Disappointed or resigned? That's the question for Red Sox baseball fans this weekend after the team lost an exciting series with the Yankees in a battle for a chance to head to the World Series. I was swept up in the excitement (I'm what is technically termed a "fair weather fan"), and it was exciting to see the home team perform so well. As we say in Boston, "Wait 'til next year."
On Friday, I went to two sites linked to from two different trusted sources, and I got a ton of pop-ups and a request for Gator to download their intrusive software on my computer. I will try to do my best to keep from linking to any annoying sites like that. Kim Pierce wrote about a program called AdAware in one of his articles http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y202/m02/abu0064/s02, and I find it enormously useful to rid my computer of those horrible sypware programs.
I was thinking that I have a pretty cushy job. I work from home, I don't have a boss, and I enjoy what I do. For a fairly sedentary profession, however, this job is surprisingly tough on the body. Writing for hours at a time has given me bouts of carpal tunnel, sitting in an office chair plays havoc with my back (it's not old age, is it? bah!), and staring at a monitor all day has resulted in 20/200 vision.
I've been told (even my keyboard warns) to take frequent short breaks, relax the shoulders, etc., when working on the computer. I found a site with some exercises that I'm going to try: http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/everyday_yoga.html.
I suppose every profession has its hazards, which makes me wonder what the pitfalls are for a "career" online-auction user? Aside from the computer-related ailments I've already mentioned, online sellers should be wary of contracting the following maladies:
Dumpster-crush: An often fatal occurrence that primarily befalls online sellers who have leaned too far into trash dumpsters, looking for free packing material.
Snipe-itis: Warped fingers and hoarse voice from trying to place last-second bids on auctions with multiple windows open while yelling when the computer freezes or the connection goes down.
Postal Limbs: A condition that causes the arms to stretch, and the legs to get shorter from carrying too many packages at one time into the Post Office. Can eventually lead to abrasions on the knuckles from dragging them along the ground.
Email Brain Freeze: A sharp, sudden pain between the eyebrows when trying to decipher emails from trading partners in which grammar, time and common sense are unknown concepts. (Can also be accompanied by loss of hair resulting from uncontrollable yanking)
Credit card chargebacks are another hazard of the trade. Even if you don't have a merchant account, if you accept PayPal, you should be aware you could end up with a chargeback. Izzy Goodman and I tackle the issue of chargebacks in two separate articles today, one dealing specifically with PayPal chargebacks and one for merchant account chargebacks.
It's worth paying attention to - if you are selling online, you are considered a business and should familiarize yourself with some of the risks you face.
Thanks for reading.
About the author:
Ina Steiner is Editor of AuctionBytes.com and author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). She has a background in marketing and research in the high-tech and publishing fields. If you have story ideas, comments or questions, send them to ina@auctionbytes.com.
You may quote up to 200 words of any article on the condition that you attribute the article to AuctionBytes.com and either link to the original article or to www.AuctionBytes.com. All other use is prohibited.
