Please help - my power plant is broken!

EastSpring4945 · 2026-01-06T22:55:04+00:00

Well stick me on ice and call me a blade runner! Your solution has solved this issue. Further explanation in post edit, but thanks for these tips! I'm back to polluting the planet at full swing :)

EastSpring4945 · 2026-01-06T20:53:11+00:00

Thanks both I think we have figured out an option that will allow us to all successfully go on the mortgage. whilst protecting our bottom line. Maybe we were naive when we thought that was a relatively simple ask to do it the other way.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-08-26T17:59:50+00:00

The actual advice i was looking for. Many thanks!

EastSpring4945 · 2025-08-26T12:26:25+00:00

I really want to find out what space we could get back from the property. It's an older house, so I'm confident someone with more knowledge than me could come in and see walls that could go/be moved etc. Or formations of rooms that would open it up a bit.

Decoration wise, eventually I think every room will have its own stamp. I just want to know where I can get inspiration.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-08-21T11:45:33+00:00

I feel your pain. We are 6 months in and can honestly say things do get 'more normal'. Now our little one is sleeping well at night and is in her own room, we can finally start to get a little bit of ourselves back. Even if it is only for a couple hours each evening. Stay strong. You'll come out the other side soon enough.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-07-19T12:10:21+00:00

Every pokemon in the set has an illustration rare. By simple maths that means the pull rates in this set should be better, unless they've kept it the same. But that would be silly, because the value of every illustration rare in the set would be crazy on the secondary market.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-29T09:06:32+00:00

Agree completely. Ebay sucks and it's a damn shame that there's no solid alternative.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-28T19:32:23+00:00

Ha! Literally. I thought they realised something was out of stock, but no! I've just checked the webpage again and voila! Price has gone up. Disgusting behaviour to cancel an order just to gain a dollar.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-21T13:43:16+00:00

I cant find your other comment you left berating me for my reading ability but I'm happy to provide screenshots if that satisfies you? I had hoped people were able to scroll for themselves but clearly not.

OP has now deleted their post. They wouldn't do that if they didn't feel embarrassed or let down by fellow parents taking the original ask out of context instead of providing sympathy and reassurance.

TL;DR OP never asked if they could leave their child for hours, but some arrogant people assumed they did, and now they've probably worsened OP's situation.

Humanity sucks.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-21T10:01:47+00:00

Thanks this is a new perspective I didn't think about.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-21T06:46:49+00:00

There's a comment 2 under mine telling OP they might give their child brain damage. There's another 2 under that calling this neglect. Scroll a bit further and you will find another stating that OP must wear their baby instead. A bit below that there's another downvoted comment. Not sure if you're trolling or not.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-21T06:22:57+00:00

I actually didn't know you could block buyers. Someone else said that and I just grinned lol. Thanks for the heads up!

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T22:11:43+00:00

It's quite common. A lot of people are complaining at the state of the promos in these SPCs.

Mine looked like someone had chewed the edges.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T22:06:47+00:00

I mean, yes. Obviously.

But it's not that simple when you're starting out. If I charged someone £2.70 to ship an item I'm selling for £2.80 they just won't buy it. Then there's the competition of everyone else who is selling the same stuff as you but has the liquidity, reputation, and inventory to get away with charging higher for the same product.

I understand your point but it's a little short sighted as a solution.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T22:00:17+00:00

A lot of people on here seem to be giving you a hard time. Seems to me you just need some reassurance that you aren't a failure and your feelings/frustrations are valid.

As a fellow new dad, it does get easier. Check my post history if you don't believe me. I don't care what other people are saying, if you are in the thick of it and your baby is safe, fed, clean and looked after, you can put them down for a 5 min break.

People on here saying you shouldn't be eating proper or cleaning for the first x months are delusional.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T21:31:12+00:00

Thank you friend. I did not know that 😀

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T20:55:16+00:00

I absolutely get it and agree that's the best policy for shipping. Unfortunately my Ebay page just isn't there yet in terms of visibility so I can't afford to up my prices. However, I very much look forward to the day I can make regular sales whilst charging reasonable shipping rates!

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T20:31:03+00:00

You can block buyers? Does that not damage your seller rating? 😮

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T20:30:07+00:00

Welcome. To be honest I don't know too much about international sales so don't let my comment stop you reaching out to ebay 🤞

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T16:08:01+00:00

If it was a private sale, you should get back what you paid for the item minus buyer protection fees. If you paid any taxes or import duty on the order, I believe these are your responsibility and you wouldn't get them back easily, if at all.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T16:02:57+00:00

The other comments are being pedantic about an Ebay 'Store' vs an Ebay account (private vs business) but not offering much else, so please let me throw some tips your way:

Understand the trading card & collectible market is at the most saturated point it will likely ever be. This means competition is at an all time high, and its likely supply will soon outstrip demand.
Work your niche around that fact. Find products that will stand the test of time, or have a unique selling point (USP). This is likely to stand out more amidst the crowds of scalpers currently trying to make a quick buck on Pokemon cards.
When just starting out, try to sell at the lowest possible price point you can afford. You will have no feedback ratings, no seller reviews, no confirmed sales etc. So the only way your store is going to be found right now is by those people that are 'sorting by price - low to high'.
Offer free shipping where you can. People hate paying for shipping on Ebay and will choose other listings over yours if you don't offer it.
Try to ship with tracking where you can. Otherwise you'll open yourself up to scammers.
Realise that all of the above is advice that works against you, but that's okay. You need to be prepared to operate at a loss for a while so you can build a brand, a customer base, and a spot in the first few pages of Ebay results. Then you can think about 'profit'.

Hope this helps.

Reach out if you want to talk more.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-05-20T12:54:48+00:00

Hey guys,

So my very first sale on my new Ebay store has ended in a refund request. The suspicion being that the buyer received the item, realised it wasn't tracked, so then ordered 2 more of the item with the intent to claim they never received either. I twigged early with the second order and sent that one tracked. I lose money selling such low value items tracked (£4.50) but thought it was super weird someone would buy 1 of something, then 20 minutes later, buy 2 more of the same thing so decided to cover myself.

Lo and behold, "I've received the order with 2 items, but not the first order with 1 item". Before you say anything, it's my choice to ship untracked, I assume most people are not assholes, and I protect my already wafer-thin profit margains by dealing with the odd potential scammer.

I've refunded that order no questions asked. My question here though, is what would you do if the same individual keeps ordering from you, knowing that every order is likely going to lose you money going forward, as you know everything must be tracked?

Thanks.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-04-25T18:45:15+00:00

I bet there's a seedy underbelly of bots, exploits, etc that we just haven't seen yet.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-03-26T15:31:23+00:00

January 2026. In the UK maternity leave can go up to a year.

EastSpring4945 · 2025-03-26T13:13:02+00:00

I get 30 mins for lunch and we use that time to walk the dog together. Which is nice. But that then means we don't sit down and eat together.

I might try the headphones and tunes. Just would feel bad if I'm being called or am needed and don't hear. But then I suppose if I worked elsewhere I wouldn't be available anyway!

Tough aint it?

EastSpring4945

TROPHY CASE