October 16, 2024

It’s Been A While.

Since my last post, things have changed. My life and family in Oregon are no longer family. I ended up back in New Jersey in the Summer of 2023 with my family. 20 Years in the wild west came to an end, now in the mild east, with a new metal leg after a much needed operation and a better health prospect. If I stayed out there, I’d be dead. I’m here now, and after reeling from all the turmoil, I’m getting back into art. I love photography, hence this blog for so many years. The passion to find the hidden forgotten is not dead. Some shots from yesterday.

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in canon, new jersey

September 17, 2019

RAD MAX!

It has been a seriously long time since I’ve done a band shoot. I am lucky enough to know these folks; Rad Max! After a brutal workday, the Canon 6D got dusted off, the 20mm and 50mm along with a couple cheap ass strobes (YongNuo 3’s) hit Portland’s Clinton Street Theater. What an awesome group to work with and a killer place to shoot. Naturally, one of those cheap ass strobes crapped out so single flash bounce was the option. Check out a couple pics

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in 20mm, digital photography

September 16, 2018

Crescent Lake in September

Taking I5 south from Portland to Eugene is a burn. Passing countless outlet malls, scenic wineries, the government seat and a very vintage theme park brings you to the crossing point. Highway 58 cuts east over the Cascades, past gorgeous forest lands that evolve from a thick Douglass Fir tangle along the water into an arid, Ponderosa Pine plateau shortly after crossing Willamette Pass at 5100′. We spent a couple days here, at Crescent Lake the first week after Labor Day. I packed my comfort meal, the Canon 6D, Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens, the EF 20mm f2.8. I pressed the shutter button a few times.

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in digital photography

April 13, 2018

Tierra Del Mar, X-E1 & 7Artisans – Black and White Photography

Recently I picked up a Fujifilm X-E1 digital camera on Craigslist here in PDX for a great price. I have been casually shooting the Sony NEX 3N for about 2 years and wanted a similar sized body but with the controls and styling that the X series was offering so this was my jumping point. Since the budget was dependent on unloading the Sony setup I decided to run with the 7Artisans 25mm f1.8. This manual focus lens is really competitively priced (under $100 USD) and is generally appealing feature wise. Knowing we were headed to the coast for a few days, this would be my kit and a solid…

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in black and white, camera, digital photography, fuji, fujifilm, oregon, Oregon Coast, photography

April 10, 2018

2018 Update

It’s been almost a year since I’ve posted some content here and after some time away I’ve come back to this place. For a couple years, I’ve focused heavily on turning my blog into an information share about my thrifting and flipping endeavors and I’m over it. I’ve been selling old stuff at flea markets and online since I was a kid. The last two years have been a fun experiment in documenting my trials online however when it comes down to it nobody is coming here for that content and the idea of producing more content on the subject makes me mildly ill. I am sure the flipping community…

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in online sales, photography

April 19, 2017

1 Dollar Per Day Etsy Promotions Results

As promised, here are my results from the last month using Etsy’s promoted listings feature capped at 1 dollar per day. Sadly, I have no benchmark to run this against other than “likes” and actual sales. Sales were up for me just a tad bringing in 3 more than in the prior month. Likes were tremendous however, if you want people to “like” your products and you’re willing to pay for it; Etsy Promoted Listings is a must. I generally get 3-10 likes per day as opposed to less than that a week before this experiment. One odd thing did happen during this time period however that is worth noting….

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in ecommerce, online sales

March 7, 2017

Etsy Promotions Experiment

Since March has been a sluggish sales month so far, I decided today to start a Promoted Listings campaign on Etsy. Check back in April for a monthly sales report and ROI on this new campaign!

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in ecommerce, online sales

February 24, 2017

1 Year Later

It’s been a little over a year since I decided to actually pay attention to my hobby business and the results are in. I’ve been on and off flipping thrift store stuff since I was a teenager (35 now). With the encouragement of a good friend, I decided to make 2016 my benchmark. Financially, Etsy, my newest channel saw the most dramatic growth at roughly 500% YOY for January. Ebay is up roughly 20% YOY for January. One metric that I regret not tracking is listing count at the beginning and end of the month. Focusing on getting more listings up every week drove the annual growth of both platforms…

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in ebay, ecommerce, online sales

August 26, 2016

Setting Your Ebay Store on Vacation & Handling Times

It has been some time since my last post but this one hit home for me recently and pretty hard. I’ve been selling casually on eBay for 15 years. In 2016 I decided to formalize my effort with eBay and Etsy to make a solid stream of side income and so far in 2016, things have been going great. I’m paying for an eBay basic store subscription and have had one in the past, it works out OK, I’m a Top Rated Powerseller and make the most of the FVF credits/discounts and the USPS Shipping discount (this actually helps my business model to exist). So, we’re 8 months into 2016 and…

Read more

written by jhawthorne - Posted in digital photography, ebay, ecommerce, maritime, online sales, photography, tillamook county