steelhip design

The ebay disaster continues....

2009-12-05T23:01:00.001-08:00

This is soooooo depressing! I was just getting confident, all my bracelets were selling, most were selling above the opening bid. I was actually entertaining the idea I could by myself a new gopher, maybe put a little money aside and even be able to travel for the first time in my adult life. Now this - sold two out of seven bracelets at the opening bid. One person had the audacity to offer me AU$80 for the silver ecumenical! That wouldn't cover my eBay listing fees (you'd be surprised at the amount of people who don't realise that sellers have to pay eBay even if your item DOES NOT sell), the "free" postage (a cost I had to absorb after eBay's "best match" b#%&*!@# to rise up the search results), materials, time, effort, research and writing the listing of 36 different religious charms and symbols, photography and image optimization, consumables like drill bits, antiquing supplies and batteries and finally my experience, skill and vision. Before "featured first" was taken from me, this bracelet was selling for US$380! One actually sold for US$500. This is a bloody nightmare.

If I wasn't taking amitriptyline for pain management I think this would have spiralled me into deep depression. All that work down the drain. I wouldn't mind if I didn't believe in my product. My designs are good, very original and certainly have a market out there. The thing I'm most proud of is the amount of customers who come back and buy two, three or even five other bracelets. If they were crap - that wouldn't happen. Once people see the quality, the attention to detail, the quirkiness and originality, they are happy to pay what I ask.

Paying the extra for the etsy showcase spot was a waste of money. I think etsy has a problem. The only people going to etsy are artists who are selling there. You might get the occasional sale and my designs are certainly liked by the amount of other etsy sellers who have saved me as a favourite. But that's the problem - there are no buyers on there except for raw jewellery/craft supplies. As an artist if I see something I like I'll try to make it for myself.

If eBay wants to keep self representing artists/craft/jewellers it should try to reward those who sell and BUY their craft/art/jewellery supplies from eBay also. Something like a points system, used to access promotional features or move your listing up the "best match" scale. Also eBay is pushing the charity element (well pressuring their sellers to give) which is great but then they cripple (no I'm not using that word as a pun) disabled people who have come to rely on a meagre income generated by selling second hand or craft items on eBay. If they really wanted to help disabled people help themselves - GIVE US A BREAK! I know trying to prove who is really disabled and where does that definition begin and end would be difficult but imagine the kudos! eBay's "environmental" off shoot "World of Good" requires sellers to verify their green, recycled and/or fair trade status so that mechanism/process is already there. eBay if you are listening (who am I kidding - no one is reading this) you could score huge brownie points from respective governments if you started looking after your disabled sellers! Don't they say charity should start at home?

I think I should just give up and start doing some web design again. It will mean catching up on the latest CSS and HTML changes. Fun, fun, fun.

I've relisted nearly all the unsold bracelets and did something I should have done a long time ago. Images uploaded to eBay used to pretty accessible - with a large picture down the bottom of the page and other smaller thumbnails beside the main image selection. It was pretty easy for people to just click on the smaller images and see the bigger version. Then they changed the layout. Now people can only see the small thumbnail right up at the top and have to click and wait for the enlarged image. It takes more time and people can't be bothered waiting for a new page to load. Basically it's a pain in the a#!*&. I've always gone for the ebay hosted picture option even though it was expensive. There was, at the time, too many auctions where the self hosted image option had obviously failed for whatever reason (incorrect path names, slow servers, misspelled image names or faulty HTML tags) and the images didn't load. What a waste of money! If you are going to pay listing fees at least check your images are going to load. Listing on the US site but living in Australia, I was also worried if I self hosted images the loading would be too slow due to the distance.

I've been hunting down Christmas presents and learning from my own habits, I don't like the process of enlarging extra images in an auction either, only doing it if I really wanted to see more detail or different views. It's slow and annoying opening a new page or tab just to see images. I prefer seeing large images within the description section of the page. There are two ways of doing that. Go to a template supplier like Auctiva or image dump like Photobucket and upload pics or do it yourself using your existing web site hosting. I chose the free option, loading the images into files on my hosting server. It was easier than I thought it would be. So it will be interesting to see if this makes any difference to my auctions.

New steampunk site design

2009-12-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I worked on my new web site design. I had forgotten how much fun site design can be, especially when you don't have an annoying client saying "I don't like that", "that's got to be brown - and orange!" or "it doesn't match our existing logo (which is bloody hideous)" "move that 2cm to the left (they have no comprehension of tables)" etc etc. Am I too precious about my designs? Hell yes. Above is a sneak peak at my very "steampunk" design.

Today, unfortunately, I have to make Christmas crackers. This tradition started about 10 years ago. Every year since I have spent many hundreds of hours buying the innards, finding gifts small enough to fit inside, buying the glitter, tinsel, fabric, paper and burning my fingers with a hot glue gun only to watch all that work be ripped apart and destroyed in 3 seconds. It's a labour of love. This year the friends' we have Christmas lunch with have asked me to also make crackers for their interstate friends too. Oh the joy. Wish me luck with that bloody glue gun.

The Mad Monk - Oh No!

2009-11-30T21:22:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the Liberal Party (which is actually the conservative/Republican/Tory - right wing side) voted Tony "The Mad Monk" Abbott as leader of the Opposition. And over the ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) of all things! I'm a bit of a pundit when it comes to Oz politics. And I take a particular interest in watching the far right freaks. They scare the wits out of me. For our system to work there must be separation between the four estates - the church and the secular government should not overlap. I know I'm being too idealistic. Religion and politics always step on each other's toes while doing the "will of the people" two step. I just can't bare the thought Australia going the way of the US with religion being an incendiary in most political debate.

You can gather I'm left leaning. If you rely on a public welfare system for survival, of course you are going to be left. But unlike a lot of people, I read and research to back up my opinions and have lived with the consequences of having a right wing party in power. The right, under that nasty little man Howard, eroded my standard to living to well below the poverty line. Within a year of being voted in (1996); he demolished the dental health care system in Australia; made the inflation rate was total fiction so he didn't have to increase aged/disabled pensions that are indexed to the inflation rate in law; he waged a war against refugees - locking them up for years and manipulating public sentiment against our unique (and extremely successful) multicultural society; he encouraged and boot licked that imbecile Bush and the other neocons (I'm hoping the "cons" part in "neocons" will one day stand for "convicted"); didn't compensate welfare recipients when the GST was introduced pushing us further into poverty; stripped all Commonwealth rehabilitation services so there was no money left to do anything for their clients; tried to white ant our national broadcaster, the ABC citing the organisation had "left bias"; attempted to corrupt and destroy the Pharmaceuticals Benefit Scheme by signing a Free Trade agreement with the US that would allow big drug companies to charge more and evergreen medications; took Australia to war with Iraq with false intelligence; got into bed with big business to the detriment of the people and did nothing about anti competitive national monopolies and duopolies that continue to screw the market; used our military as a propaganda vehicle; tried (and failed) to introduce some of the most erroneous work place laws that stripped the basic rights on an employee and attempted to make unions outlawed. Thankfully, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. He lost power and most embarrassingly, lost his own seat.

Here is a story about how insane the system was under Howard. I've always worked when I was physically able to. Working around surgery, flare ups, medical appointments, tests, physio etc is almost impossible in the current work force. Most of my able bodied friends are exhausted by week end, with employers expecting unpaid over time and productivity targets set well above what could be reasonably achieved in a 40 hour week. In my early 20s I realised my previously flawless and praised work suddenly became unacceptable as soon as I told them I had to go to hospital. It was the "real world" way around the anti-discrimination employment laws. I am proud of my work ethic. I was raised to do a job properly no matter how long it took. So to be attacked on that level hurt me to the core. So instead of going through that charade, I would resign and keep my self esteem intact. By the time I was in my 30s, with a patchy employment history and with only typing as a skill I approached the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service for training. My arthritis made it impossible for me to fill a PA/secretary/receptionist position because those positions rely on reliability - something that my disability destroyed. You would think the government would be falling over itself to help train someone so they could get off welfare? Nope - quite the opposite. All I wanted was taxi fare vouchers (I can't use public transport or drive) to and from a local TAFE college so I could study IT/web design. It took me nine months of fighting, pleading and arbitration but I finally won. Gaining those skills made a huge difference to my life. The tactics used in the dispute were so unethical. They used a letter from my rhuematologist saying the training would be extremely beneficial in both my physical and mental health and twisted his words to indicate the opposite - he was fuming! It made me realise how low that ethically and morally bankrupt government would stoop.

The reason I wrote all of the above is because John Howard's protege is Tony Abbott. He will walk in Howard's footsteps. While in power, Abbott was Howard's attack dog (when Bill Heffernan was busy), doing the dirty work so Howard could appear "clean". I believe one of the reasons Howard wouldn't step down as leader for Costello because he wanted the Abbott to be his successor.

But back to Abbott. He courts the right wing in the NSW Liberal Party which is notoriously far right. An example? Liberal MP and Opus Dei member David Clarke. Abbott has a regular speaking events at an Opus Dei sponsored university college. If he gets into power, he will try to take away a woman's right to choose and probably outlaw stem cell research. Welfare would be totally privatised with the old and disabled reduced to begging the church for survival. Private (read religious, especially catholic) private schools would get disproportionate funding and erode public schools' viability. Student unions would come under attack - yet, again. The country, once again, would go back to the 1950s/Dark Ages. It is my worst nightmare.

Reading the Sydney Morning Herald this morning, some comments said this was great news - for the Government, basically giving them the next election on a platter. Quite a few people wrote, with Tony Abbott as leader, they would not vote Liberal for the first time in their life. Very few were positive about Abbott as the new leader of the opposition, most being global warming sceptics or deniers. Even if they believe the science is wrong (which I certainly disagree with) shouldn't the world agree that pollution/environmental degradation should be minimised anyway? Sending toxic waste to a third world country shouldn't be an option for the first world countries. Shouldn't we be investing heavily into new energy options that don't rely on dwindling reserves of fossil fuels?

I laughed my head off at one comment - Tony Abbott is the Sarah Palin of Australian politics. Unfortunately, Tony Abbott is not that dumb - that's why he is so dangerous.

Crushed by eBay - part 2

2009-11-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

This is so depressing! I decided not to relist the unsold items on eBay and transfer them to etsy.com. I managed to buy a "geekery" featured slot for the robot bracelet - 86 views in a short space of a time but no buyers and no pull through to my other bracelets. Bit disappointed. The question is do I risk selling the same bracelet if I relist them on eBay while they are still up on etsy? It's a small risk but Murphy's Law always loves mucking me around.

It wouldn't have been a problem if bloody, f&*%^# eBay hadn't stuffed up my selling strategy. I love how they keep sending me surveys about "how can we improve" your selling etc etc. You can imagine what I write in the boxes. I got a Paypal one today and told them - you are eBay so just as culpable. I'm back to square one. If eBay hadn't pulled access to Featured First, I would have sold all my bracelets, most well over the opening bid. Do I try to gain Top Seller status? Sell over 100 items in the US and achieve sales worth over $3000 a month? I would have to sell double that because about 40% of my sales are to Australian customers. It's a catch 22 situation - without Featured First trying to achieve that will be difficult. The only way to get those sales would mean dropping my prices considerably.

I like etsy but it doesn't have the 1) traffic, 2) urgency of an auction, 3) buyers. The auction format works for me because people know the designs are unique. Yes, I have similar ranges but if they really desire that particular bracelet they have to bid. Also with the auction format people would bid in the hope of getting the bracelet for the $99 opening price. In the last mad moments of the auction, people are emotionally invested in the piece so get caught up in a bidding war and end up paying at least $30 over the start price. Well that's how it used to be...

I'll give etsy one thing - being able to copy a couple of lines of code and have all my etsy items displayed on my website is fantastic! Not that I believe any one is actually reading this blog but you can have a look at it http://www.steelhipdesign.com/ I would have preferred a black background but it's so convenient!

My website stats peaked again over the last couple of days - 2000+ I would love to know where that traffic comes from but the stats don't really tell me that in the referral sites.

I really want to make more "orrery" sculptures. I'm just waiting for some supplies. My first attempt above was custom made for friends of my brother. I calculated the position of the planets on the exact time they got married and also in relation to the location - Perth. It made for an interesting wedding gift. The one I have in my head is smaller - miniature compared to that one - using clock and watch parts. More steampunk, with "platforms" for each planet and moons. My skills and finish have improved since making this one so I'm looking forward to giving it another go.

I wish vintage clock parts were cheaper - I can't believe what people are paying for cogs and wheels. Should I attempt to have another go of custom made wedding/birth one? I do have those vintage tin clock bases that would look great with the horoscope chart fused on to it. I think I'm going to buy some of those laser cut wood clock wheels - a lot cheaper than the real thing. Just got a great idea....

Space Academy 2121 - a bracelet inspired by retro sci-fi

2009-11-23T02:35:00.000-08:00

I love retro sci-fi - robots, rocket ships, clockwork solar system models and aliens. When I found these robot charms I just had to use them. Then I found the genuine vintage copper tone space training badges that were issued by the US military after training - they are even individually numbered on the reverse. I couldn't resist putting all the elements together for the Space Academy charm bracelet. The retro copper rocket ship just finished the whole piece. If anyone is interested seeing further images it will be listed on eBay.com tomorrow. Just put this number into the eBay search box: 310183954084 .

I'm not a conspiracy theory nut - the Vela Incident

2009-11-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

On September the 22nd 1979 a double flash of bright light was dectected by an old US weather satellite named Vela. The Vela Incident sometimes called the South Atlantic Flash is a story of intrique, secret government tests and a desire to keep it all swept firmly under the carpet. I was 12 years old when it happened and within a month of the event I developed a goitre due to thyroid disease. I was not the only one.

You can read about the technical aspect of the event here on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_Incident

When it took place, Carter was the US President and the Middle East was at flash point (has anything changed?). The signature of the double flash indicated someone was testing atomic weapons in the region of Prince Edward Island - a tiny speck off the South African coast within the Antartic Circle. They wanted to carry out the test under cloud cover and limited wind speed to minimise the fallout. Someone stuffed up the forecast. The US wanted a smoking gun but they also didn't want to attract attention to what they suspected - that the aparthied de Klerk's South Africa and Israel were holding joint testing of nuclear weapons. In the middle of the tension the Middle East Hostage crisis the last thing Carter wanted was to highlight the fact Israel had "the bomb". The joke goes "How does the US know Israel has "the bomb"? "They kept the receipt." It also didn't help that trade with South Africa was under an almost world wide sanctions to protest the aparthied regime and human rights abuses.

The administration consulted with academics - saying the satellite was well past it's use-by date and the reading was probably just a malfunction of dying equipment. Even though, the Carter Administration asked for samples of sheeps' thyroids from Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria be sent to the University of Tennessee for testing. The thyroids tested positive to low levels of iodine-131. To this day, most Australians have no idea the country was showered with radioactive fall out on the days following the event. I also wondered why the samples were sent to Tennessee? Surely anything to do with radiation testing should have gone to the more appropriate Los Alamos, Fermilab or even Berkley.

Now, anybody who has been to Perth will tell you about the wind. Every afternoon "the Fremantle Doctor" (that is so ironic in this situation) blows cool air up from the Antartic circle and across the Indian Ocean. This weather pattern is one of the most predictable on the planet. It gained it's friendly moniker for cooling the city down on hot summer days.

When I started researching this incident I was struck by one fact. Despite 60 years of making, testing and using nuclear bombs, no one really knows what is a "safe" amount of radioactive exposure. We know fatal levels, imminent cancer causing levels but mid to low range levels require a life time of data collection before anything can be identified let alone proved. One of the most unexpected things to come out of the Chernobyl accident is that few people actually died. Of course the incredible, brave men that went in directly after the accident knew it was a sucide mission. But I'll go back to the research coming out of Chernobyl accident later.

Whenever individuals remain in a radiologically contaminated area, such contamination will lead to an immediate external radiation exposure as well as a possible later internal hazard from inhalation and ingestion of radiocontaminants, such as the short-lived iodine-131, which is accumulated in the thyroid. This is why iodine is given to children exposed. It limits the thyroid from absorbing the radioactive form, iodine-131. Children are especially susceptible to radiation. By the time I was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital for Children I couldn't do up the top button on my school uniform. The doctors had no idea. Initially they suspected cancer of the thyroid. After two weeks and several tests they diagnosed me with Hashimoto's Disease. It's not incredibly rare but they had never seen it in a 12 year old before. It usually occurs in women during pregnancy or in their mid 30's.

Hashimoto's is an autoimmune condition. Autoimmune means something has gone seriously askew in the body. Simply put, the body's own immune defenses start attacking the body. This manifests as many serious conditions including: Achlorhydra Autoimmune Active Chronic Hepatitis, Addison's Disease, Alopecia Areata, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease), Ankylosing Spondylitis, Anti-GBM Nephritis or anti-TBM Nephritis, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, Aplastic Anemia, Arthritis, Asthma, Atopic Allergy, Atopic Dermatitis, Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED), Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS), Balo Disease, Behcet's Disease, Berger's Disease (IgA Nephropathy), Bullous Pemphigoid, Cardiomyopathy, Celiac Disease, Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), Churg Strauss Syndrome, Cicatricial Pemphigoid, Cogan's Syndrome, Cold Agglutunin Disease, Colitis, Cranial Arteritis, CREST Syndrome, Crohn's Disease, Cushing's Syndrome, Dego's Disease, Dermatitis, Dermatomyositis, Devic Disease, Diabetes Type 1, Type 2, Dressler's Syndrome, Discoid Lupus, Eczema, Essential Mixed Cryoglobulinemia, Eosinophilic Fasciitis, Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita, Evan's Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Fibromyositis, Fibrosing Alveolitis, Gastritis, Giant Cell Artertis, Glomerulonephritis, Goodpasture's Disease, Grave's Disease, Guillian-Barre Syndrome, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Hemolytic Anemia, Henoch-Schonlein Purpura, Hepatitis, Hughes Syndrome, Idiopathic Adrenal Atrophy, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura, Inflammatory Demylinating Polyneuropathy, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Kawasaki's Disease, Lichen Planus, Lou Gehrig's Disease, Lupoid Hepatitis, Lupus, Lyme Disease, Meniere's Disease, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Multiple Myeloma, Multiple Sclerosis, Myasthenia Gravis, Myositis, Ocular Cicatricial Pemphigoid, Osteoporosis, Pars Planitis, Pemphigus Vulgaris, Polyglandular Autoimmune Syndromes, Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR), Polymyositis, Primary Biliary Cirrhois, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, Psoriasis, Raynaud's Phenomenon, Reiter's Syndrome, Rheumatic Fever, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sarcoidosis, Scleritis, Scleroderma, Sjogren's Syndrome, Sticky Blood Syndrome, Still's Disease, Stiff Man Syndrome, Sydenham Chorea, Systemic Lupus Erythmatosis (SLE), Takayasu's
Arteritis, Temporal Arteritis, Ulcerative Colitis, Vasculitis, Vitiligo, Wegener's Granulomatosis, Wilson's Syndrome. That's quite a list. If you have ever watched "House" you will know an autoimmune condition is usually the first or second consideration in diagnosis.

I'm not a doctor or had any medical training but I have years of experience as a patient in hospitals. Hashimotos wasn't the only thing happening to my body. I started feeling acute pain in my joints - mainly my feet and toes. Two of my doctors thought it may be the start of some type of arthritis, maybe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis but it was never really investigated. Over the next four years I complained to our family doctor but he decided I was being a hypochondriac. It wasn't until I was 18 that I recieved a correct diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis. I had my first hip replacement at 27. By the time I was 33 I had both hips replaced, both knees replaced and my right wrist surgically fused. They were replaced for pain management not mobility. I'm looking at a shoulder decompression and/or replacement in the near future.

I started to suspect something environmental when I noticed virtually every second person in Perth has thyroid disease. I must admit being adopted I didn't have a medical history. You may ask "why didn't doctor's realise there was a cluster?" Well, thyroid and other autoimmune diseases manifest at different rates with certain people more susceptible than others. Also unless someone is actively collecting the data and analysing it, autoimmune diseases are not notifiable. There is no big database with State or Australia wide health records. With such a large area effected by Vela unless you are comparing rates against another similar population of a developed country the statistical anomoly wouldn't be apparent. Certain levels of radiation exposure can be confirmed by testing for DNA damage or mutation. I can't afford to pay for the test unfortunately. Recently, Australian soldiers exposed to radiation at the Maralinga and Montebello weapon facilities are having blood tests to see if they sustained DNA damage.

For over 10 years now I've been routinely looking at the diseases manifesting in the children exposed at Chernobly. The data and diseases are all too familiar to me. Those children are now having children with high rates of asmtha, extreme allergies - anaphylaxis and other autoimmune diseases. These are the conditions that now gain headlines in Australia due to their frequency and severity. My generation who were exposed by Vela as children are having children with similiar problems. I don't believe these problems are all caused by over use of disinfectants and antibacterials - although I certainly think they contribute to the problem.

So I started asking questions. I talked to doctors, nurses, my fellow inpatients, x-ray staff, pathology - I questioned everybody. I asked without letting them know my theory - most people tend to think you are a conspiracy theory nut when you start babbling about secret nuclear testing and weather satellites. I also believe there is a degree of "why didn't we hear about this at the time?". Well it was covered by some news agencies - but it certainly never made it to the front page. I've trawled through the local newspaper archives but I haven't found any initial reports. I do vaguely remember a TV report on it though.

I would love to start collecting more data and anecdotal evidence. If you or someone you know who got sick around September 1979 - please leave a comment. If you are researching for reasons why you got sick or why your children are sick please keep an open mind. I'm not doing this to seek restitution or revenge (I think Mossad would come after me - just joking), I just think if I'm right and Australians did get sick due to the actions of another country they should know why. It could also spur the debate on the global responsibility of countries poisoning past their border, not just their own country or former colonial territory (I'm looking at you France!).

With 30 years passing since the event some people within the nuclear testing program have confirmed it was a weapon test. The most famous is Israeli, Mordechai Vanunu, who coincidentally converted to Christianity in a church I walked past everyday when I was living in Sydney. Of course he was jailed in Israel for talking about their nuclear weapon capability. Around the same time I was also asked to create the website for a documentary on the well known anti-nuclear advocate, Helen Caldicott. Serendipity or co-incidence - I don't know but it was a bit weird.

I've had a strange life so far....

2009-11-21T00:05:00.001-08:00

I suppose it's inevitable once you reach 40 you look around and take stock of your life. On the face of it I have not been a success. I don't own a house or a car, I haven't travelled much, I'm single, constantly broke and relying on my mother. By any measure not a great place to be half way through your life. But then again, I haven't had a regular life. Just to make it through the trials and adversity I've had I should be proud of myself. Especially when I've made it through without a drug or alcohol addiction (but I still smoke (tobacco) too much) or any other serious neurosis.

I was about six when my parents told me I was adopted - they gave me a book "Mr Fairweather and his Family" by Margaret Kornitzer, a picture book about adoption. I have two older brothers who are both natural to Mum and Dad. Dad desperately wanted a girl to complete the family. Mum suffered several miscarriages before they decided to adopt. When I went to school I thought everyone was adopted. I visualised a large over lit white room with rows and rows of dairy cabinets full of babies. Sort of like a baby supermarket. Don't ask me how or why I conjured up that image. It wasn't until I started school that I realised adoption wasn't the norm.

Looking back now I was so insecure, so sensitive, desperate for approval and attention. I cried very easily and was a "yes man" sycophant to the popular alpha girls in my class. My parents thought the best way to look after an adopted child was "treat her as though she is our own" - which is all very noble and "Hallmark moment" saccharin but misses a crucial point. I am not their child. You don't think the same, look the same, share a family and/or medical history or have a similar intellect or proclivity. Fortunately, by the time I was adopted in 1968/69 child welfare was trying to place children into similar homes of their biological parents. At least on an intellectual level I think I do fit in with my family and they value education. I didn't understand at the time why I was so sensitive, crying at the slightest rebuff.

We hold a mother's love at the pinnacle of our society. There is apparently no other love so pure, fierce and eternal as the love a mother has for her offspring. That love is the source for extraordinary strength, sacrifice and protection. Now imagine your mother left you as a small, defenceless baby. I can reason she left me because at the time unmarried pregnant women had no other choice. I can tell myself that she did not desert me (in so much as "me" now, the adult) because I was only a baby without any form of my future personality. I thank her for making the ultimate sacrifice so I would have a father, other siblings and financial security. But all adopted children as adults are scared deeply by the feelings of abandonment, rejection and isolation. It just comes with the territory. In my 20's I saw my peers going through a chaotic rite of passage when they finally realised they were ultimately alone in the world. Adopted kids realise this much younger. It's either a series of strange co-incidents or "birds of a feather..." but the amount of adopted people that I randomly met and befriended before knowing we shared that history was a statistical anomaly.

Up until 10 years old my childhood was pretty good. My parents had bought a small farm and moved out of the city. Living in the country sounds idyllic and it was for the most part. I rode my horse, picked wildflowers, we had a menagerie of dogs, cats, cows, geese and of course the native wildlife. There are fond memories of stuffing myself with mulberries (in a huge old tree) then walking over to the dam (wearing bathers and long black rubber boots as protection against snakes) for a swim. But there was another side - Dad made the boys work hard every weekend, up at 6am until nightfall. I couldn't go to many birthday parties - too far to drive (it was about 60km or an hour drive to the city) or socialise like normal kids do with after school clubs or neighbours. That is the kind of event children remember but parents dismiss, forget or fail to see the significance. The locals didn't befriend kids from "private" schools under the impression we were all "snobs". It was desperately lonely at times.

Dad's boss also lived in Serpentine. Dad and his boss took turns running my brother Iain, his daughter and son and me to school in the morning. It was hard getting up at 5am, still dark and often freezing cold. In the afternoon Mum and Pat took turns to pick us all up for the hour commute home. We had fun driving home, playing car games and getting to stop for an ice cream. Then it all fell apart. Iain decided his future was with the army and had to get special permission to enlist at such a young age. The other kids where doing their senior leaving exams so moved back into the city to be closer to school. There was only me left. By this time Dad had a new job, still in the city but it included extensive travel world wide. He spent 6 out of 12 months overseas.

The following year on my 10th birthday Mum and Dad put my in boarding school. They told me it was only for six weeks while they had a holiday in Europe. Most country kids don't start boarding until they are 13 years old. Including myself there were only three junior school boarders. I hated it! I'd been at PLC since grade one so I was still with girls I knew but in the boarding school I was seen as a "day bug" (what boarders call day girls - who go home after school) and spent most of my time crying. What were my parent's thinking? Ever heard of the saying "a pet isn't just for Xmas" - well that's what I felt like. I was the cute kitten who had grown to a cat that no one wanted. It didn't help that the regular family line about my adoption was "We wanted a little girl".

Thankfully there was a boarding house mistress, Mrs Coupland who became my surrogate mother. She was the perfect house mistress, firm yet fair, compassionate and strong. When she left PLC she gave me a family heirloom, an antique ring made from Smoky Scottish Amethyst and sterling silver. I will always love and cherish her memory. She was one of those people who touch your life, however briefly, and you feel honored to have known her.

Boarding school ran by the bell. Bell to get up, bell to shower, bell to table setting, bell for breakfast, bell to go to school - (bells throughout the school day) then bell for table setting, bell for dinner, bell for prep (prep was 2 hours of homework in a class room) then bell for getting ready for lights out, bell for lights out. No TV, no relaxation, no deviation from routine. No wonder I've never again lived with such rigid structure since. Being a 10 year old by day and then having to be a 13 year old at night to fit in with my doom room peers took it's emotional toll too.

I spent every afternoon on the phone, crying to Mum or my other brother, Gordon. The irony is today my mother condemns mothers who put their children into daycare once or twice a week. She doesn't see (or possibly wants to admit) there was any problem putting me in boarding school. Yes, it made me stronger, more independent but it also contributed to a life long issue with trusting people/relationships. I sabotage my relationships (friends and sexual partners) so they leave me or I beat them to what I see as inevitable - them leaving me. As you can probably tell, I'm still bitter and angry and have not forgiven them yet. I probably never will.

To compound my misery I became very sick when I was 12 years old. I tell you about that in my next post...

Problems with ebay...

2009-11-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

Some people ask me why do I list on the US eBay site not my local eBay Australia site. Easy answer - 10 times more traffic. If you add the featured first promotion it added up to 80 "watchers" on one auction and more importantly, bidding wars driving up the price in the last minutes. It hasn't been as bad as I initially thought it would without the "featured first" option. My bracelets are still selling, just not as much as they used to. The upside is now I'm not paying US$28 per listing - only about US$5 per listing with 12 photos (I don't host them elsewhere because I worry they won't load or load slowly), UK listing, scheduled if necessary and all the other little things eBay charges for.

I've got three bracelets up on etsy - just sold one yesterday and three up on eBay - one listed exclusively for a buyer who missed the last auction.

EBay and it's subsidiary, Paypal, really dropped the ball on the increase in chargeback fraud and the postage gouge (especially from China) that went on far too long. That plus other scams, such as the wholesale list scam also went on unchecked by eBay for years. These problems must have hurt eBay's bottom line in the long run. One thing I can't help but wonder is when do scammed buyers and disenfranchised sellers reach a critical mass? Can one of the underdog auction sites pose a serious threat to their dominance?

I also don't understand why they are pandering so much to the huge eBay sellers. Many businesses were originally built using eBay but as soon as they realised they could leave to operate through their own websites (at considerably less cost), they leave. Are they trying to keep them in the fold? I know if I find an eBay seller I like the first thing I do is google the store name to find out if they have a separate website. You often find the same goods at a discount (no eBay fees to pay) price. I'd say 99% of my suppliers have included their independent website address with my order. Often with a discount coupon or deal if I bypass eBay.

When the chargeback scam finally hit me, I realised I had to absorb another $10 in postage charges so I had proof of delivery for Paypal. When giving the refund I had no option but to check the "I didn't send the goods" option to finalise the dispute. Despite giving her a refund (but I really think she got the bracelet) she still gave me neg feedback. Reading eBay forums recently I was struck how much abuse, blackmail and fraud eBay sellers are putting up with just to keep their "top seller" or 100% positive feedback. For those of you who don't know about the postage issue here is some back history. Last year (I think), eBay introduced a new search default (that means it is automatic) called "best match". To be higher in a "best match" search sellers, especially sellers not in the US, had to absorb postage costs to offer "free postage". I'll give "best match" one point, it virtually wiped out the "99c item but postage $360" listings overnight.

Recently I've had to restock some of my supplies. I'd say about 80% of my raw materials come from the US bought through eBay, etsy or private web sites. There have been severe consequences stemming from the prevalence of chargebacks. Sellers are insisting on premium postage services that has made it financially prohibitive to buy from them. But many of my previous suppliers are just shutting down on international trade. It's just become too much trouble for them. When I first started selling on eBay I was struck with how many sellers would not sell to Italy. I wondered why a first world country had such an unreliable postage service that no one would risk sending goods to them. Unfortunately this reluctance has now spread to the rest of the world. So much for "free" trade...

I've read US Power sellers were actively encouraged to sell internationally. But when they did eBay/Paypal automatically sided with the buyer, ignoring thousands of positive feedback, years of integrity and a proven track record. No wonder they stopped selling internationally! I don't have the answers to the proof of delivery/receipt/chargeback problems. There are always going to be scammers on both sides of the transaction. I've been taken as both a buyer (buying coins that were NOT as described) and a seller (I know you really did receive your bracelet because I tracked activity on my website stats) and most eBay sellers factor in those costs as part of their business. To do business online you really must believe that 99% of people are decent, honest, people. The fact is without that 99% figure, all online business would not exist.

I hate to say it but the other reason I sell on the US site is because they do value artistic endeavours more than my home country. Don't get me wrong, there are some locals who love my work and will happily pay for it. But there is a tendency to say "I'm not paying $120 for something that isn't gold or silver". Yes, it's only brass, copper, glass and crystal but it has value in its uniqueness, design and the many years it took me to get to this level of skill, vision, knowledge and discipline. It's really hard to be creative EVERY day.

Things are looking better....

2009-11-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, three items are selling on ebay despite a drop in "watches" by 90%. I'm just happy they are selling at all. The great days of bidding wars are over. I starting to think I might be better off in the long run. Ebay was very expensive so a portion of my US$400 a month fees can go to advertising elsewhere. My website stats have been through the roof over the last five days. I was averaging around 200 hits a day, then suddenly over 3000 on Sunday and over 5000 on Monday. They're back to normal now.

I've finished three new bracelets, Zen, Aunt's Treasures and Illuminati. So I'll photograph now and list tonight.

For anyone who has ended up here looking for information about selling online/ebay here is another lesson.

Photographs are THE most important tool in your arsenal. Remember the adage "A picture is worth a thousand words"? Taking, cropping and enhancing photos should be a priority. May I add though, not enhancing to the point the object doesn't look anything like it does in real life. Use a tripod and a three second delay - it is the only way to get really crisp, in focus shots even in good light. Make sure the lighting is adequate but not so bright it obscures the detail. Check the ratio and dimension of images recommended by the site on which you are selling - there is nothing worse than an image which is rectangular being placed into a square "hole". When you design a web page using HTML you dictate the size of that image in the code - if you say it's going to be 400px X 800px it doesn't matter that your image is 900px X 700px, it will display according to the code. This is why you see pictures that are stretched, distorted and so blurry and pixelated you can't see anything. When I see really horrible images on ebay and etsy, blurred or even worse, taken using a SCANNER instead of a camera, I often wonder why these people don't understand why their auction didn't sell. The other image sin is not reducing the size of the image directly from the camera. Most digital camera's are at least 6 to 10 mega pixel. This means it will take a picture that is that large in data. Everyone has received a pic in an email that requires both scroll bars, horizontal and vertical, to see the whole picture. Remember how annoying that is? Also remember how long it took to download? If you don't resize and HTML code says to the image "load in 200px X 200px" you have a whopping huge pic slowly downloading into that little box. Do you want your customers to wait around while that thing loads? They won't wait - if something doesn't load within 5 seconds, most people just click elsewhere. Most camera's come with basic software that will let you: resize, compress, rotate, lighten, darken, correct some focus etc etc. Learn how to use it. If not download a free program such as Irfanview. Make great pictures (don't worry about putting the whole item in the first pic - temp them with an unusual close up) and people will click on your listing just to see them all. There endeth the lesson...

Crushed by ebay - part 1

2009-11-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't think that many people will read my trials and tribulations about trying to sell my jewelry online. But it may help someone who is thinking about trying their luck selling their wares. I've been doing this for seven years so I've learnt some lessons that nobody will tell you about. Or worse, they will charge you for the information.

The first lesson - you have to be very adaptable. I'd just found a working strategy and then ebay changed the rules again! Although I live in Perth, Western Australia, I listed on the US ebay site. Most of my customers are from the US and needless to say I paid my fees in US dollars.

So I'm back to square one in that regard. What happened? When you are selling high end, hand made charm bracelets you soon realise you are selling in a saturated market. To stand out I paid extra fees to access "featured first". It meant that most of my bracelets would appear at the top of the first search results page. Yes, expensive way to sell but it was working and I was slowing building up a reputation. Then the disaster. Ebay introduced "top seller" for larger businesses that maintained a high percentage and DSR (Detailed Seller Ratings). From now on only "top sellers" could access "featured first". I was gutted. I don't qualify for two reasons: I don't sell enough (although everything I did list sold) and my postage times had to be reduced. I'm in Australia! Usually the other side of the world to my customers! I sent out items usually the day after payment. So I don't see how I can reduce times without using a fast courier company that would cost more than the bracelet is worth.

These changes are just another way of getting rid of small (infinitesimal by ebay's standard) sellers like me. Their previous CEO said he wanted to get rid of the "fleas" I believe in reference to ebay's reputation of being a "flea market". Well I'm a flea. But up until these changes I was paying over US$400 a month in listing and final value fees. Now? Less than US$50. The problem with fleas is; one is of no concern, but if you have several hundred thousand fleas that could serious effect you. And in ebay's terms, their bottom line.

These changes will make the big get bigger. It will also screw in favour of new, mass produced, homogenised, made-in-china, stuff that you can by in any mall or shopping center thoughout the developed world. I always thought the appeal of ebay was being able to find the unusual, the handmade, the exotic, the rare and collectable. Sure there is also a lot of rubbish but as the adage goes "one man's trash is another man's treasure". I'm also hoping in the long run, the large ebay stores will become so big they will have the collective clout to bite ebay back.

So what am I doing, besides crying to my Mum. Working on my website www.steelhipdesign.com , listing on etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/steelhips , asking for help on forums - http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1316681 , twittering my issue and listings, registering on free lising sites like http://www.everyplaceisell.com/ and researching advertising costs on web sites in my niche. I would list them but I have to keep some secrets. This blog was suggested by the helpful forum at Whirlpool. I've sent my portfolio to a local art gallery, Accents, in Kings Park.

Hopefully I'll find another strategy that works. I was looking forward to having some money in my pocket for Christmas but it is now looking very grim.

That's enough rant for today - better go and work on "my great aunt's treasures" - a new bracelet.