Pimp My Hundred Bucks - Part Twenty
The islands of my fortune lay on the distant horizon; I’m so close except I brought a rocking horse instead of a boat!
At least that’s how it feels. In all great exploits one reaches the point where you just want to get it over and done with, partly because you have other things you want to do and partly because boredom is stimulating your yawn glands!
As you know about six months ago I set myself the arduous task of transforming $100 into $500 no matter how long it took. The vehicle for my journey was Trademe, the Kiwi equivalent of eBay, on which I would list old books I scored from various op-shops for bargain prices. I started this series with just over a hundred books left over from my last series; I now have just over 350 listed.
Last week I complained about the sad fact that listing fees, success fees and the acquisition of new books to sell left me with a profit the size of a tooth pick in a cocktail sausage, nevertheless I am determined to continue until I reach the end of that sausage!
After reading my depressing diatribe of self pity last week a friend asked me why I don’t stop buying new stock and just focus on listing the stock I already have…
Well, at the time I couldn’t really answer beyond the fact that temptation had got the better of me one morning when I walked into my local op-shop and came out with a bag full of Maeve Binchey among other things, I just couldn’t help myself! But as this week has gone by I’ve realized that there is a far deeper and perhaps metaphysical aspect as to why I can’t bring myself to stop buying new stock to list…
You see I’ve noticed a sort of Universal Law at work as I’ve gone along with this challenge, kind of similar to the notion that you reap what you sow in life, and it’s the idea that hard work creates wealth, as the old Proverb goes, “In all toil there is profit…” You might not agree with that but let me explain how the principle relates to me…
Over the past six months there have been weeks where I’ve had a lot of stock to list, while there have been other weeks where I haven’t and then there have been weeks where I simply couldn’t be bothered listing anything at all…
What I have observed is that on the weeks where I consistently listed say ten or so books a day I seemed to make more than on the weeks where I just let go and did as little as possible. So for me the sharpened axiom is very true, and so is this – “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest , and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.”
(I used to think that was, “like a one armed man” It would make me think of Doctor Richard Kimble from the Fugitive for some reason… maybe that’s why I remembered it… funny how one’s mind works!)
So last week I boasted 23 sales, and last week I was listing like a crazy man. Then this week came along and sat on top of me. Due to a change in my usual roster at my day job I found myself a wee bit bereft of time and desire to run with this and my sales have definitely reflected my missing diligence!
This week I sold 10 titles:
When the Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith - $6
Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason by that lady whose name I can’t recall - $6
Bodyguard of Lightning by Stan Nicholls - $4
No Mercy by Colin Forbes - $6
The Love Acadamy by Belinda Jones - $3
Stark by Ben Elton - $4
Wabi by Joseph Bruhac - $4
This Other Eden by Ben Elton - $3
Sundiver by David Brin - $4
The Business by Ianin M. Banks - $4
Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason by that lady whose name I can’t recall - $6
Bodyguard of Lightning by Stan Nicholls - $4
No Mercy by Colin Forbes - $6
The Love Acadamy by Belinda Jones - $3
Stark by Ben Elton - $4
Wabi by Joseph Bruhac - $4
This Other Eden by Ben Elton - $3
Sundiver by David Brin - $4
The Business by Ianin M. Banks - $4
Making me $49 which, after being chopped and diced in the kitchen of my weekly expenses, leaves me with a total of $390.84 – only $109.16 to go until I can close the fridge on this one!
You’ll have to excuse me if you’ve sensed my impatience, but please don’t mistake my attitude. My angle for wanting to break free of this project is so I can move onto my next, something I can’t stop thinking about, but I’m not going to tell you about it just yet because when the time comes I’ll have nothing to write about!
On a different note I’ve been adding to my little side project, The Cleverly Devised Poetical Dictionary of Difficult Words, which is my attempt at taking the boring out of the English Dictionary. I’m hoping it will also play a role in How to Turn $500 into $1000… oops I’ve said too much already… pretend you never read that…
I’ve also kept up with my appearances in the old Trademe forum and I hit on a winner when I started a thread entitled, “What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done.” If you can ignore the rude ones (as I’ve had no control over what some people have written) I think you will find some of these absolutely tear jerking, that is your laughter will jerk the tears right out of your face! Check it out here if you are within Australia or New Zealand, sorry to everyone else (which I’m afraid is most of you)!
Finally, I think there might be something wrong with that “Like” button down there on the bottom right of this post, would you mind clicking on it for me? (I’m kidding of course, I just wanted you to click on it.. I’m a lousy liar!)
Click Here if you would like to follow my progress on Facebook!
Click Here to read this series from the beginning!
Click Here to read my awesome last series, Pimp My Twenty Bucks
Click Here to view my Trademe Listings
For some great money related articles please visit workingathomeinternet.com for some great monetary wisdom... see you there!
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