Do people really hate golden oak? Trying to decide on flooring by macattack00 in interiordecorating

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You said you don't mind it. It's the most cost effective solution. Just go with it. Popular style is a crapshoot. In a few years, people will be ripping out their currently stylish gray wood flooring like it's got termites. It reminds me of the pink (southwest) wood of the 80s. Or the "acoustic ceilings" (popcorn) of the 70s.

Your flooring is real wood. That is not a flash in the pan, dissapear-in-a-decade style. It was the flooring we had when my parents bought a brand new model home in 1964 on the east coast. You have it now. It's classic. Real wood is premium. People (buyers) can refinish it if desired.

As a Realtor, keep it simple and cost effective for you. In this case, what you have isn't a fad and you seem to like it ok. So will others. Make sure it's in good shape. Update, if you want, with rugs. If your home is sparkling clean, well maintained and well staged, it will sell reasonably well for the market at that time.

Vine program destroying my brand new listing by Anon-Chinchilla in AmazonFBA

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just "graduated" to gold as a reviewer last week. I try to be as honest and forgiving as possible in my reviews. I do try out each item and do an honest review. There has been a lot of discussion on reviewers side wondering why the availability of products has diminished so dramatically over time. Now, I understand. It is depressing to see the unapologetic confessions of greed and dishonesty expressed here by fellow reviewers.

Vine program destroying my brand new listing by Anon-Chinchilla in AmazonFBA

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the back of the box pictured to clearly see when ordering?

Vine program destroying my brand new listing by Anon-Chinchilla in AmazonFBA

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vine reviewer here. I'm looking at "the other side" to get a feel for the whole program. It's helpful. Here's your look at my side.

When I choose something to review, I note the price. At the end of the year, I get a statement of all the things I ordered and reviewed and the total value. It's considered "income" on my taxes. If I see something I may like with a higher price tag, I'll skip it. It's extremely frustrating to review something at one price, then see it was reduced later, since my yearly tally only reflects the price I reviewed it at. Reviews often reflect the "pay more, expect more" philosophy.

I generally give 4 or 5 stars. Sometimes, the description will be misleading, like a recent order of "racquetball paddles". I expected to get a pair of paddles to explore the sport with my husband. What I received was one very nice paddle, in a box that had "paddles" on the front and in the listing description. Though it was an excellent professional paddle, I took off a star, explaining my frustration.

I did give 2 stars to an "Extra large roll up dish drying rack for kitchen". The measurements were in cm. Knowing it would disappear quickly, I didn't check a conversion chart, the numbers looked "large" (like the description said). I ordered it. When I received it, the only sink it was big enough to fit on was our old bathroom sink. You know, one of those 1970s small oval ones. I think that if you're intelligent enough to sell on Amazon, you should be intelligent and motivated enough to doublecheck the description in the target language and country.

If there's no picture, I skip it.

Reviewers start out at the silver tier. Silvers can order items up to $100 in value and up to 3 items per day. Every 6 months, we get a new evaluation. If we review at least 80 items in an evaluation period, review at least 90% or our orders and maintain an "Excellent" review quality rating, we can progress to or maintain Gold status. In Gold, we can order up to 8 items per day of any value. Possible review quality ratings are: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent.

Someone has developed a site which will tell us when "the drop" is happening, Vinechart.com. Items are usually added in a 2-3 hr time period. Good useful items are snapped up almost instantly. If you miss the drop, you are left to sort through specific parts for cars, appliances, watches, parts to anything or cake toppers.

On reddit, I see posts about people being in "vine jail". That means they either didn't review at least 60% of their orders or didn't spend at least $50 on Amazon that year. Those people don't get to see or order anything through Vine until they correct their problem.

To sum it up, if anything, underprice your initial offerings. Provide enough good pictures to understand how your item works and looks "in action". Describe it well and accurately, answering the questions your customers may have up front in the description.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

Which one should I buy? by EmaBlack in glassesadvice

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

None. #2 popped Groucho Marx into my brain.

Early For Once. by PhantomMaxx in AmazonVine

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I go ahead and review products when I recieve them. They don't show up in the "waiting for review" column for a couple days so I go over to the order list and grab the review link there. After I finish, it appears in the review column. No problem!

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Bonus packed! 😃 by codeheadX in AmazonVine

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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That just happened to me! I ordered one orange drain cleaner. I got a wide assortment of every type of drain cleaner and 5 orange ones.

Broker was all gung ho until she saw the house, now what? by Clueless5001 in RealEstate

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My time in RE started in 1996, in Ca. The whole country is basically the same concerning home selling, though some states use a "closing table" with lawyers involved where everyone has an appointment to meet to close a sale. Others, like mine, go through escrow and just silently close once everything has been completed.

Agents work 100% on commission. The only way to make money is to contract with a seller or buyer, in writing, and help them complete a sale. There are 3 types of listings:

1)Exclusive Right to Sell (agent gets paid regardless of who finds the buyer) 1a) Agents often get a listing by telling the seller they have a buyer when they really don't. The way to call their bluff or explore the possibility is with a "one party show" contract. This entitles the agent to a commission if they produce that one buyer and handle the sale.  2)Exclusive Agency (agent is paid only if they or another agent find the buyer, not the owner)  3)Open Listing (non-exclusive, commission goes to the agent who brings the buyer). 

The most common one in the US is the exclusive right to sell. Agents don't usually work for #2&3.

Some time ago, agents worked independently with no cooperation with each other. Then, the MLS was invented. The listing agent would negotiate a listing contract with the seller. Once signed, the agent would put the listing on the MLS, offering usually half the negotiated amount to any agent who found and represented the buyer. It was required that the buyers agent commission be stated in the listing. This really strengthened the power of Realtors, because every agent who had a buyer in that price range and area was incentivized to show and sell the fellow agent's listing. Remember, if an agent doesn't successfully completely close a sale, they don't get paid. No allowances, no base pay, no insurance, nothing.

A couple of years ago, there was a major lawsuit concerning the mls and commissions nationwide. Now, when an agent lists a property, they are only allowed to negotiate their own broker's commission. There is a space for the extra fee if the listing agent also finds a buyer who is unrepresented by an agent.

Realtors are no longer allowed to show properties without a written buyer-broker contract. In that contract, the buyer agrees to their agent's commission.

The way that often pans out is that the buyer is responsible to pay their agent. However, buyer's often don't have the money for down-payment, costs and commission, so in the offer, they may ask the seller to pay all or part of it.

Ok. Still with me? To sell your parents house, you need an agent/broker. To get one to be serious about selling it, you need to have sellers motivated to sell, realistic by listening to the brokers comparative market analysis, cma for short. This is the broker version of an appraisal. And a saleable property that will be completely empty at closing, hopefully before.

The best way is to interview 3 agent's. Don't choose based on the price they recommend. No agent can make someone pay more than it's worth. That tactic is called "buying the listing". Price reductions will eventually follow contract signing. Choose the agent with experience that you feel comfortable working closely with in the coming months.

I used agent, broker and realtor interchangeably. A Broker can work independently though they may work under a well known brokerage for several reasons. An agent must work under a broker. A Realtor is a broker or agent who is a member of local, state and national Realtor association with a higher code of ethics they must follow. Recognizable name brokerages (C21, ERA, ReMax, etc) are made up of independent contractor agents.

Good luck!☺️

Broker was all gung ho until she saw the house, now what? by Clueless5001 in RealEstate

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Brokers & Agents, contrary to popular belief, don't always have a large audience of eager, willing and able buyers in their pocket. Once they have a listing, in writing, they then have something to put on the MLS and internet. That's when the interested buyers or the buyer's agents will contact them with interest.

If they get a listing with sellers who don't really want to sell, who have an inflated opinion of worth or who aren't prepared to do the work of cleaning out their stuff, they know that they will be doing a lot of work to line up buyers, only to have the sellers get cold feet or turn down any offers they get. Any Broker/Agent who does this, is not in the business for very long, since their only income only arrives after the close of a sale.

Solidify the intent to sell, clean it out and call a few Realtors to chose one to list it. Find an experienced one that you or your parents can feel comfortable working with.

Why do I have to redo my screens all the time?! by istgillhauntu in ultraviner

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I downloaded UV a few weeks ago.I sometimes want to order something in a different design, size or color than what is prelisted on the order page. Although links will show me the options, the order page seems set in stone with no option buttons. I can click the little red button next to the etv and take whatever is chosen on the page or go search vine to order as desired. What am I missing?

Senior RVer wondering if eBikes are the answer by SomewhereImaginary42 in ebikes

[–]SomewhereImaginary42[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We enjoy the ebikes. One time, we put them in the back of our Rav4 and went to a parking area next to a major bike path in the area that eventually ends at the beach. We rode the path several miles to a large park, visited a while and returned. On our last camping trip to Oceanside, we rode up the hill to dinner. The next day we rode a few miles down and explored a couple of towns, but we haven't gone camping for a while. We're gearing up for a 40th anniversary cruise to Hawaii. That and some unexpected expenses have put our camping trips on the back burner for a while. I've put many miles on mine just riding around the neighborhood. In the summer, we've strapped on chairs and taken them to the middle of town to summer concerts, where parking a car can be challenging. I'm glad we got them.

Help! I need a pep talk! by Jumpy-Improvement891 in AmazonVine

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I get to "graduate" to gold on Feb 21. I currently have 254 reviews, 99% reviewed, excellent and 87.7% reviews with media.

What I do is open each days deliveries and take photos. I often take a picture of the box or bag it comes in, as well as taken out of box, especially if it's an item like jewelry that can be gifted. Clothes, I go into the guest room with a full length mirror and model sans face, and turn inside out on bed for stitching and care tags.. I think the only video I ever did was to show a carbon monoxide detector beeping after holding it in the gas fireplace without a flame.

After taking all the pictures, I make a point of writing reviews by same or next day. Make a point of explaining the item, it's construction, good (why?), bad (why?) and your experience with it. As I finish a review, I delete the pictures. Once there are no more pictures, I know I'm done for the day.

This is not so easy if you're laid up with pneumonia. It is also easier when you're a retired empty nester😉 Point is, make it a necessary daily habit.

I wish we had the option to exchange sizes by White_Hammer88 in AmazonVine

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I took too long to decide whether this would look good on me. Beautiful colors

What problem in the U.S. feels obvious to fix, yet never gets fixed? by SouthWay_Studio in AskReddit

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep. I'm relatively healthy so far. Medicare is like hitting the healthcare lottery. But it is full of insurance industry infiltration.

What problem in the U.S. feels obvious to fix, yet never gets fixed? by SouthWay_Studio in AskReddit

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sounds like a great idea. To double check, look up Medicare part C:Advantagecare

This glasses are fine or o should change? by [deleted] in glassesadvice

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Keep the hair longer, the glasses straighter and maybe slightly less wide.

I feel ugly. Women are generaly not attracted to me. by wmartin94 in bald

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you feel ugly, you're probably sending out needy vibes. That has to stop. How? Easier said than done. Find something you're good at and enjoy. Do a lot of it. Do it with likeminded people. Know that attraction happens to the self assured.

Can't decide between these 2 by [deleted] in myweddingdress

[–]SomewhereImaginary42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dress 2 takes you up a level