How to sell on eBay

I'm no expert on eBay selling, but  if something, say yarn, doesn't sell at $14.99, nor at $12.99, and there's still no bids at $9.99, increasing the minimum bid back up to $12.99 seems counter-productive. I had decided to place a bid on the yarn at $9.99, maybe even both lots, but when I saw that the seller increased the minimum bid, took both items off by watch list. Good luck with that.

I also wonder how some people set their prices. Some of the yarns are so over-priced as to be ridiculous. If I can buy what you're selling at Big Lots for a much better price, why wouldn't I?  I know that there are Dazzle Aire fans who'll push up the prices on it, but most acrylic yarn isn't that distinctive. You may think that just because your Wintuk is old that it is valuable, but it's not.

"I support small business"

I am sick of the politicians and their "I support small business", as if "businessmen" are the only people we should care about. Consider this: a small business, IIRC, is generally considered to be one with 2 to 50 employees. That means that roughly 67 to 98% of people associated with "small business" are employees, not owners. So who really benefits from the politicians promises to support small business? The owners, of course. And what does supporting small business mean? Getting rid of any regulation that hampers the owners' ability to make more money, even at the detriment to their employees?

Then's there's the fantasy that lowering the tax rates on the highest earners will somehow create more jobs. Studies have shown that this is not true, but the Republicans continue to shove it down our throats, perhaps thinking if they say it often enough, it will come true, or enough people will believe it, voting them into office so they can cut the taxes on millionaires like Romney. The same Romney who claimed his show horse as a business expense. I guess since he's trying to sell the American people horseshit, it is a business expense.

Baby Aran Cardigan

Just finished a baby Aran cardigan from a pattern I got at the knitting-and-crochet site-that-shall-not-be-named.

I made it with  unknown acrylic yarn I bought at Goodwill ( I lost the labels). Judging by the colors, I'm guessing it's from the 70's. The original pattern called for a bobble and cable stitch that I really didn't like for several reasons: bobbles eat up yarn and I only had two skeins with NO chance of finding a third; babies lying on their backs will also be lying right on those bobbles; I tried them for the front and didn't like how mine turned out. So I substituted braided cables on the front and trinity stitch on the back. I also inserted a row of eyelets for an I-cord drawstring on the sleeves.

It will be my entry for child's cardigan, knitted.

Hallowe'en rules

There should be rules for Hallowe'en trick-or-treaters. These are mine:

1. No costume=no candy. If you're "too old" or "too cool" to wear a costume, then you're "too old/cool" to go trick-or-treating. Also, asking for candy when you're not in costume isn't trick-or-treating, it's begging, and there's a law against panhandling.

2. Don't ask for extra candy for your little sister/brother/whoever who was "too sick" to go trick-or-treating. Let this be a learning moment: either you learn to share or the invalid learns to suck it up when necessary.

3. If you're too young to eat the candy, you're too young to show up on my doorstep with your mom/dad/grandparents asking for the candy.

4. The candy is free to you, but not to me. Making nasty remarks about said candy within earshot of the person who spent money on it is rude. Next year, there may be no candy for you to complain about.

Have a Happy Hallowe'en!