Death of a Blogshop, and the Birth of Carousell

And so I made my last blogshop transaction in April 2014, when my long-time supplier's business went bust. I tried to source for others, but no one offered me the variety of goods or prompt service which I once enjoyed. And so, very quietly, the blogshop died... after 6.5 years of a pretty good run.

Beauty Personified first started as a batch of listings on my Yahoo Auctions account. There I met my first group of supporters, who followed me onto the blogspot platform when Yahoo Auctions died suddenly in mid 2008. The business prospered quickly, doubling profits for the first 3 years from $1000+ to $2000+, then to $4000+. It peaked at over $6800 at $2010, before declining yearly back to the figures from the initial 3 years. I didn't even dare to count the profits in its final days of death.

But rather than to lament its steady decline, I choose to celebrate that it did happen, and it helped give me extra pocket money where other investments have done badly. It has helped fund my trips to various places, and I did truly enjoy my work on it though it meant many hours on the website cropping, posting, and updating posts.

Post-blogshop, I've found new solace in another online buying/selling platform, called Carousell. It supplements my existing presence on Gumtree, Adpasar and StClassifieds (in order of effectiveness). The last 2 websites have yet to do much for me, but since they are free I'll copy and paste my data on them anyway. Nothing to lose. Others online sales websites like Cannla or Olx have died just like Yahoo Auctions, and proved to be a waste of time. Others like Qoo and Ebay want too much info or money from me so I give those a pass too.

Over the last few months, I'm very happy to get rid of many items who have been accumulating in my cupboards, which are in great condition but I know will never see the light of day again. Truth is, everything you are storing has a money value. But unless you use it, it's has zero value but it takes up space in your storage. Carousell and Gumtree have been great in helping me clear the junk, and I've sold about 20+ items this year. I've been so successful that even my family members have given me their junk to help sell, and I've had some success doing that too.

Ryan Looks like Simon Baker

Scene on rail to airport yest. 

Mom: spell Car

Boy: S-P-E. 

Mom: spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Boy: S-P-E. 

Mom: spell Ryan

Boy: R-Y-A-N

Mom looks impressed. 

Mom: spell I Love You

Boy: S-P-E. (Pause) N!

Mom(laughs): Spen? (Turns to her friend next to her) You have to hear this. Ryan, what's it's like to be a 4 year old?

Boy: Its TOUGH being a 4 year old.... What else should I spell?

Mom: We are going to play the quiet game now. 

Ryan keeps quiet for 30sec then goes on repeat mode spelling SPE...

Mickey would be Happy to Know

Scene at The Disney Store at Times Square. 

Me: "Where's the washroom?"

Staff: "Up the magic carpet and turn right."

Me:"The what?"

Staff (points to escalator): "The magic carpet!"

Me: "Erm, ok."

I go up to level 2 and am still lost. Goes to staff no. 2. 

Me: "Where's the washroom?"

Staff (points to a corner passage): "Down the rabbit hole!"

I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. 

I exit toilet and browse the merchandise. 

Staff no. 3 comes along: "How are we doing in fairy land today?"

Me: "..."

Disney staff really 中毒很深.