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So - eBay and I have this love hate relationship. eBay is great when it works - you buy super cheap items you have been lusting over for ages - or snap something up on the spur of the moment. As a seller it is amazing how one person's junk is another person's treasure - and making a bit of spare extra cash is always welcome. However, eBay can be a bit of a minefield, especially if you are looking at selling and buying regularly. I have been selling/buying for just over six years now and have learnt many tips along the way. I thought I would share with you some ideas and advice that may help if you are falling out of love with eBay or are just starting an eBay love affair.

Buying

1. Always, always...always read the description and view as many super sized photos as possible. It is obvious but then again all too easy to see an item ending soon at a good price - bid on it impulsively then realise after that the item was super cheap because of x, y or z.

2. Set yourself a limit if bidding - it is so easy to get carried away in the moment and then after regret that you've spent your last bit of wages on that ' oh but it is gorgeous- I'll probably wear a couple of times' coat/top/skirt whatever. Set a limit and remember - the item you are bidding on maybe relisted by another buyer and at a cheaper price, so always try to be realistic about how much you are willing to spend and if it is worth it.




3. Problems - ok so you have bought this beautiful coat that cost quite a bit because it's sold out online but you received it and it is looking a bit worse for wear - firstly, if an item leaves you feeling disappointed check and double check the item description and photos. If the seller has listed the item as excellent condition and there are no clear photos of any wear or tears you may be able to claim your money back under the eBay Money Back Guarantee. Obviously there are a few blurred lines within this guarantee - but strictly speaking, if an item has been mis-sold to you then you may have a case.



4. So, assuming the item didn't arrive or you have a feeling the item was not as it should be first of all contact the seller. Be polite as eBay do read all communications if a case escalates - and explain the problem. I always wait at least 15 working days before raising a case of item undelivered. Usually the seller will be helpful and wanting to keep a good customer service record, so in most cases will refund you straight away or send another item out to you. Sometimes however it is not as straightforward as that and if you feel the seller is being unfair I would recommend talking to eBay.

5. eBay customer services - my experience. You can contact eBay over the phone/email or online chat. I find the phone is the best way as it's so much easier to  just chat with someone rather than explaining everything via typing - however the chat has usually less waiting times. In regards to the waiting times be prepared to wait up to 30 minutes if not more at peak times. I have almost always found eBay customer service to be helpful and point me in the right direction. They are usually very realistic and if they believe you to have a case after reviewing evidence (photos/descriptions/messages)  they will help you as much as they can. If you decide to take a case further, which I would recommend doing if you feel let down, it does take a few days and if the seller doesn't respond within that time frame and you are not happy with the outcome eBay will decide what action to take.

6. Refunds. I have always found eBay are pretty good in this area. If your item didn't arrive and there was no proof it was delivered eBay will almost certainly step in and refund you via the seller. There have been times when cases have escalated and eBay have refunded the buyer but also the seller has kept the sale money. I have found overall that eBay are more fairer to buyers than ever before and usually will do all they can to make you happy and have an overall positive experience - which is what it is all about at the end of the day.




7. Returning an item. This use to be a complicated process and as a buyer you sometimes felt that it was easier to just cut your losses and keep/chuck/donate the said item. However, I have had to return two items recently and as a buyer the process was fairly simple. First of all I bought a coat which was stated as the wrong size. I messaged the seller and they agreed for me to return the item. The second case was a clock radio I bought brand new and when I tried it out it didn't work. The seller didn't send me any communication but did accept my return request. eBay will send you a link with a pre paid postage stamp. Once this is printed bag up your item - if you happen to have the original packaging I would recommend using that - and then all you need to do is take it to a post office to be scanned through the system. eBay will then alert you once the item has been delivered back to the seller. This is super easy and very quick and once this has all gone through the buyer has a few days to refund you. The only draw back is you will need access to a printer. It can also be annoying if the returned item is showing up as undelivered as I experienced. I messaged the seller gently reminding them that the item was being held at their local depot. It did take quite some time from the start of the process to claim back my refund but eventually I received it.


8. Feedback - this is a touchy subject for sellers as feedback scores really affect their selling limits and therefore sales. I would really reconsider leaving bad feedback especially if an item didn't arrive. After all, is this the seller's fault or the courier company? Sometimes situations are beyond sellers control and as buyers it is worth keeping this in mind. If you have had a bad experience with a seller I would report them to eBay in the first instance. Depending on how bad the experience was and the outcome neutral feedback with a brief description of the event is usually enough to give a seller a wake up call that they need to up their game.


I hope as a buyer you found these tips useful. As a buyer over the years I would say my experience of eBay has been an overall pleasant one. I've hardly ever not received an item - and if an item has turned up not matching the description I have found most sellers to be apologetic and helpful. I am hoping to draw up a list of tips for selling on eBay over the next few weeks as I would say that side of eBay is definitely more complicated than buying!

*All views/pictures and experiences are entirely my own!


Good luck on the bidding! xx
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Love this very candid photo of the girls (plus puppy) 
So This week has been half term and we have been crazy busy! I had this goal of going out everyday especially in the mornings as my other half sleeps and therefore with two kids and a mad puppy in the house that was not going to go down well! At the start of the week I wrote up a plan of places to go and things to do and somehow we managed to stick to it more or less. We have been out for some epic walks in the morning with the dog and the afternoons have been on the beach with my other half who has usually woken by then! So here's a round up of what we have done so far....

Monday - Walked to Carn Marth - Carn Marth is basically a quarry sat high on a hill. There's a lovely circular walk we usually do to the top and back. It has views from each side of the coast of Cornwall from Falmouth to St Agnes and you can even see St Austell on a clear day!

Tuesday - It was so warm and sunny we took a trip to Trevaunce Cove at St Agnes. As it is still winter the car park is only £1 for a day which isn't bad considering the money goes back to the Parish which I think is great. Trevaunce has some lovely coastal walks but we spent a couple hours down on the beach which was so quiet. I took lots of photos, which I posted on my Instagram page.


Trevaunce Cove


Wednesday - We took the train to Penzance, had a mooch around the shops, didn't really buy anything apart from I managed to pick up The Hairy Dieters book that I've been after for sometime in a charity shop a bargain £2!



Thursday - We attempted to walk to Carn Brea - another hill where we live. There's some rocks for the kids to climb over up there but it was so muddy the children fell in the mud half way up which we weren't really prepared for so we turned back and instead followed the footpath on another walk around Carn Brea village. When we came home we watched The Monster in Paris film which we all enjoyed!


Friday - We met up with friends and had an all you can eat breakfast at Table Table. It was delicious! Usually they take your order and then you wait till it's served and more often than not it comes out wrong but it was served on platters this time around which was so much better. After we stuffed ourselves silly we went to Helston for a walk around Penrose Estate and then walked around the boating lake. We must have covered 8 miles altogether!

A Sunday morning stroll around Hayle Estuary
Saturday and Sunday - I took the girls to watch Moana on Saturday which we all enjoyed and now can't stop singing all the songs! Sunday morning we went for a lovely walk in Hayle. We started at St George's Memorial walk and ended up at the beach, as you do, and enjoyed beach combing and watching the waves before heading back again before the fog and rain descended on us!

Hope you've all had a good week! Happy weekend :)





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Related imageFor me December and January has been a time of big reflections and changes. I know it's cliche to say out with the old in with the new especially around that time of year but it was wonderful just what a couple of weeks of downtime can do for your state of mind. Over the Christmas period I decided to have some time off - I was determined to spend it with the family and although I worked boxing day and New Year's Eve it felt ok - I made the conscious decision not to work anymore than those two days. Within that time I started thinking about the year, as you do, and where it was all heading career wise for me. This year I started work in the care industry taking on two different types of jobs within the care sector. I am so glad that I did it and have no regrets - the whole experience overall has been a positive one - however it has been hard working late into the evenings, working on the weekends and then there's a whole lot of admin work to be completed once my hours at work have finished, not to mention the emotional side effects. I started to feel totally consumed by it all - my work life lives via emails so I'm constantly checking my phone. The Summer holidays were a fine example of this whereby we went camping - there was little signal at the campsite and therefore found myself walking around in the dead of night looking wifi just to check shifts and pick up work on my phone - and then to be told the shifts had already been snapped up - so I was frustrated that I had lost work when I should have been totally disconnected from my phone enjoying wifi free time with my family. This was the tip of the iceberg for me - within work I started to feel less confident when I should have been feeling assertive in my role. Nearer the end of the year I took on a care job at a local care home. Ideally I was hoping to fit the hours around my other job - it was a totally different job and I loved that idea of jumping from one work to another but I just couldn't help that nagging feeling that this industry just wasn't for me. I was lacking passion and enthusiasm and more importantly confidence. In all the jobs I have done previously I can say I have always been confident in my role - and I wasn't feeling this at all. By December my confidence had shattered and it was seemingly spilling over into my personal life. I felt really inadequate and low in myself lacking motivation. Going to do the weekly shop or school run became a huge hurdle that I couldn't seem to face. I decided that it was time to change jobs  if I could - I had this hankering to go back into admin. I loved my previous job but took up work in the care sector because I wanted a more rewarding and challenging job. Yes my job has been both that - but it had also been a rather thankless one. Not once had anybody said 'thanks - you have done a great job today' - and sometimes that's all it takes to know that you are doing 'ok'. I applied for a few jobs at the beginning of January genuinely not expecting anything to come from it but surprisingly was offered an interview. The interview was probably the worst interview I have taken part in - and yet they offered me the post! They even admitted my interview wasn't the best they had seen - but they realised the potential there and saw (somewhere) that I possessed the skills need for the role. After I had chatted to the interviewee about this I felt a weight lift from my shoulders - for the first time in a year it felt as though someone just patted me on the back and said - 'you're doing ok - we recognise that'. It really goes along way.


Woah.....how did February suddenly catch up with us? As I look over this corner of the web that is a little bit of my own it has dawned on me what a busy year 2016 has been. From starting the year off with this blog and then getting back into work - to finding a second job and all that life throws at you in between it is hard to grasp just how quickly life changes and how time just flies by while we are all busy getting by!
So over the past month I've been thinking how I really want to pick up the blog again as I realise how little I've contributed to it lately and hopefully I can do a regular weekly roundup to get me started.
So I have the next couple of weeks off before a new chapter opens once again - I'm determined to spend some time on myself and get into the right frame of mind. I've decided on some goals for this year:
* Read  more - I read so much last year then a few months ago I lost motivation and must start reading again!!

* Put down the phone - my new job should hopefully stay in the office and not be brought home with me - for this I will be thankful.

* Enjoy the moment - being conscious of life and the simple things - going for a walk enjoying a sunset and being aware of the little moments.

*Exercise more - oooh I find this one so hard but somehow I need to come up with a plan to integrate more of this into my life!!!


Here's to 2017 - to goals, to changes, to challenges and to pats on the back!

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About Me

About Me
I'm a 30 something mum from Cornwall with two daughters, a better half and a Springer Spaniel. I enjoy walking the coastal paths, exploring new places and being near the sea. Whenever I'm not out and about I can be found with my head in a book or trying to construct something creative be it baking or crafting in some form. Welcome to my corner of the web.

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  • ▼  2017 (3)
    • ▼  February (3)
      • eBay Buying - The Dos and the Don'ts
      • Weekend Round Up
      • Full Circle
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