle - I could not believe my eyes! What to do? What to do? I looked online and found the name of a cleaner in New York City called Tiecrafters on 29th and 8th. Then I called Hermes and asked who they recommended - yes, Tiecrafters. So Monday I went into the city and brought them the scarf. Won't go into all of the details (nothing is simple) but the scarf will go out to the gal today - she bought it as a birthday present for herself - and hopefully all will be well! What do you think they charge to clean a scarf? $25! It had better be perfect!

This is my eBay - you think it is simple? Always something.....but you know - that's what I love about it - it keeps me on my toes! Better than ballet! Bad joke!

So many other things have happened, but that's it for now.

I will really try to keep this going - I enjoy it and it seems you do too as people tell me they miss it when I'm not writing.

Thanks for that!

Now it's time to start listing on eBay!

Those damn pills!

2009-02-02T03:19:00.000-08:00

It really doesn't matter how much you've spent for that sweater - chances are those annoying pills will appear. My darling friend came into the store a couple of weeks ago wearing a very beautiful gray cashmere sweater that she bought for a mere $950 and she was covered with those little annoyances! Making her gorgeous sweater look not so great!

People will ask me to show them sweaters that won't pill. No such thing - it's like a new rug - it will shed for awhile.

My recommendation is that you wash your sweaters in your machine if you have a gentle cycle and then lay them out to dry - COLD COLD COLD - never HOT - never WARM! A good soap is called EUCALAN. It's made in Canada and had been recommended by one of our customers. Good in the machine or hand wash (no rinsing necessary).

Great for lots of other things too - great for baby clothing - in fact, the site that I found is a BABY SITE - guess I just have babies on my mind!

The other wonderful thing for those annoying pills is this simple little comb D-FUZZ IT. I have them all over the house - always ready to de-pill my sweaters.

So - get rid of those annoying pills!
Check out my site ilovemygirls3 for some great things on ebay.

The best news!

2009-02-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

What can one say? What is the very best thing that can happen? Well for me - CLARA SUSAN. My wonderful children had a baby girl just one week ago today - in fact, just about EXACTLY one week ago today. My daughter timed it perfectly - we left our home last Sunday at 9 am and arrived at the hospital at 11 am - Clara arrived at 11:50 - PERFECT! We didn't get to see her though until around 4 in the afternoon since Clara had to come into the world via C-Section. OK OK - that worked for us - we were able to leave the hospital and go out for lunch - always important for me not to miss my meals. I don't think that my daughter was so thrilled to have a C-Section - but in the end that was going to be the safest way for Clara's entrance into the world.

Our son-in-law was fantastic - kept us in tune with text messages - so we weren't out there not knowing what was going on - I love him for that - he was/is GREAT!

Nothing can really prepare you for the moment that your own daughter gives birth to her own daughter - there are no words - and I am probably one of the luckiest moms/grams in the world. My son-in-law is a teacher and they decided that it would be best for him to work on the days that she would be in the hospital so that he could take his time off when they are home. Ahhhh - how good for me - I was lucky enough to spend the first two nights and days in the hospital with "my girls". There is no better gift in the world that could have been given to me. I offered nothing but moral support and love - but you know what - I believe it was very much appreciated. I won't get mushier than that - but I do want to share this beautiful little sweet baby with you.

When I arrived back home I immediately started to go through the things that I kept tucked away for the last 30 some odd years - things that were so special from my own babies. Here is one of them - these beautiful little dolls that were on my daughter's carriage - made from the most beautiful french fabric. I also found some beautiful newborn hand smocked nighties from my daughters' layettes along with a special quilt that was given to her when she was born by her auntie. A sweater that was knit by my mother along with two amazing sweaters and two beautiful blankets that my sister made for her when she was born. Things that I treasured and hopefully my daughter will treasure too. It would be great if some of these things will be passed on to her sister and to their children's children.

To tell you the truth

2009-02-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

I think that eBay is the first place to look for anything. Oh please - please don't tell my daughter - but I think that I may have found the top to wear to her wedding. A silver top - Giorgio Armani - brand new - $2000 (1/4 the price on eBay). Now it might be fabulous and it might not be - but if it's not everything I want it to be it will go right back to the seller. The seller had a NO RETURN policy - but I emailed her and explained that as a seller - you can't expect people to spend $400 on something and keep it if it doesn't work. I learned this early on in my selling - it's nice to say NO RETURNS - but really - it can't work that way and I changed my policy. As I explained to this gal - with over 5000 sales - very few people have returned things. When they do - it's OK - as long as it comes right back and in the same condition. I have had no problems whatsoever. She was very open to my suggestion and actually changed her return policy. She said that she was concerned that everyone would return things - when I explained that I really have had no problems she was pleased and appreciative of the advice. She is in Hawaii and I am in Massachusetts - isn't that great? Communication between two total strangers - two people happy to help one another.

I have bought some really amazing things on eBay. I think that it is the biggest marketplace that can be found anywhere - the idea of people letting go of things from their closets so that it can wind up in my closet - or your closet - is great!

I have been listing things from the store that I work at. We close for two months and have a big BLOW OUT sale - 75-90% off! We just want to clear everything out so that when we open at the very end of March everything will be BRAND NEW and wonderful. That doesn't mean though that the things that are left aren't wonderful. I am listing them on eBay for a fraction of the original price. What can be better than that? It's a great store - we carry things from designers that can't be found anywhere else in the country - she has been in business just about 30 years and people come to Lenox sometimes just to come to the store. SO - to find these things at such great prices on eBay - isn't that great?

I've had very very few bad experiences at the buying end and even my bad experiences turned into just that "experiences" that got worked out.

I know from the wonderful things that I sell that people are getting amazing value and finding things that they couldn't find anywhere else.

EBay is trying to change - more of an AMAZON buying experience - that's OK - as long as they keep the original idea of people selling in the way that I'm selling. I really hope that doesn't change.

Welcome to my world - please visit my site ilovemygirls3
If you want to peek at the top that I bought - Armani silk top
Let me know what you think of it........

How do you explain this?

2009-01-30T19:34:00.001-08:00

Have a fabulous CARTIER Francaise tank on eBay. Really beautiful - $5200 retail. Listed for $2200 BIN or Make an Offer.......watch is in excellent condition and it is beautiful - in excellent condition - in the original box, etc. etc. - so someone makes an offer (via email rather than through eBay) which I accept. After that I get another offer - which I refuse! But the original gal does not get back to me and by the time the listing is over the second offer has already bought another watch! Ahhhh! I get in touch with the original person who asks me to please relist the item. She is in Asia on business and I can understand that she didn't want to buy it directly - she felt safer buying it through eBay. So I relist the watch and tell her that it is on. She emails me back and tells me that she can't find the listing - I give her the auction # and what do you think? I have yet to hear from her. What is that about?
Ebay is great - I love it - but sometimes I just don't understand things that happen.

I must post pictures of my beautiful granddaughter born last Sunday - she is so beautiful. Our first grandchild. We are so happy - she is so fabulous! I will do that tomorrow.

Something that I LOVE!

2009-01-21T11:22:00.001-08:00

AUDIBLE.COM
I just love it! It costs me $14.95 (I think) a month. For that amount of money each month I receive one credit for one book. I do not have the time to read - and I miss it terribly. When I was young I could stay up all night reading a book - but those days are long gone! If I try reading a book in bed - out like a light! in less than one minute - the best sleeping pill around! I'm usually so tired by the time I hit the pillow that those days of reading in bed would be impossible. So what do I do? I can't sit around at home reading a book during the day - too much guilt - I have too much to do. The listings on eBay are never finished and there is always an item that must be wrapped and packed. EBAY never ends - it's like the laundry, you never get to say "I'm finished".....it's never finished.
One day I found AUDIBLE.COM online - I'm sure that there are others but this is the one that I signed on with and I love it.
I have listened to so many more books than I would have ever read - and all kinds - History/Biography/Mystery/Thrillers - it's laid out very well - they give you feedback from other readers - it's great.
The books are easily downloaded to my iPod - I listen at home on a JBL player and in the car on one of those devices that goes into your car lighter (but I think that I am going to have a new radio installed - one that you can play your iPod on directly). That's how much I enjoy listening to my books. Of course I do go beyond the 1 a month and wind up buying a few others. That's OK - I love it so much - I'm actually addicted to these stories - can't get enough.

This made me laugh....

2009-01-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

GUARANTEED DELIVERY IN 5 BIZ DAYS IF YOU BUY IT NOW !!

The minute anything is paid for I print out the label, wrap up the package and run it over to the post office. Yes - the post office is around the bend. Yes, around the bend - when you live in the woods it's not "down the street" or "around the block" - it's "around the bend". It's such a nice little post office - a real country post office. It was actually upsetting when they removed the original mail boxes - they were so beautiful - so old. The fact that many of them didn't work though is probably what encouraged them to change them. You know the people who work there - they are so good to me. They let me drop off my packages even when they are still closed. I knock on the door and hand them my pile of boxes that are all ready to go - and they take them with a "good morning" and a smile. I'm lucky.
When I'm in the city there is a post office just about a door away from the apartment. Yes, I recognize the people - they seem to be the same people who are there all of the time - but they don't want to recognize you, they don't want to say "hello" - they don't want to give you the FREE Priority Boxes - they are just plain NASTY! I always walk away shaking my head. What is that about?

Ahhh - getting back to my original thought!
GUARANTEED DELIVERY IN 5 BIZ DAYS IF YOU BUY IT NOW !!

Delivery should be guaranteed to go right out the moment an item is paid for - either way - regular purchase or BUY IT NOW! I never understand when I buy something and it doesn't come for a week or two. What are these people doing? I go crazy when I'm in New York on business (this happens twice a year) and I can't get my packages right out. Last year I even tried having my husband getting the items out while I was away - that turned out to be a little bit of a catastrophe (although he was really terrific). I do tell people though - in advance - so that they will know that instead of going out immediately, it might take a few extra days. People are always understanding. At this point so many of these people know me, that they actually know where I am and what I'm doing - isn't that great?

UPDATE on SOMETHING MISSING!
Chosen as Book of the Month's Club Alternate Selection!
Purchased by Russian, Korean, German and Japanese publishers!
So come on, be one of the first - go to Amazon order your copy now!
Oh yes, also purchased by Recorded books!
I'm so proud of my son-in-law!

Something you MUST have!

2009-01-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

Now I once wrote about some other things along this line - BUT I think this is the WINNER!

A customer came into the store a couple of weeks ago and pulled this out of her purse!

THIS IS IT! Perfection! This is the one that you need! It's great - as described below - PURE GENIUS! It's good looking, light weight and very functional. I bought mine at Neiman Marcus but there are other sights - just GOOGLE Very Important BAG or VIP MAN by Tintamar.

When my daughter saw it the other day - "WOW" "I need that" so I ordered one for her and one for her sister. I think that every woman needs one of these. AND as mentioned below a man can use it in his MAN BAG too! (Why not?)

The VIP (Very Intelligent Pocket) bag for the fashionista in you is pure genius. From Tintamar. Makes changing items from one bag to another simple. Silvertone hardware. Drawstring top. Front pocket with lobster clip. 6 1/2"H x 10"W.

Check it out on the Neiman Marcus site.

With a VIP MAN by Tintamar of France, you always have everything to hand. Its neat pockets organize all your essentials - mobile phone, note book, wallet, pen, everything you need for everyday so that if you carry the VIP MAN in your briefcase, when it comes to changing over from your briefcase to your sports bag, weekend bag, shoulder bag or man bag, you simply take the VIP MAN from one to the other and all the contents with it, leaving nothing behind!

Never forget your phone or your keys again!

Not only does the VIP MAN by Tintamar of France make it easy to change over in a moment, but it also means that all your essentials are always in the same place. No more rummaging round for your keys, because they attach to the handy clip, and your mobile phone will always be in the same pocket.

It's not always easy.....

2009-01-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

Lost a very dear friend. A special and unusual person - she will be in my heart forever. I am grateful to have been her friend and to have had the opportunity to share the good and the bad things with her - because good or bad - she was so very special - an unusual and wonderful woman. My good fortune to be able to say that she was indeed my friend. It has taken a toll on me and I have not been able to come here to write anything - my heart was heavy and everything else that was going on seemed too trivial. Now she is gone - and we all must go forward - sorry to be gloomy.

What finally happened with the Coach wallet and the Fendi bag - well, the funny thing about it is that a friend had sent her the Coach wallet as a surprise gift! and two days later she received the Fendi bag. All ended well with that. I'm just sorry that I immediately felt that she was trying to cheat me! Oh, I hate to think that way. I guess I have met up with enough creeps on ebay at this point that I think that way - but when I think of all of the wonderful things that I have bought and all of the great things that I have sold - well, next time I will try not to think the worst!

The ebay items are piled high to the sky. I have so many things to list that I don't know where to start. At this point I could really use some HELP! The problem with help though is that I feel it is important that I touch each item, look at each item and describe each item myself. When my husband was helping me by taking the photos and doing the measurements - I lost that control over the items. I could not describe them well enough - when I take the photos and do the measurements I really get to see the item - get to see the condition, etc. So although I would love some HELP I just don't think that it is a good idea!

So I'd better get moving - lots to do. Life goes on!

No no no - no SCAM, no THIEF - this is a FIRST!

2008-12-30T06:25:00.000-08:00

Now I feel badly - so quick to think the worse! But this gal is not trying a scam at all. In fact, my gal at eBay said that she has never heard of anyone trying a scam like that! Ahh - that's a relief! I hate thinking the worst!
What has happened though is a first for me - which is interesting considering how many packages I have shipped out of the USA? Of course we all know that I have managed to send out the wrong item - luckily that has always gotten straightened out and I do hope that this will work out too.

So - this is what has happened - EMS (Express Mail International) gave her the WRONG package. The numbers do not match. She received someone else's COACH wallet and of course you know that they must have received her FENDI handbag. The really sad thing about this is that she bought the bag for her mom! Of course she is not blaming me - ahhhh - lucky for me - people are so funny - I'm surprised that she is not blaming me! Most of all I hope this will work out for her. Her post office is closed until January 4th. Just to remind you - this package was sent to Thailand.

Doing a little investigative work I do see a COACH wallet just like the one she received and I have asked the gal at eBay if she can check to see if it went to Thailand! Perhaps we can figure this out before her post office re-opens.

Most of all I'm sorry that I suggested that this could be a scam. Must have faith in people! She sounds so sweet, so nice and I would just like to see this end up well. Unlike shopping in a department store where there might be another that they could send you - this is it! She would have a hard time finding another.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Please - don't forget to go to AMAZON to order my son-in-law's book - Something Missing
I'm so happy because they have added the cover art to the page - YAY!

Check out my site on eBay
ilovemygirls3

This is a new one!

2008-12-29T03:37:00.000-08:00

I've encountered a few thieves on ebay - only one at my selling end! Any other thieves have been (unfortunately) people I've bought things from. Those things turned out to be OK in the end. The gal who sent me the fake BOTTEGA did give me back my money and the fellow who sold me the Hermes watch did come through in the end (I'll never know if the watch is real - but I do love it). The fellow who insisted that I give him back $200 (he paid $700) for the MANOLO boots - he just couldn't bear to take them away from his wife - well, I guess he wasn't a thief! just a major creep! But now I have a new one........
This is the email that I have sent to my representative at ebay:

Once again I am faced with a little problem.
I received the following email

Dear ilovemygirls3,

I have an urgent problem, i don't understand i ordered "FENDI POCHETTE BRAND NEW-SIGNATURE FF w/Brown Leather' from you. Why u sent "Coach Wallet" to me?? Please reply me immediately!!

Reference item #120350846609

I requested a photo of what she is claiming she received. I personally packaged that Fendi handbag and didn't have any COACH wallets at all.
This is a new one. I have met only 1 person who has tried to cheat me in a way similar to this. Of course she can send a photo of anything - and I am once again concerned. I also asked her to package it up and send it back to me.
Personally, I am happy to refund her the $113. that she paid for it - once again, in an attempt to save my reputation - but tell me, have you seen anything like this before? It's a first for me.
I have to hear back from her - and am curious as to what she will do.

I'm asking for your advice.
She has only 1 feedback so there is no way of knowing what kind of ebayer she is.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best
Barbara

This is where, being unable in the end to leave FEEDBACK for a buyer seems very unfair.
Look, I don't know - perhaps it's possible that I sent her the wrong thing - but as I said - I wrapped and packaged the handbag AND I didn't have any Coach wallets at my disposal.
It's a very strange situation.

So here I am - faced with a real dilema - I didn't even have any COACH wallets and remember very well putting that lovely little FENDI in the package and sending it to THAILAND.

Is all of this worth it? I really do enjoy selling on ebay - but when things like this happen - it makes me sick. Glad this is not next week - glad I'm not having to start the New Year off with something like this.

I think that I take this all too seriously - I don't think that things like this should actually make me feel sick - but they do.

Let's see what happens!

Sorry!

2008-12-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

I guess that is just one of the reasons I stopped writing last year - TIME! There just is not enough time in each day. Believe me, I start out early enough - Bean - our 14-1/2 year old (BICHON) has taken to waking us by whining, crying and barking at approximately 5 am! Why is she doing this? Well, she is a bit demented at this point (aren't we all?) and is ready to eat! She will not relent! Of course we could just ignore her - but within five minutes of her tirade she has awakened Rachmaninoff (Russian Bolonka 7 month old puppy). Once Rachi is up - it's take him out or wash the bathroom rug - get my drift? At this point - the rug is just about threadbare! So we all get up - the 3 dogs and us. I guess in Spring and Summer this could be OK - but now with the low temps and the ice and snow on the ground it's not so great! One of us takes the puppy out while the other prepares the 3 bowls of BRAVO (raw diet - highly recommended for your dog) and medication for BEAN! Like us - Bean is on lots of meds! I think perhaps an anti-depressant might be a good idea for her.
So yes, up early enough!
Still the days have not been long enough. I've been doing a lot of listings - working -and whatever else that takes away from any free time.

I will bring you up to date on the two Jamin Puech items that got mixed up going to Austraila. The wallet FINALLY got to the gal who ordered the pouch. At this point she already had the pouch - it having been forwarded by the gal who wanted it for her mom's birthday. There is the reason I don't like Priority International versus Express International. It took TWO WEEKS longer for the wallet to get to her. I asked her to refuse it - eventually it will appear at my house! Yes, eventually it will come! Anyway - she received her pouch and is happily using it. She could not have been nicer.

The other gal was very upset about not having the wallet for her mom's birthday and laid a lot of guilt at my feet by telling me that her mom "received no gifts at all" because of me! Explaining to her that mistakes can happen - she apologized explaining that she is pregnant and that it is effecting her good sense! BUT having seen the pouch that arrived in error - did I have another one? In the end I sent the wallet (luckily I had another one) AND a pouch (I also had another one of those) to her mom in California. Her mom was leaving Austraila and heading to California. So that worked out well. She was not angry - just explained that being pregnant she seems to be a little more emotional! Many of us can certainly relate - in fact my lovely daughter is pregnant - hasn't been too emotional (that I have seen) but we all do it our own way!

We worked out the financials - and she just paid the difference for the pouch. Her mom wound up with TWO wonderful JAMIN PUECH items. All's well that ends WELL!

I will try to be more diligent!
One of the problems that I see though is that I write about the mishaps that I have on ebay! You will think that all I do is make mistakes! Having sent out over 5000 items at this point I do think that I've done pretty well. I do hate when these things happen though. I have to be so nice - I have to bend over backwards (at my age - this is no easy task). Of course these people deserve my bending over backwards - I'm the one who made the mistake. The good thing - so far - most people have been pretty nice.

Perhaps tomorrow I will tell you about the person who wasn't!

MERRY CHRISTMAS
HAPPY CHANUKAH
HAPPY NEW YEAR
HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Can't resist

2008-12-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

No, I can't resist - my son in law wrote this about me in his blog - I must share it with you....

December 10, 2008

Stealing from real life

Something Missing is a work of fiction. Even so, there are elements of my own life contained therein. Several characters are loosely based upon friends and acquaintances, certain plotlines vaguely resemble actual moments in my life, and specific incidents and locales inspired parts of the story.

Sometimes I think that Something Missing is little more than personal therapy wrapped up in humor, suspense and story. And the new book is shaping up in much the same way.

Obviously it’s common for authors to draw from real life experiences. That awful cliché Write what you know has some truth to it. And while Something Missing, as well as my current manuscript, are most certainly fiction (despite what some members of my wife’s family might suspect… I am constantly asked if I was some kind of a thief in my past), certain themes and elements are taken from my own life.

Take my mother-in-law, for example.

EBay, the online auction site, plays a small but somewhat significant role in my book. When it came time to research EBay, in order to ensure the veracity of the details surrounding this online world, I turned to Barbara, my mother-in-law, who is an EBay power seller, for advice. Barbara has created a small business for herself through EBay, and listening to her speak about it is like attending a Pentecostal tent revival. She loves EBay and might be convinced that EBay will someday save the world.

Through her business, she has managed to make friends with women from around the world, and she takes genuine pleasure in selling high end handbags and fashion at a fraction of the retail price to women in states like North Dakota or countries like Tanzania like that suffer from a tragic lack of Prada boutiques and Coach outlets. I sometimes wonder if she even cares about the profit. It’s almost as if she thinks of herself as a fashion ambassador, bringing high end goods to women in need.

Not being at all fashion conscious and finding the mere existence of a $500 handbag offensive and insane (and this coming from a guy who carries a bag), I turned to Barbara when it came time to write the chapter dealing with EBay. More precisely, I turned to her EBay auctions, crafting the online persona of Barbara Teal from my mother-in-law, Barbara Green.

It was quite fun. Gathering material from her dozens of auction descriptions, as well as the blog that she writes about her EBay experiences, it was simple to create an online persona for Martin (the main character of the novel) that was interesting, amusing, and genuine.

And paying minor homage to your mother-in-law in your first novel can’t hurt.

You can order his book at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, etc. etc. etc. - isn't that great?

SOMETHING MISSING

Tell me why!

2008-12-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

I really do not understand......
Why do people bid and win an item and then not pay?
A lot of sellers block bidders with 0-3 feedback. I never did - after all, these people need to start somewhere and overall they have been great! They want to bid and buy things on ebay and they start building up their feedback.
In the last week I have been burned twice - Hermes men's sweater - $2200 went for $400 (sounds like a good deal to me) - buyer had 1 feedback. Nope - he didn't pay, didn't contact me, didn't respond to my emails. Chanel handbag - $1305 (at least a $2500 bag) - yup - again!
WHY oh WHY? I really do not understand.
Why would anyone want to do this? Don't they have better things to do with their time?
It really messes things up. Even though I know that they are not going to pay I can't really relist the item until 10 days have passed. After 10 days I can file a non-payment charge - but not until then. How can you relist the item if the matter is not closed? I do get back the final value fee but not the original listing fee. Ebay's charges are high for items like these.
Ebay is really a great place. Yesterday I sold a really beautiful brand new red leather and alligator BALENCIAGA bag. The bag is going to Indonesia. Isn't that great? I think so - my son-in-law thinks that I feel that I am doing a fashion service by moving these great things around (I don't know if he thinks that a $1600 bag is great). Well, I am! The bag was purchased in Paris - the gal who bought it never used it - and now it is going to someone who will love it who is in Indonesia. That's GREAT! and FUN!
Ebay can be a great place to do your shopping. Why do people have to try to ruin it? And they have succeeded! Yesterday I added a block to block buyers with less than 3 feedback. OK - they won! It really makes me angry.....

It wasn't so simple............

2008-12-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

No, it wasn't so simple at all!
The wallet still has not turned up - so here we go again - PRIORITY MAIL - INTERNATIONAL - I've had so many problems with sending things this way. People are not happy with the EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL charges - but you know, it works! It's worth the extra $$$ to get the item there quickly and safely!
The wallet was sent Priority and the clutch was sent Express. The clutch arrived, the wallet did not!

The gal who received the clutch instead of the wallet was kind enough to send it on to its rightful owner! The other gal was more than happy to send the wallet - but she still has not received it.

In the end the wallet was not received in time for the gal's mom's birthday - I do feel badly about that. But the good news! Her mom is leaving for California tomorrow and I have wrapped the wallet AND a clutch and it is going to be sent to her today. She will have it when she arrives in California. In the end I had an extra wallet and an extra clutch. So this gal bought the clutch too! Her mom comes out ahead!

When the wallet arrives in Australia - the other gal will refuse it and hopefully it will make it's way back to me.

Yes, this is what can happen. Ebay is fun - but sometimes it can get complicated. I'm never happy when things like this occur - but I do enjoy getting it straightened out. Most of all I enjoy the fact that people can be so nice and so accommodating. Think about it - 2 packages going to Australia - they get mixed up - but we're able to get things right! That's because these gals were both so terrific - so understanding and so willing to help fix it up. I LOVE THAT!

Yes, I did it again!

2008-12-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

Oh boy! There are so many things that can go wrong. I try so hard to be so careful - but it's bound to happen sometimes. And so it did........
Sent two packages out - a lovely Black Patent Jamin Puech wallet and a lovely Black Patent Jamin Puech Clutch - do you see a similarity here at all? Yes - so far these things might be easy to mix up! But wait - it gets better - both pieces were going to Australia! Well this is the time to be REALLY CAREFUL! and I was - so careful that of course I managed to mix them up.
Received this email from the gal who bought the wallet - she bought it for her mom's birthday!

Hi Barbara, my package arrived in time (just for this weekend to give to my mother) but I have been sent the wrong thing. The clutch and not the wallet. Help please!!!

You can imagine how I felt........awful! and in the middle of my packing for our little trip to Washington, DC.

My ebayers though are always (well, most of the time) great! These two gals are going to work it out at their end. Although they are both in Australia - they are far apart - Australia is a BIG place! Through emails and the post they will set it straight and I will reimburse them for any expenses incurred.

I do hate when things like this happen. It's hard - I really try to be sooooo careful! Printing the labels - laying out the merchandise with the right label, etc. etc. - so it really kills me when these things occur. Luckily these two gals will work it out - it could have been a lot worse - the wallet could have been in Australia and the clutch could have been in Japan!

So - I look on the bright side and see how lucky I am!
The glass is always HALF FULL!

It's just so hard..

2008-12-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

.......I guess one of the other reasons I stopped writing my blog was the time! Ebay takes all of my time! It's like the laundry - it never ends. If you want to keep your site filled with great items you must always be listing. Everyday you need to add more as everyday there are items that are ending. No matter how many hours I put in each day - I need even more. No matter how far ahead of myself I can get - it is never far enough. Going away for a few days causes havoc with my eBay. Coming home means sending out so many things - labels have to be ordered, items packed and boxed.....and of course, get more things listed!

I don't know that people realize how much work is involved. I guess it would be easy enough to be listing a few of your own things here and there - but listing like this is a huge job. I really resented the gal who said that she wants to send me her things but would like a different split! She's a big time designer herself and I'm sure she doesn't shorten her split when selling something! People are really something! In the end she relented and hopefully the things that she will send are great and wonderful for my ebayers. That's the important thing!

Most of these gals are great though and the things that they give up are really wonderful. I love passing these things on to people who will wear and enjoy them. That's the really fun part.

I'm addicted at this point - I must be able to get a certain number of new things on everyday - I love when I receive really great things to list and I love when people email me as if they really know me because they have been buying from me for years!

One of my favorite things on my ebay right now is this fabulous piece from YOHJI YAMAMOTO Y3! This scarf is unbelieveable - I have it and I LOVE IT! You can wear it every which way - it has three panels - plaid/solid/check and depending on how you fold it you get different looks! Really, I can't believe my friend has given this up. It is from this season and cost $605 at the store. We had six of them (something we very rarely do) and they were sold grabbed up so quickly. So this is a great find! She has never worn it and it still has it's tags! Someone very lucky will get it and they won't believe their good fortune!

Have you ordered my son-in-law's book yet? Come on - it's a great book and you will love it! I'm so proud of him! Read my blog about it SOMETHING MISSING - the Amazon site for his book is there too. The Book of the Month Club has chosen it as an Alternate title and might use it as their main choice - so you know it's got to be good! Isn't it wonderful?

Clean out those closets!

2008-11-25T03:40:00.001-08:00

Ebay is the best. Think about it - what do you do with all of the things that you don't want anymore? Throw them away? Give them away? (Well, of course that is a nice thing - I still bring plenty to Goodwill). How important is it for us to give coats to those who are in need in the winter? Certainly we have to continue doing that.
When I think of the last time that we moved - all of the things that were just put in bags and thrown away - when I think of some of those things - I wouldn't even tell anyone what! Wrong for too many reasons. The waste of it - I should be ashamed (and I am) and how sad - because for each of the wonderful things there would have been someone who really would have been so happy to buy it and then they could have worn and enjoyed it.
That's what is so great about ebay - moving the things on to someone else who will enjoy it. It's amazing the wonderful things that people give me. I send them all over the world - and the people who get them are so pleased.
Get into your closet - make a few piles. One for Goodwill - one for ebay. It's easy to learn to sell on ebay - they have a tutorial that is easy to follow. Start with small things - you'll see how exciting it is to sell your first item - WOW! That was really great! It was a small KATE SPADE zipped jewelry case. I don't remember how much I got for it - but my first sale - it was FUN! You move up from there - something else that you just don't use - someone else will be so happy to get it and use it. Think about it - when they're done, they can sell it - it can go around and around the world! Better than those chain letters we used to get.
For me - I just want to clean out my life a little bit. I have also been bringing things to consignment. I can't sell everything that I don't want anymore on ebay! In fact, I have to find more consignment shops to take my things to - that's how much I have to move on! I see from my ladies that they also have so much to move on - it helps me to see how much we indulge ourselves and now I do not do it anymore. Not another item for the house - not one! There's no place to put another thing! And clothing - how many sweaters, pants, shoes, bags? Tooooo much!
I guess that is what it is all about - why you always see people with shopping bags - we always want more! I'm really trying though.................no more!

What's going on? It's not GOOD!

2008-11-22T08:25:00.000-08:00

It's true - business is really bad. No one is coming into the store. Now during the winter months this can happen - it's freezing, it's snowing, it's miserable - really - who wants to be out and shopping then? NOT ME! So for the last few years we have been closing the store for the months of February and March. That's been great - the first two weeks of February we're busy buying for the next winter season - then my boss goes to Paris to buy. Mid March we come in and start opening the new spring merchandise - boy! nothing is more fun than that! First weekend in April we open the doors and the customers can't wait! After having the store closed for two months, they can't get back in fast enough!

This is something different though - and it's not very nice! No one is shopping! No one is out! The messages that we're getting from the news makes us really nervous and we don't know what to do. Should we shop? Should we not shop -if we do - we should feel guilty - if we don't we should feel guilty too. After all, if we don't shop that will cause further problems for our economy. People are confused and frightened and I certainly don't blame them.

What will be interesting though is how the merchandise will do on ebay. I have started listing things from the store on ebay at good prices. Will they sell on ebay? I have been doing a brisk business there - people are smart - this is the place to get bargains - real good deals for your money. I've heard it said that people are eating more at McDonald's - more bang for the buck!

Oh oh OBAMA - we need you to help get things back in order. H-E-L-P!

What does excellent mean?

2008-11-20T13:54:00.001-08:00

When I say that something is VIRTUALLY BRAND NEW - what exactly do you think that means? Do you think that means that the soles of a shoe are worn down or that there are toe imprints in the shoe. Do you think that it means that the item smells and has holes in it!

OK OK - I'm letting off steam - I have to do it sometimes - especially when someone asks these inane questions I have to answer them in the nicest way possible. Sometimes that is not easy for me - I'm not the most patient person after all - and I really have to reel myself in and BE NICE!

I guess people have been really hurt on ebay. I think though that before someone buys something they should really read the feedback that the seller has. Before you bought shoes for over $100 (on ebay) or a handbag for $1500 - wouldn't you want to know that you are dealing with a reputable person? I think that if someone read my feedback that they would see that I sell wonderful things and that VIRTUALLY BRAND NEW means VIRTUALLY BRAND NEW not VIRTUALLY OLD AND DISGUSTING!

OK - I did it - got that off my chest!
I feel better now!

What happens if........

2008-11-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

I love selling wonderful things on ebay - it's so great to get these wonderful things to move on to other people. I have shipped things all over the world - and I love that too! I think that it's great that you should have something in your closet in New York City and decide that you don't want it anymore - so I sell it for you on ebay and it winds up in Dubai! How great is that?

But - I have this really beautiful HERMES EVELYNE
handbag listed. Listed for $1600 (which is a good deal!) and have many people interested in buying it. The idea though of shipping it out of the USA becomes another issue in a case like this. Within the USA you can insure the package and really not have to worry about it. Outside the USA I send things EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL - moderately expensive but fast and safe. Sending things that way I can sometimes insure them (depending on the country that it is going to) and the item is trackable - so no one can tell you that they didn't receive it - something I had to learn the hard way! BUT - you really can't insure things for this amount of money. Do you send it out and take your chances? I don't think so - nothing has been lost to date - but what if this becomes the first time? It would be a very costly experience!

Hopefully the gal in Switzerland who is interested can send it to someone in the USA. That would be the safest for everyone.

Lots of people are watching it - it's a beautiful bag and I hope that it will find a very good home.

Check out my items listed on ebay right now......lots of great things!
ilovemygirls3

ilovemygirls AND myboys!

2008-11-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

Thinking about it - my user name ilovemygirls3 just doesn't seem to cover it anymore! ilovemygirls3 covered my wonderful GIRLS! My daughters and my sweet little Beanie - our Bichon Frisee (now 14-1/2 years old). People always assumed that I had 3 daughters and were always surprised when I would say it was my 2 daughters and my doggie!

What has happened is that it is now we have our wonderful little Stoli, our 3-1/2 year old Russian Bolonka making it ilovemygirls4.

Then there is my hubby, my son-in-law, my son-in law to be and RACHI, our 6 month old Russian Bolonka - making it ilovemyboys4 and ilovemygirls4!

How lucky am I?

Better yet, my older daughter is pregnant and that will make it ilovemygirls5 OR ilovemyboys5!

What will it be? Can't wait to find out.......the end of January - YAY!

PRISONER of EBAY

2008-11-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

As a seller on ebay I work very hard to offer up wonderful items at great prices to people. I sell things all over the world - and I LOVE IT! The things that I get to sell are all generally pretty wonderful. Getting my items from many of the women who shop at the store where I work - mostly pretty high end things! People can buy $1100 jackets from me for as little as $100. BRAND NEW and with the tags! Big name designers - all beautiful merchandise.

I hate when someone asks me the question "does it smell? does it have odors?" yuck yuck and yuck again. I wouldn't be selling smelly things - I wouldn't touch them myself. I guess I must realize that there are all kinds of sellers on ebay and that perhaps these people had been cheated in the past and are just being careful. I have to watch myself so as not to give a snide answer! I have to remember that I am selling on ebay!

I sold a little KOOBA bag - black leather - to someone for $51. I'm really not familiar with KOOBA bags although I have heard of the name. It was a pretty little bag - nothing fancy - outrageous - rather simple! Now let's remember too - it sold for only $51! I received an email from the buyer telling me that it was not real! Now - does KOOBA make fakes? I doubt it - if you know - tell me! I checked with the gal who gave me the bag and of course she said "please, I would never give you anything fake to sell" - this is a friend of my daughter's. These girls all work very hard, they make a lot of money and they would NEVER carry fakes. I always know who I'm dealing with - I don't take things to sell from people that I don't know.

Now I don't know what she will do - I emailed her and suggested that if she is unhappy she should return the bag to me for a full credit - plus her shipping both ways!

YES - I am a prisoner of ebay! As a seller - I have absolutely NO RECOURSE! If this gal wants to leave me negative feedback, she can - and I really can't do anything about it. I can't leave her negative feedback no matter what she does!

I understand all of the problems with the feedback system. If you go back through my archives you will read many of my unhappy feedback tales! But now that ebay has changed the rules - I have to just let anyone leave me whatever feedback they want - and I can't do anything about it. It seems unfair to me.

To date I have 100% feedback with over 5000 sales - that's pretty good. I called my representative from ebay today to discuss this and she told me that my record is GREAT and that I am going a great job (thanks!). BUT she said "you know - you will get a negative eventually - that's just the way it is" She said that I can't take it personally - but gee, isn't it personal?

Does that seem fair to you?
My only answer would be if a seller feels that a negative was left unjustly that they really have a right to arbitration!

AHHHHHH!

Well, at least OBAMA won! I'm so happy about that that I think I'll just forget about this for the moment!

An American Story! - Hooray!

2008-11-14T04:25:00.000-08:00

OK OK - I'm back! Thank you so much for asking me to continue my blog.

I stopped my blogging when my son-in-law ran into so much trouble with his. Some horrible people were out to get him! and although they didn't succeed, they did cause unpleasant days! So I said to myself "who needs this?"

But all is well with my son-in-law and daughter and those terrible people did not succeed! In the interim my son-in-law has a novel that is coming out in July. You can actually order it now on AMAZON! How exciting is that? Bet those nasty people aren't happy for him at all!

I think it's wonderful - here's this guy - my son-in-law - who writes a book - just like that - always at his computer pounding away. He goes to the library to research agents - remember, he doesn't know anyone who could possibly help him with this! He sends out his book and gets himself a great agent! The book gets purchased by RANDOM HOUSE and now we are anxiously awaiting his book - SOMETHING MISSING by Matthew Dicks!

An american story - with hard work and perseverance a person can do it! I am so impressed and proud. A friend shared a wonderful quote with me - "behind every successful man is a SURPRISED mother-in-law"! I love it!

What could be better than XMAS in NY?

2007-12-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

Nothing!
Yes, the streets are so crowded and the stores are jammed (are they giving things away?) but Christmas in New York City is really very special.
We arrived on Friday night - cold - snowing at home when we left. The doggies had their winter c coats on and were still shivering. The train was running a little late - but we were so happy to arrive in NYC.
I ran uptown to run some errands - Bergdorf Goodman was jammed - Prada was packed - the streets - you really could hardly walk.
There was a line to get into Abercrombe & Fitch (boy, did that company get a second life) and a long long line to get into American Girl Place!
The street in front of Saks Fifth Avenue was literally impassable - there were so many people on line (there I am - a true New Yorker) to see the Christmas windows that no one could get by.

I had a haircut first thing and then took the subway to 57th Street - walking over to Bergdorf Goodman from 6th Avenue I saw these two fabulous Mimes - aren't they great?

After that I took the bus down Fifth Avenue - passed Saks and St. Patrick's Cathedral - such a beautiful church.

I loved Fendi's Christmas decorations

Last night we were meeting my mother-in-law at 34th Street & Fifth Avenue. What could I have been thinking - there was no way she could have gotten down there - the traffic was just not moving. But thanks to cell phones she had her cab driver veer off Fifth and try to get her to the Chelsea Piers by 6:30! We ran onto the subway - got out at 23rd Street - were sooooo lucky to find a cab and he got us to the pier just in the nick of time. My mother in law made it too! So off we went on our "COCOA & CAROLs CRUISE" around Manhattan Island! Oh, such fun!

Some advice for all of us.......re HERMES scarves

2007-12-09T15:03:00.000-08:00

Q:	I love your very honest description of the scarf and your efforts to clean it. You sound so nice that I hope you won't mind, but I'd like to offer some advice - in the future, it would be better not to try to clean the scarf. There are people who specialize in cleaning Hermes scarves - and it's easy to ruin a scarf if it's cleaned wrong. The hems get flattened, the colors can fade and the stains can get set. Do describe the stains or pulls, etc. and tell people that you've been advised not to try to clean the scarf but instead to leave it to the buyer to have it done. I recently bought a scarf that was clean but reeked of cleaning fluid and was totally limp and I was not happy at all. A friend gave me a scarf that had been given to her by another friend, it's crisp and the hems are plump - and even though it has makeup and lipstick on it from the original owner, I love it and wear it with pride. Good luck!
A:	Thank you! I think that I will take your advice about that. Luckily though - my dry cleaner just got all BRAND NEW equipment and I must say - does a pretty good job. The reason (probably) that he didn't get the stains out was because he really didn't want to "work" on it. The condition of the scarf is excellent - it is not limp - he did a very nice job. BUT I do think that in the future I will take your advice. The worst was the time I tried cleaning an Hermes scarf myself - oh boy! that was a major mistake - but that's how I learn. I told the truth about the whole activity - the scarf was sold and the gal who bought it was thrilled with her BARGAIN Hermes scarf! HAPPY HOLIDAYS - B

Dog's Day in New York

2007-11-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, for us it was the day for the DOGS! Took a walk down to the Dog Park on Fifth Avenue and 27th Street - a lovely park. There's a restaurant (of sorts) where you wait on line (or is it IN line) for your food and then try to find a table. It was a little chilly for that - but the line was long nevertheless. We bought our lunch at COSI and sat on a bench in the sunshine! Perfect. Beanie begs for her share and Stoli just runs around at the end of her leash barking at any dog that goes by.

After lunch we went into the Doggy Park and off come the leashes. It's really nice to see all of the dogs and their owners. Everyone loves their dog so much - you can just see it.

Besides my little girls, my favorite today was FRIDA, a black miniature Schnauzer from Montana. Yes, she was sent from Montana - the young man whose dog it is found her online - he said that she was the runt of the litter. The cutest and prettiest little thing and she kept jumping up so high on her owner.

I really love most of the dogs! There was plenty of humping going on - it's up to the owner to stop their dog from this behavior and always with so many apologies - but after all, what can one expect with so many gorgeous girls out there! There were also some minor attacks - even Stoli got attacked by another dog today - unusual - but the owner grabbed her dog and removed it from the park immediately!

Obviously Saturday is a big day in the Dog Park - nice that people take one of the two days that they have off to take their dogs out for a good time. It's really nice to see how everyone watches over their dog and is happy to see their dogs romping and playing. I think that anyone who is lucky enough to have a dog to love can't ask for anything more than that!

Tonight we're having dinner with friends - they have a dog too - but their dog is not friendly to other dogs - only gets on with "people" - so Bean and Stoli will stay home and rest!

Tomorrow we'll take them to Tiffany & Co - I have to pick up some things that I brought in for polishing. A nice long walk in the busy city. I'll take lots of photos of the holiday decorations - the city is really pretty this time of the year. I love it!

RIght outside of the dog park are these two trees that have been painted silver - so beautiful!

I really do love New York!

2007-11-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

It's the best - busy, yes - hectic, yes - but fabulous! Even the fact that the "girls" can ride on the train with us - right on the seat - what can be better than that?

Living in the country - I really don't see that many people who are really "dressed" - even though we sell fabulous clothing in the store - you don't really see people in the Price Chopper wearing these great things! In fact sometimes I wonder when I look at some people - did they look in the mirror before they left the house? Is it just so unimportant to them? That could be!

But when you're in New York City - you see lots of wonderfully dressed people (not everyone, but lots and lots). This morning when we took the dogs out for their morning walk I saw one young woman - she looked fabulous! Fabulous Aviator sunglasses - black slim skirt, black sweater, black jacket (ah, my favorite colors) and great looking tall black boots. Long black straight hair - she just looked soooo good! (and young!) So simple - so good. The temptation to tell this to someone overwhelms me! But no - I can't - you just can't run up to people and tell this to them! What would they think? I guess some people might enjoy it - but others will just think I'm crazy!

Of course the woman wearing the full length mink coat (down to her ankles!) - now what was she thinking when she left the house this morning? That it was bitter cold! Well, it wasn't and it seems to me that she was just pushing it! It's not time for full length mink coats yet! Winter coats are definitely out though - I was wearing a great RUNDHOLZ leather jacket - I love it! But mink down to the ankles - I don't think so! I guess it must be new and she just couldn't wait.

Early in the day we went over to Grand Central for lunch. We like to go there because we can take the dogs with us - lots of choices for lunch and lots of people! It's amazing how many people go there just for lunch - very busy at that hour. So we had to sit down with another couple and share the table with them as it was just so busy. That is what can be so wonderful about New York City! They were from England and their guide book suggested having lunch at Grand Central - isn't that great? They were so nice - we had a lovely conversation - of course I told them to get right over to Bergdorf Goodman - they shouldn't miss that. They had lots of interesting things planned. We took them over to the corners by The Oyster Bar (the best restaurant!) and showed them how you can whisper to one another from corner to corner - they loved that! A New York City secret!

Another thing that I loved was this MANSION FOR SALE
Now that is something I have never seen before - well, it really isn't a MANSION - but certainly the next best thing in New York City - a 5 story Town House! Now that is something that I would really love! No hope for that though! But I did enjoy the sign.

I stopped off at Chanel on Madison Avenue and when I walked in this nice looking man - extremely well dressed, came over to me and asked me if I would like some water, a soda or anything else to drink! Now that has NEVER EVER happened before - to walk into a store and be greeted by someone who wants to give you a drink! He said his name was "DOUG", the store manager and he is happy to help me in any way! So yes, I took some water - I thought that was awfully nice.

I walked downtown (no cabs and I didn't have a Metro Card for the bus) and when I came to CARTIER I couldn't believe how pretty it looked. The building is covered with scaffolding (seems like so many buildings in the city are covered with scaffolding! But they did a fabulous job with theirs!
I thought that it seems a little early for all of the Christmas decorations - Saks Fifth Avenue was busy getting their windows ready - they were covered, but you could see that they were being worked on - BARNEYS was packed - you'd think they were giving things away (they weren't!) and Chanel was filled with women buying bags, shoes and jewelry. All I hear is how bad business is - yet New York City was bustling and all of those people must be buying something!

The rest of the day included a trip to the dog park and a trip to Tiffany to drop off some jewelry that I will sell on ebay. For a nominal charge they polish it up and put it in their wonderful TIFFANY pouch. We had a lovely dinner out and then went to the Don McLean concert at Town Hall!

All very good and fun.

Looking forward to another great day in the city! I really do love New York!

Remember Don McLean? The audience loved him! He was so good!

Nice to have a few days off!

Thanks Jill from the UK

2007-11-05T06:35:00.001-08:00

One of the things that I really love about ebay is the contact between people you have never met and will never meet.

But there they are - ready to offer an opinion or help you out when you ask a question. I love it!

Ebay is good for me because I love clothing and I love people - it brings them all together.

I have a wonderful scarf from Hermes up for auction - item #1101861267242

Jacques Endel HORSE Auth HERMES SILK Scarf/Shawl 35"

The scarf says
"Couvertures et tenues de Jour pour l'ecurie, l'attente et la presentation" on it and I went to the internet for a transliteration of that - this is what I got:
Coverages and held by Day for the ecurie, wait and the presentation

But my friend who speaks fluent french says "it has something to do with a coverage, or a blanket or a poncho that you might wear for the presentation of your horse or perhaps for the horse to wear when it is being presented"

So I asked any ebayer if they knew what it meant and today I got this response:

Hi, in the UK we would call this a prize for "Best turned out". It is awarded to the groom whose horse is considered to have been prepared to the highest standards of grooming and presentation at an equine event. As it says "due jour", these must have been awarded every day over a series of days with different recipient each day. Couverture is French for "horserug". I own this scarf in a different color and have yet to discover which particular event they were awarded at - let me know if you find out! Jill in the UK

So - THANK YOU Jill in the UK - I really appreciate it.

Check out my ebay ilovemygirls3

GOOD Ebay ADVICE

2007-11-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Passing on some information that should be helpful to all people buying on ebay:
FOUND IT ON SOMEONE'S SITE

Be very careful of:

Items that are very cheap. If they are too good to be true, IT IS REALLY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. .

Sellers with very low feedback.

Sellers with no experience in selling designer items or having items from unknown/dubious source.

Sellers with private/hidden feedbacks. Got something to hide?

Sellers with pictures copied from eLuxury or other websites or pictures with white boxes covering the original name of seller.

Sellers with many designer items using the same pictures

Sellers with sob stories to share for selling bags very cheaply.

He just doesn't get it!

2007-10-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

There are things men just don't understand (well, some men must!)

My husband just does not understand - I receive things from women all of the time - fabulous things! He understands that part - what he doesn't understand is how these women are giving up these fabulous brand new things! Expensive things - Wonderful things! But what he doesn't know is that this is just the way it is. Not for everyone, of course, but for us "shoppers" - we are going to buy things that don't work for us - for whatever the reason - they just didn't work! AND the best thing is to "just move them on" - get them out of your closet - no sense to be faced daily with guilty mistakes - "just move them on" - at least get a little cash for them - and better yet - do you know how happy the person who gets them will be? TOTALLY! That's why most of my ebayers love me! They get these amazing things at reasonable prices - for them it couldn't be better.

For us - well, we get rid of these things and just move on to others! We're all entitled to our mistakes in the closet - and it's best to "just move them on"!

He should only know what is doing in my closet! Oh no! Perhaps that wouldn't be good! One thing for sure though - my ladies give me the very best things! The temptation sometimes to buy things myself is very strong - I must get hold of myself and say "NO NO NO" - after all, there are too many things hanging in my closet right now that must move on - so "NO NO NO" - "GET A GRIP!"

So these bags seen in the photo are ALL BRAND NEW - all really beautiful (check out the gorgeous CHANEL and the wonderful PRADAs) - the shoes are ALL BRAND NEW and mostly from Prada - but with a Jimmy Choo thrown in! Check out my site - they will be listed over the next few days. Really great - I'm thrilled!

Check out my site - ilovemygirls3 for really great things!

Too much times goes by..........

2007-10-24T16:18:00.001-07:00

When too many days go by that I haven't written - too many ideas mount up - and then - nothing! It all disappears! I guess that is what is called WRITER'S BLOCK! I wish sometimes I could just get up during the night and start typing away in bed - that's why I'm not sleeping - I'm too busy writing blogs in my head - but I can't do that - if I sit up and start typing - I'll wake my husband (he won't like this at all) and the dogs will think that it's morning and Beanie will start running into the kitchen for her breakfast (it's all about food!). Then when I get up in the morning - impossible - too much to do - walk the dogs, feed the dogs, get dressed, get ready, start working - there's no time for blogging! Of course by then all of the ideas are gone - left somewhere in the middle of the night!

A lot of thoughts come to me in the shower too - but of course by the time I'm out the ideas are down the drain with the water.......corny yes, but true! I need to start sleeping with and showering wish a pad and a pen! That way I could write down the ideas when they come to me and I'll have a list of great things to write about.

Let's go back to the watch that my sister in law bought.....

My sister-in-law bought an HERMES watch on ebay. We talked about it, we discussed it - we decided it was real and that it looked good. I can't find the photo of it now - but it did look good. The watch was coming from Japan. We bid on it with auction sniper and she won it for a good price.

Now comes the good part - waiting for your purchase.....I always send things right out - practically the minute that they are paid for - I know all about instant gratification!

The watch came and she was totally disappointed - smaller than she had pictured it, and she didn't think that it could be authentic! Oh boy! I hate to be a part of this - after all, I encouraged her to go for it! I emailed the seller and he said that the watch was indeed authentic and that it came from the Hermes boutique in Japan.

The following week I took the watch to Hermes in New York City. It is indeed authentic - I bought a double wrap strap for it in the wonderful HERMES ORANGE (love that color). My sister-in-law received the strap and the watch a day or two later - had the strap put on and LOVES IT! Thank goodness! I'm so glad - it is a nice watch - perhaps smaller than she had originally hoped for - but she has a tiny wrist and I bet it looks great!

Keep the faith! There certainly have been lots of news stories about the scams and dishonest people trading on ebay. Like everything else - there is always someone who ruins a good thing - but the thing to remember is that there are a lot of really reputable people on ebay - people who have things you might not find anyplace else. I have bought a few beautiful gold charms on ebay in the last few weeks for my charm bracelet and I love them! The seller who has these really great charms is srcartercharms

My husband has been buying his Tommy Bahama jeans on ebay - he loves finding a pair at a really great price - he found a game he has been searching for for years TEEKO. Boy was he thrilled when that came - I don't know who is going to play this game with him - but it did make him happy. Think of it though - he has been searching for this game for years - no luck! BUT there it was on ebay!

There are so many great things out there - just be careful! Buying on ebay is really fun and you can get GREAT things! There are so many good deals on ebay that I have actually bought things and been able to sell them at a profit on my site. I think that some of the best people to buy from are those who decide that it's time to start selling things from their own closets. Other people are doing it - why shouldn't they? So they start pulling out things and list them for really good prices - you can tell when it's someone selling their own things - 1 of this, 1 of that - and if they have good things - BINGO! you can really find a good deal.

Ebay is GREAT! You know that I love it!
Check out my things - selling has been good - I've been given great things to sell! See - I shouldn't even be blogging right now - too much to do!
ilovemygirls3

The WATCH!

2007-10-13T15:25:00.001-07:00

I know that there are a lot of people who are afraid to buy on ebay. I understand - there are obviously plenty of scams - it doesn't matter what it is - there is always someone around to try to ruin a good thing or there to take advantage of someone - it doesn't matter what it is. Ebay, anything - nothing is perfect. Overall though, I think that if you're careful you can get some really amazing things on ebay. One of my past posts talks about getting started buying on email.....here is my advice on getting that.

My husband got a very expensive watch on ebay a number of years ago. I tried to find my post about it but couldn't - but he was very nervous about buying something like that on ebay. Luckily it all worked out very well - it was a watch that he couldn't even find outside of ebay as there seemed to be a waiting list for it anywhere else.

My sister-in-law bought a watch on ebay two weeks ago - an HERMES watch. It came from JAPAN and when it arrived she was convinced that it was fake! She emailed the seller and he told her that it was REAL and that it was purchased at HERMES in Japan. When I saw the watch I felt that it was definitely real and today brought it over to HERMES to authenticate it. PERFECT! NO PROBLEM! I bought a new band for it and I hope that she will be able to enjoy it.

The fact is - you can buy great things on ebay - you can find things you might not even be able to find someplace else. People buy so many things from me and they seem to love what they buy. People give me great things - things that they will not wear again - really good things - isn't it great that these things can be moved on to someone who will love and enjoy them? Things that someone else was never going to use again - for someone else it is BRAND NEW and wonderful - and perhaps something that they would never have been able to find even if they were willing to pay the original price.

I think it's great.

There will always be someone who is there to ruin things for others - someone who will be trying to cheat someone else - that's just the way it is. You read the paper - you see what goes on everyday - why would ebay be different? Just be careful - do your homework before you buy anything and you should be able to find great things on ebay!

Check out my things - I'm one of the good and honest ebayers! AND I LOVE IT!
ilovemygirls3

I'm learning so much!

2007-10-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ebay has really opened up an interesting world for me. I meet a lot of wonderful people - people from all over the world. That has been a lot of the fun for me! But another thing that is happening is that I'm learning a lot of new things.

One of my wonderful women gave me a lot of wonderful jewelry to sell - I can't just LIST these items without learning about them first. In order to sell them properly I have to know exactly what I'm selling.

So - I'll share some of what I've learned in the last few days.....

The first piece is a piece by Michael Zobel
This is quite a piece! Very sophisticated hand fabricated neck pendant/pin with matching earrings. Over 10 cts rough cut & cut diamonds. Made up of Platinum, yellow, pink and white gold. Pendant can be removed from neck piece to be worn as a pin.

Beautiful ROUGH CUT DIAMONDS set into 18k GOLD and PLATINUM
Pendant/Pin Diamond weight-10.86 cts Each earring .08 ct diamonds

Zobel, whose use of unconventional metals and materials has gained him international fame, is best known for designs featuring abstract forms layered with different colors and textures. He utilizes everything from gold and platinum to exotic stones and wood, and even classical gems such as diamonds and pearls assume a modern edge in his hands.

Zobel creates his distinctive and sophisticated pieces in quiet Constance, Germany, an idyllic village situated between the Black Forest and the Swiss Alps, where he has a workshop and jewelry gallery. “I’m happiest at my workbench,” he says, “where I can experiment with metal and stones and see where it leads me.”

The value of these 3 pieces is about $12,000 - I'm waiting for the appraisal from the artist. I hope to have it soon.

Next is a wonderful handcarved CAMEO

Handcarved LAVA* Cameo with GOLD SNAKECHAIN 14-1/4” drop from chain
Cameo set in handmade bezel - heavy gold setting – beautifully done 2-5/8” high x 2” wide -
Markings on back – 750
It looks like the piece is set in 18k and the chain is 14k
*During the Victorian era, wealthy families traveled throughout Europe on an extended vacation known as the Grand Tour. One popular stop on the Grand Tour was the ruins of Pompeii. As a souvenir of their travels, wealthy wanderers would often purchase lava cameos for themselves and also as gifts for loved ones back home. The cameos often portrayed historical statesmen, philosophers and dignitaries.

Lava has been a popular choice for carvers since the 17th century, but the abundance of this limestone material came from Mt. Vesuvius during the nineteenth century. One can say with a great deal of certainty that a large majority of lava cameos originated in the nineteenth century.

Mt. Vesuvius provided an abundance of lava in many colors that carvers used to design intricate carvings. Lava was a soft, delicate substance. The work of talented carvers produced breathtaking high relief works of art in portraiture and classical scenes.

The cameos made from lava were less expensive and appealed to ladies who traveled to Italy. Women treasured these compact souvenirs and liked the status of wearing jewelry that showed that they had been on the Grand Tour.

That's it for today - I'll show you some other pieces tomorrow.
She really gave me such wonderful things - and I'm enjoying learning about them.
Wait 'til you see some of the other things...

Check out my ebay site ilovemygirls3
THANKS!

Too bad!

2007-10-09T05:32:00.001-07:00

They came in on Monday - and she took the Black dress - the same one that the other gal wanted. I'm glad that she got the dress after her disappointment with the jacket - of course I still haven't heard back yet - it is possible that someone in the world has it! I'm sorry for the other gal - but I did hear that she also looked fantastic in the other dress - but the problem with all of this is that although I wasn't at the store yesterday, I was told that the husband just wasn't very nice. He was very unpleasant - even to his wife!
I really wonder what makes people like that - to feel so entitled. To treat others so poorly - at least he didn't make a scene like the other day!
Ah well
Overall the people I meet at the store couldn't be nicer!
Every once in awhile we meet someone who just doesn't behave properly.
I hope that the jacket will be somewhere for her - if it's that important - but he doesn't have to come back to the store anymore!

I really did feel bad!

2007-10-07T18:03:00.001-07:00

A very nice couple came into the store right before we were closing the other day. Both of us had to leave right at 5. I was meeting friends for dinner and the other gal had to get home to her dogs who were home alone all day! We told them that they had a few minutes and they were just fine with that.
She was looking around and commented that we didn't really have anything small enough for her - "ah yes" - "try this" I said - a fabulous YOHJI jacket - size 1. She looked amazing in it! Why not - great little body - super slim jeans - great belt - it was just great! Of course she was quite tempted - $1500! worth! She quickly tried on 2 other fabulous dresses that were in the 75% off sale room - really wonderful dresses - also small (which is why they were there) and great values! So they said that they would be back the next day.

Our season is the summer season - Tanglewood, Jacob's Pillow, Berkshire Theater, etc. etc. - once the summer is over business really slows down. The only reason that Yohji jacket was still there was because it just came in the week before. Most of our merchandise must arrive during the month of August - beginning of September. We close February and March - things come to just about a DEAD HALT!

Lots of people say that they are coming back the next day and then don't show up - they don't call either. Generally we never put sale merchandise on hold - but I really liked them and really figured that they would be back. I should have said "we'll hold these things until 12".

Came in the next morning and we had lots of activity - we were having a jewelry trunk show and lots of people were coming in. Weather was beautiful! A very good customer came in - she hadn't been in for a few weeks and was anxious for some new wonderful things. She picked out some things and was ready to go and then asked "any new jackets"?
What to do - what to do?
I gave her the jacket - she tried it on - she took it!
At 12 we put the dresses back in the sale room.

Of course you know what happened - they came in at 1:30!
I couldn't even begin to describe how angry they were!

Well, there were lots of people in the store - many who know me and they were very disturbed by the way he behaved. Didn't give me the slightest chance to say anything - if he had a gun - he probably would have shot me!

Let's not forget here - this is a jacket we're talking about!

About an hour later he came back in - not friendly and I don't even remember what he said - but another customer started to yell at him - he yelled back at her - oh boy! "STOP" I said - "let's not". Instead I suggested that we try to find the jacket at another store.

I called Bergdorf - no - I called Yohji - downtown in NYC. The fellow there couldn't have been nicer - but what did he discover - we were the only store in the entire country to order that jacket! I didn't have the guts to tell this to this man. So I told him that they were still checking and that I would get back to him.

I emailed the seller and hopefully someone, somewhere in the world also ordered this jacket. That I won't know until next week.

The wife called back at the end of the day - she apolozied (sort of) and so did I! She wanted to know if we still had the 2 dresses - we did! I told her we would HOLD THEM for her!

Well - believe it or not - someone called on Friday and asked if we had any small Morgane Le Faye dresses and I knew that this person would be in today.

I told the other gal (because I wouldn't be working) to explain to this gal that we had a "situation" and although we don't hold sale merchandise - we were holding these for someone. This gal couldn't be nicer - she tried them on (I understand she looked fabulous in them) and is willing to wait to hear if this other woman will take them or not.

They never came into the store today - but did call and said that they would be in tomorrow. Wouldn't it have been something is the other gal did sell the dress to this other woman!

Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow. But that's what happens when you hold things - after all was said and done they didn't come in today - they took advantage. We don't hold sale merchandise at all - I told her that and she said that she appreciated that we would! I don't know - I'm sorry that I held anything for her at all! I hope that she doesn't take the dress - I hope that the other woman gets it!

I learned a few lessons!

Now I don't feel so bad!

Thanks for the wonderful PHOTO!

2007-10-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

You will probably have a deluge of photos of dogs and their people. I couldn't resist sending this. It was taken a couple of years ago. My Frenchie was a puppie then. Look closely in the background for another pet, so funny.

Best Regards

Here's LUCY!

2007-10-04T21:27:00.003-07:00

Oops!

Couldn't get Lucy's photo uploaded - so here is the little cutie......