i feel like it’s important to note that this is against the ebay seller agreement, and though ebay does nothing about it if you report it after the fact, leaving feedback with a statement like “this seller drop shipped the item via amazon” helps other shoppers.

generally, though, it’s getting easier to tell: higher volume (we’re talking 1k or higher, usually) of feedback with less than ~97% positive feedback, is a good first indication of some kind of reseller/dropshipper.

personally, i started shopping on ebay to avoid amazon, so it’s a supreme annoyance to have something drop-shipped or gift-shipped through them. I get why some sellers do it, but that doesn’t make it right.

as an ex-IT currently working at Lowes, they don’t really give a shit about your qualifications, and probably won’t even ask. passing the drug test and background check is about the only qualifications that matter to them.

we can leave your friends behind!

someone the other day posted a link to CT Fletcher talking about willpower and in that video he says something that resonates with me here (and I’m paraphrasing): when you do your best, it’s never a failure, it’s a victory. because you did your best. that you didn’t achieve some (possibly unattainable) goal is irrelevant, because the success is determined by the efforts you made. (and there are MANY ways to interpret those wise words and make them applicable to yourself).

as a single father, i’m constantly struggling with similar thoughts you describe. I often feel like i’m struggling to just survive. but when I see that my kid is happy, and that he’s following my advice (like: ‘never be afraid to speak your mind’ and ‘cleaning your room makes your life better’, etc) and I realize that yeah I’m absolutely doing the best for him that I can, then the whole rest of this shit sandwich doesn’t suck so bad.

there are many measures of wealth, and only ONE of them is by how many dollars are in your pocket. collect those smiles and those ‘i love you, dad’ and they’ll keep you going when money won’t.

pretty sure the venn diagram of f-droid users and adblocking users is such a huge overlap that this may not pay off too well.