Last week I wrote, almost proudly, about running three separate eBay shops.
A few days later, one of them was gone.
That might sound chaotic on the surface, but it’s actually the opposite
It’s the result of doing the unglamorous work: looking at the numbers, accounting properly for time and effort, and being willing to undo things that no longer make sense.
Closing something that wasn’t broken, but wasn’t working
Weekend Golfers on eBay wasn’t failing in the obvious way.
- Items sold.
- Feedback was good.
From the outside, it looked fine.
When I sat down and looked at the business as a whole:
- revenue
- gross profit
- time spent
- subscriptions
- mental load
it became clear that the eBay side of Weekend Golfers was quietly loss‑making.
Not dramatically. Not catastrophically. But enough that it didn’t deserve to continue.
That distinction matters.
I didn’t close it because it was embarrassing or broken. I closed it because, once fully costed, it didn’t earn the right to exist.
The rule I keep coming back to
I’m not attached to structures. I’m attached to reality.
If something looked sensible when I set it up, and new information later shows it isn’t, then the sensible move is to change it.
- Quickly
- Cleanly
- Without drama.
That’s why:
- the Weekend Golfers eBay shop was closed
- the subscription costs tied to it were ended
- physical listings were migrated elsewhere
- the brand itself was freed up to do a different job
No rebrand theatre. No limping on out of pride.
Execution to the minimum required (but no less)
I have a strong bias toward doing the least work that still produces a good outcome.
That doesn’t mean cutting corners. It means:
- no duplicated systems unless forced
- no new platforms unless an asset demands one
- no optimisation before evidence
When I needed a new distribution point for digital and reference assets, I didn’t build a site, write a manifesto, or design a funnel.
I repurposed what already existed.
Goodbye Weekend Golfers, hello The Reference Library
The old WG eBay account is now The Reference Library.
It has a single, narrow job: to distribute finite reference assets in a way that works for eBay‑native buyers and complies with eBay’s rules.
- No coaching promises.
- No subscriptions.
- No ongoing programmes.
Just:
- reference materials
- image collections
- access delivered by post, either via letter or USB
It’s boring. It’s legible. And it does exactly what it needs to do.
What didn’t change
What’s interesting to me is how much didn’t need changing.
The assets themselves didn’t need rebuilding. The thinking didn’t need reframing. Even the name change was incremental rather than symbolic.
This wasn’t a pivot. It was a correction.
A note on pride and reversibility
I’m not embarrassed that I announced a three‑shop setup and then closed one a week later.
If anything, I’d be more concerned if I didn’t.
I try to work in a way where:
- decisions are reversible where possible
- structures are provisional
- pride doesn’t outrank evidence
That’s not indecision. It’s respect for feedback.
Where this leaves things
Right now:
- physical goods live where they make economic sense
- digital and reference assets have a clear, calm home
- subscriptions are reduced
- complexity is lower than it was two weeks ago
That’s a good outcome.
The goal isn’t to look consistent. It’s to build things that hold up under scrutiny.
And sometimes that means saying goodbye to something you were quite pleased with last week.
