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When are your days off?
 

I was at a local goodwill, flipping threw some clothes and it hit me, this is starting to become really tedious. I love my job (eBay) and the potential it brings to me in other aspects of my life BUT I never really take a day off.

Before this I was a server, and well...I had days off, haha. I realize I determine weather or not I want to work, its part ambition, and part I'm in the building phase of my business(es). To all the vets (GreenBean, Rsot, Dmshark..etc)

Just for kicks, do you guys have a set schedule or limit on when you work and when you DON'T? For instance, no shipping on weekends...not answering messages past a certian time? I really need to set myself some limits. I really don't remeber the last day I had a complete day without doing one thing related to eBay, crazy enough.

Re: When are your days off?
 

Days Off: Monday - Sunday from 3pm to 2pm Next Day!

Re: When are your days off?
 

I usually work everyday because i like it but when i feel like i want to take a day off it's usually just 1 day or a maximum of 2 days because i can't let my customers wait longer. If i'll ever feel like i want more than 2 days i'll just close couple of stores and write that im on vacation on the others.

Re: When are your days off?
 

I have always said to my friends and family..

"eBay is a Part Time job that you work Full Time." :)

Re: When are your days off?
 

I typed something earlier and decided to delete it.

The only way to escape is to hire. If you don't do this then you are always going to be torn and work looses it fun and fun has regrets and consequences.

Re: When are your days off?
 

Exactly how I feel. A big part is all my emails are on my Iphone, which I end up checking all the time :(

The days I want to take a day off, I end up working. Its like I can't allow myself to take a day off. Do any of you have restrictions like not shipping or working on weekends? Is this a fantasy? What about not answering messages after 5:00 pm? Big retail websites don't, why do we have to :pout:

(I say that knowing I answer messages at 3:00 am sometimes)

Re: When are your days off?
 

The only days off I get is the day or 2 I have no sales, lol.

But I usually only go to the post office on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays so I get a bit of a break in that aspect.

Re: When are your days off?
 

I always try to ship same day. I know going above and beyond is great and all...but most these ebayers don't even care. I might need to start doing something like that. Simple enough.

Re: When are your days off?
 

I'm more like a binge seller......I do some every week......but then I'll go crazy and sell 3 times my usual amount in a week...then take 1 or 2 off.......

Re: When are your days off?
 

One thing I do on the stealth accounts I work with is try to make all my busy work take place on Monday or Tuesday. I try to have all auctions end Sunday night(mostly because it is a great $$$ night) and then everyone is busy shipping a day or two only. It is fact that if you are shipping/servicing, you are not selling or growing your business.

Re: When are your days off?
 

In my few hours of sleep I set my phone to "night night" Its first thing I check getting up and last thing I check going to bed.

This year though I set all my stores on vacation during black Friday and from Dec 20th...

Most time ive taken off in long time and during critical sales. However the numbers are still up and less crabby people messages. It seems those buyers at those date are the worst...

Opened shop again and been online for almost 20hrs....

I know I cant do it forever, but working on end game is the point right now...

Re: When are your days off?
 

I need to be better then BIG RETAIL.... Its best way to sell higher.... and yes without phone id be stuck no movement.... I get about 200 emails a day

:deadhorse:

Re: When are your days off?
 

For people who want to increase the efficiency i would suggest writing answers to all possible questions(Late arrival, broken, not as described etc...) if you got 10 accounts just change couple of words to make it look different so you won't get linked and just always have a prepared answers to 80% of the questions, that way all you do is copy paste. Another suggestion is to establish a working hours, if you work 5 hours a day you can work 10 hours the next day or 15 hours the next day. This way you can fill orders and answer messages 2-3 days a week and save your energy for new projects on the rest of your time.

Re: When are your days off?
 

I constantly try to improve efficiency / automate a lot of the process through hiring friends. I used to work 24/7, now I only work in the mornings for a couple hours and in the afternoon for a couple more.

Re: When are your days off?
 

My full days off tend to be when im out doing really important real life things, such as going the pub.

Other than that, TGMT's quote sums ebay up perfectly.

Re: When are your days off?
 

I could be laying out at a pool in las vegas, and guess what? I'm checking my phone(s) responding to emails.:ranger: and seeing what shipped(fba).

Re: When are your days off?
 

Plenty of days off in the grave... :FF:

Re: When are your days off?
 

I don't have days off via "limitations" like the OP suggested. But I LOVE the freedom I have because of my ability to work from home and set my own schedule. I also LOVE what I do. For me, research is FUN! I LOVE finding new items to sell.

For the more mundane tasks, like shipping, I automate as much as I can through things like ShipStation, Family members help and I also have a business partner. I have also hired (on and off) and there is no reason NOT to hire help, as long as you actually have enough work for them to do on a consistent basis. But I have tried to avoid that as much as possible by using things like ShipStation. Shipping used to take me between 4-6 hours each day. But I have reduced that by 80%. I always try to answer emails as they come in. If you answer right away, it not only creates TRUST, it also lessens the amount of B.S you will have to deal with later on.

I even have my own form letter library which I use to answer buyer questions and complaints. This has saved me a ton of time as well, because it is USUALY the same questions, of the same TYPES of questions that buyers tend to ask. I can either simply cut and paste my response, or edit something. But most of what I need is already written. The only caveat is that you MUST know your responses INTIMATELY to avoid responding in a way that does not make sense. But once you have it down it is a HUGE time-saver.

Re: When are your days off?
 

Love all the responses!

I just woke up, eating cereal and drinking coffee about to start taking pictures. :s

Haha.

I think with me its the hunger to keep growing my businesses. For instance like someone else said, I woke up and had checked my phone and got good sales, that makes me want to list more! I have about $700-1000 in clothes I bought yesterday waiting to get listed (profit not what I spent).

The great thing though is, I still have the rest of the day to do WHATEVER I want!
Thats the thing, knowing we have the desicion to do what WE WANT is really the greatest feeling anyone can have. No boss, no "I'm going to be late" ..none of that anymore... can't ask for a better job. Obviously you have to be built mentally for it, its not easy, but worth it imho.

Not to mention anyone on here that is successful on eBay, nothing but respect. When your your own boss and your successful that alone shows character. Hard work always pays off in the end.

Life, I win. :d

When are your days off?
 

The toughest thing for me is trying to balance a full time job and family with ebay. I usually work after I finish home work with the kids and get them fed and to bed, which is usually after 7-8pm.

I try to get as much done early in the morning as I can.

Re: When are your days off?
 

I usually do not schedule days off. I sell onmy stealths on certain days only. My real accounts are selling everyday, but they are a lot of trinket things. I may sell a couple to a few a day.

Re: When are your days off?
 

I had pretty much the same situation in my job, with the exception that I was BUSIER than I am now. But if I was having lunch with a friend, I could take as long as I wanted to, within reason. But I worked a lot more hours overall. It is kind of hard for your boss to tell you that you cannot take more than an hour for lunch when you are averaging between 60-80 hours a week.

But I LOVED my old job too. It was always a challenge and I was able to research to my hearts content and write algorithms for business processes. For this I was highly praised and highly prized. Competitors were CONSTANTLY trying to lure me away. It was a good EGO-BOOSTER, but I never would have left where I was at. I had known everyone for years and I still talk to everyone.

It does not really matter so much if you are working for yourself or for someone else. If you are a go-getter who goes above and beyond the call of duty, you will be successful. If you are a clockroach (someone who watches the clock constantly and starts getting ready to leave at 4:57pm) then you will be average, at best. And enjoying what you do is the best way to make sure you never fall into that second group.