USPS Abuse, Whatnot Jail, Needed Integrity & Communication — Episode 90

https://linktr.ee/KarriKennedy

USPS Abuse, Whatnot Jail, and Buyer Frustration is a deep conversation about professionalism, buyer trust, communication, accountability, and the growing loss of real human interaction across online selling platforms. From USPS supply abuse and broken shipping disasters to automated moderation, anonymous reporting, giveaway penalties, and silent one-star reviews, this episode pulls together the bigger picture behind what happens when integrity and communication start disappearing from a marketplace community. This is an honest discussion from the perspective of a longtime seller who genuinely wants buyers, sellers, and the platform itself to do better.

#WhyNotWhatnot #KarriKennedy #Whatnot #WhatnotSeller #ResellerCommunity #OnlineSelling #USPS #ShippingProblems #BuyerTrust #SellerStandards #Professionalism #SmallBusiness #LiveSelling #Reseller #WhatnotCommunity #PackagingMatters #CustomerExperience #SellerSupport #Communication #Integrity #Podcast #ResellerPodcast #WhatnotJail #Shipping #Ecommerce #SmallBusinessOwner

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey there guys. I hope everybody is doing really well. Uh this is going to be about USPS, mailing abuse, what people are doing wrong. It's gonna be a little bit about whatnot jail and just buyer and seller frustration. And hopefully throughout the whole thing, you will realize that there is an overarching uh theme of integrity, communication, and just a desire to make whatnot better. So that is what we're talking about today. I have a 46 on my sleep schedule, on my sleep number. Uh, I have a Fitbit and I was up in the middle of the night working on this one because I could not sleep. Um, and I'm I'm getting ready to go to camp on Sunday, and I actually think I'm gonna cancel my show this morning just because I definitely bit off more than I could chew with my house and all the shows and packing, and I just I yeah, too much. You live and you learn. I definitely have to pace myself. I am not going to be a one day a week, I mean like five days a week, you know, doing shows constantly um like that. I just I cannot I cannot swing it. I just can't. Um, on top of that, just on a very personal note before I really get started in this, um, I've had cancer, breast cancer twice, 16 years ago, then seven years ago, and they're saying it's back again in my blood work six months ago, and they tried to figure out, you know, it's like whack-a-mole trying to figure out where it is now because it's not in that breast. Um, that breast was removed the last time. And so they know cancer's in my body, and we're just trying to figure it out. Um, but in a nutshell, it's probably bone or brain, is what they said. Um, and so I went in on Tuesday morning uh or so, and then the blood work comes back. The results are at four o'clock today. Uh, so if anybody wants to say a prayer about that, that's just kind of overlooming my day. I've got my assistant coming for a few hours today. I have a housekeeper coming, and then I've got the blood work and maybe a show, and it's just go, go, go. So um, I, you know, I've told you guys this in other episodes. It's you gotta do what's right for you. And uh, you can't bend over backwards constantly for whatnot because you know, you're spinning so many plates, something's bound to fall and break. And uh, so it is what it is. And I'm going out of town for two weeks, so I'm super, super excited. I really need this break. Just so relieved to be going. Anyways, okay, back to the where we're at. Okay, so I need to talk about what's been really driving me insane lately and how I was extremely I hate the psychology word of triggered, but it really does fit so apropos in this situation. Um, I was very triggered right before I was going on my show yesterday morning, and um my my kid hated and just he was cracking up because we had 70 people in there and I just did a community show. I I gave it about a fourth of a second. Like I didn't load anything, nothing. And I just said showed a picture of the box of boxes from the USPS and a bunch of the um envelopes, the padded envelopes. And I was opening that before the show and seeing what was in it, you know, just cleaning up my mail, and it was my kid was helping me, and it was just box after box. We counted, it was like 15 boxes, uh, the small ones that you kind of put stuff inside of, and then five of the padded things. They just put them at the bottom as extra padding to make it better. And um, I lost it. I was like, I'm so sick of this, this is ridiculous. And it hit even more because I'm in whatnot jail right now for something so minor and insignificant for 180 days, which is not a little slap on the wrist. I'll get to that in a minute. But because of all that, I was like, you gotta be kidding. So I did a community show and I explained it. 70 people were in there, everybody was talking. Some people were like, I don't see what the big deal is, but most people were like, that's ridiculous, that's horrible, that's awful. And I was just, I was ranting. I even used cuss words, and I don't usually do that, but I was like really irritated by it. Um, anyways, that was only like 10 minutes, and then I got off and I went back to my show and do to do to do back to 22 people in the room because I'm being penalized by whatnot. We'll get to that in a minute. Um, but after I did this, after I went on the rant, like uh seriously, fift 15 minutes tops that I was on there, but there were so many people coming in, and and it really affected them afterwards. I got flooded with messages, pictures, stories from other buyers and sellers who are dealing with the exact same problem. Um, one lady sent me a picture of a lamp that's all wrapped in bubble wrap, and of course it was broken, you know, broken items, poor packaging, missing items, using USPS supplies as free packing material. And um, the more people, you know, I I did say I was gonna do a podcast on it, but the more people that kept messaging me, I knew, you know, I wanted to talk about this because all of this comes down to these things that I have been preaching since the beginning. And I really think I'm gonna talk about this at the very end. The people who give me one star and don't leave a review, I think those people have problems with integrity, communication, professionalism, buyer trust, human interactions, high standards, best practices, like all the things I talk about and put up high on the bar. I think those are the people who have problems with that. I mean, truly, I think those are the people who would come to the show and say, What's the big deal? Why's the big deal? So um, I'm gonna talk about that too. Um, but those are the things I, you know, just trying to treat others as you want to be treated is not happening. And a lot of people are giving whatnot a bad name and just representing very poorly. And then the people like myself, which I definitely include myself, and I'll tell you time and time, you can go read my reviews, you can see what I do. The just the other day, my friend Addy, um, who I've sent lots of stuff to her, Hayden packaged up a lamp for her. And I was like, Hayden, are you sure I really think we need to put that lamp inside of an he's like, Mom, I packed it so good. It's gonna get there fine. The lamp was broken, the shade, it was a glass shade. It was very cool, and it was broken. She sent me a picture, I sent her 40 bucks. Like I go above and beyond. I just was like, absolutely, I'll pay for it. It was my mistake. I should have put it in another box. So I own up and I try to do the best I can. And anybody who says I don't, bring it. Show me where I don't. Show me, write it in the reviews, call me, text me, message me because I take great pride in being honest, truthful, having integrity, going above and beyond in communication, buyer trust, human interaction, standards, everything. I really, really, this is like huge for me. So, um, anyways, here's basically um what happened. This one girl, she was new, a new seller, and I'm not saying who what her name was, but she sent me two packages, um, 15 USPS boxes wrapped around breakable items, and then the five priority mailboxes you being used on the bottom and throughout, whatever. Um, and there might have been a little bit of her own stuff, but I it was like 90%, 95% USPS supplies. And it was just, you know, they were brand new, they were not used, there was no stickers on them, they were perfectly clean. Like she just ordered them and decided I am going to steal from the post office, and um, it's gonna make my packaging less. There's a a guy, actually, on on whatnot, and he tells people to do this. I think it lacks integrity and honesty and just human decency big time. And I will say that till the cows come home, and you don't have to agree with me. You can go give me a one-star review if that's what you want to do. Whatever, I'm gonna say it like it is. So get over it. Um, anyways, I understand that responsibly using, responsibly reusing old shipping supplies, whether it's newspapers, whether it's old paper, whatever is totally fine. And I think that that's wonderful because you know, let's save the landfills, whatever. Um, but what I'm talking about is people buying brand new ones to use as their own free packing material. They're too cheap to go and buy bubble wrap and whatever. And um it's a system of abuse, really. It's a whole system. And the thing is, it's printed, it's printed right on the package itself. I read it in my rant the other day. Um, UPS says it. Um, it says, quote, priority mail packaging provided by the USPS may must be used only for priority mail. It doesn't mean priority mail packing supplies. Okay. Another warning says, misuse may be, this is quoted, guys. Misuse may be a violation of federal law. I am positive. I have in the last what 90 episodes or whatever I'm at, have talked about this. If you are a new seller and you do not know, they are not used. You're they're not supposed to be used for your own packing inside the box. It's the box itself they're giving to you, but they expect you to buy your own tissue and your own paper and your own bubble wrap and your own saran wrap and whatever you're using to pack your own foam, your your own um little packing peanuts, whatever you have to do to get the item to the person safely. Um, that's what you're supposed to do. Okay. So the language is there, the facts are there, the details are there. It's not confusing, guys. This isn't brain surgery. It it's it's like right there, okay? And I get that some people cheat. I give my analogies all the time, right? I drove home last night on the uh HOV. Uh well, it's it's actually a toll road, so I can ride on it, but I rode on down the toll road and I was I had my car set at 82. I'm sure it's probably 75. I was going with the speed of traffic, but yeah, my car drives itself. I was going, I was, I was fudging just a little bit. This, what I got, and why I went on my rant was there was no confusing. This was blatant disregard for rules and everything. Um, I've seen guys driving down the road racing on I-10, going 110 miles per hour. Kid you not. I call the police. I'm like, this is bull. I want to be able to report it and say this happened and this needs to be taken care of. And it's dangerous and it's wrong, and they shouldn't be doing it. You know, there's a difference, okay? So realize I am not here picking on somebody some poor little person. No, you have you have to know that you're what you're doing. Okay. I think people know exactly what they're doing. Um, and honestly, um, you know, people have been talking about this problem for years. You can go type it into Google, you can go to eBay, Amazon, Reddit, USPS forms, Facebook, everywhere. This is a huge conversation. It's been going on forever. But what needs to happen is policies need to be tightened, restrictions need to happen, programs change, costs rise. All of this happens because you guys don't have integrity, honesty, all the things that we're asking for and need. And it affects the buyers and the sellers. It affects all of us. Um, the USPS has an entire investigation division dedicated to like a whole division, kind of think of it like the FBI, if you will, of the USPS. It isn't called that, but it's kind of like it. It's a whole division, and it's all about fraud, abuse, theft, misuse, any kind of jank janky is the word, uh, misuse involving the postal systems. And I'm not saying that, you know, they're sending in the squat guard, you know, to come in with guns, blaives, and but it it does become a bigger that abuse little bit here and there, it becomes normalized. And then once it becomes normalized, millions and millions of USPS supplies going out every year, one you know, seller here and a few boxes here, it adds up, guys. You are one person in a giant system. So when you say, Oh, it's just me doing this, nobody's gonna notice, it's doo-doo-doo. Well, if enough of you do it, which enough of you are doing it, it is going to affect our prices and rate, you know, all of this. It's going to make things worse. Just like all you new people since Mr. Beast got on. I've mentioned this before, causing riff-raff and not selling your items that are legit or um that are counterfeit or going on and doing things you shouldn't be doing on a regular basis, not a little mistake like what I did. Um, you know, when people consistently do things over and over again that are wrong and they they purposely are doing it, then we have problems. Um, but anyways, thousands of sellers are treating it like unlimited free packing materials. I mean, more than thousands, like hundreds of thousands. I don't I don't know how widespread it is, but whatnot is not the only place, too. I mean, it's everywhere. Sorry, drinking coffee. Anyways, um, so I looked this up and one of the one of these investigations had nearly 18,000 fraudulent priority mail insurance claims that investigators said resulted in more than $2.3 million in losses. You know how stamps go up, you know how the prices of houses go up. You know how the prices of mail goes up? This is it, guys. This is how. I don't know if you guys remember when um was it during after COVID and everything, the leftists went crazy and they had that place called Chaz up in like Portland or something. I think it was Seattle, maybe somewhere up there, and they made like this little town and they like, oh, we're gonna stick our, you know, we're gonna do this. And all the the convenience stores had to start closing down because they were allowing people to just go in and rob places. It might it might have been California, but they were like, oh, we're not gonna the the governors would come in and they would say, you know what, we're just people are poor, we're just gonna let them steal up to $500, and and yeah, that'll be fine. And so people were blatantly like coming in, putting stuff in their carts, shopping and leaving. So places like Walgreens, um, CVS's, whatever would close. And everybody's like, Why are our places closing? Oh, because your government allowed people to steal, and that's what's happening here. I don't think the post office is gonna close, but obviously there's gonna be some repercussions. Somebody's gotta pay for this. It's either gonna be higher taxes or we're gonna end up paying for our own boxes. Something is not you can't just keep abusing the system over and over again and expect that nothing's going to happen. Okay. Um it shows up, it's involving misuse of the system and it's it's widespread and it's it's terrible. Okay, so here's the part that pushed me over the edge. At least four of the things arrived broken. One is completely missing. It's the other part of a salt and pepper shaker. Either that or it was broken too, and it was so broken, I don't know. Um, uh but here's here's the funny thing. After I talked about this publicly, another one okay, wait, wait. And that well, I told you about the lamp lady. Okay, she she told me uh bubble, it was packaged, and I got other ones too. Um, but the thing about it is um some lady, and I I thought I think I have it in my notes somewhere, but this one lady, she messaged me and she thought I was talking about her, and I was just like cracking up. I've never heard of this woman before, I've never bought from her before. I don't know who she is. And I guess she felt guilty and she felt like, oh my gosh, I pack like that, and uh, you know, whatever. And she blocked me, and I was just like, oh my gosh. I actually put her on my Instagram, it's Kiri Kennedy71. If anybody wants to go look and have a laugh, because I mean, I wasn't even talking about her, and I've never even said who this person is. I purposely did not say who it was. So, um, anyways, um, but at the end of the day, people notice who takes who, which sellers, okay, take genuine care and try to give the buyer a good experience. I go above and beyond in that. I I wrap, I I put uh little candy in there with Skittles and a little post-it card with my QR code. I've talked about all this before, but I I this lady, no thank you, no, no um packing slip, nothing. And so y'all just need to be go back and listen to some of my packing episodes. If you don't know, you need to know because it matters. I mean, when I walk into my Kate's spade store at the mall, uh I see everything dusted and clean and beautiful and shiny and sparkling, and there's like four or four or five girls walking around all day, every day, cleaning it. And then when you go into your nasty TJ, certain TJ Maxxes are better than others, but and there's like dust bunnies the size of small rodents. Um, you know, that are people notice you you you notice these things, and if you want repeat buyers to come to you, you need to do a better job and stop using these things. Um, but anyways, I think good sellers. I wrote this list. I think that good sellers think about packaging quality, professionalism, presentation, um, buyer communication, um, you know, long-term trust and reputations and relationships. I think that those are important things. You guys need to be thinking about that. Um, and and I think when the person opens that box, they're going to be like me, where I was just like, Are you gotta be kidding me? I was just like, I'm never buying from that person again. Never will I go back. She just lost who knows how much money. I'm not, I'm never gonna shop with her again. Okay, would you rather do that or buy your own packing material, pack it really, really well, send it to me with a cute little note, make me happy, make me give you a good rating, make me give you a good review, and then make me want to come back and buy more. I mean, it just I mind blown, guys. Mind blown. I'm gonna keep going. Um, anyways, um, when the item feels when the buyer feels like you care about them and the safety and integrity and honesty and whatever, I promise you, I promise you, I promise you, they will like you better. Period, point blank. Experience matters. And, you know, at the end of the day, I think what really frustrates me is watching people do this time and time again. And I that's I'm not upset that I ranted, as people say. I'm not upset at all. I think it was totally necessary and needed, and um, you know, even if one or two people who have been doing that caught that or somebody told somebody else and and it got out, then then good. I just, you know, maybe a drop in the bucket. Maybe you guys listen to this and you share it with somebody else, and it's another drop of the bucket. And slowly but surely we change the culture from a bunch of people who don't give a damn to people who do. Now, maybe that's asking too much. I don't know, you know, there are some amazing sellers on whatnot and on the app, but I think that you can tell the difference between someone who genuinely cares and is trying and doing that, and then somebody who's just pushing product out the door as cheaply and quickly as they possibly can. And uh, so you know, I think what what what really is at the end of the day, communication problems are showing up, and and that's a huge issue here um throughout the whole thing is is a breakdown in communication. Seller support is not good, but it's it's horrible. Buyer complaints, ratings and reviews, giveaway reporting that's people complaining and doing that, um, shipping disputes, blocking instead of discussing, um, you know, just all kinds of negative stuff that's going on, and it's a lack of communication. So maybe we're in end times. I'm a critical. Christian, Jesus coming back soon, that kind of thing. I don't know, but it it really definitely comes down to communication when people can't talk about things and they cannot, you know, I my phone number is in my freaking profile, guys. My phone number, like literally, you can text me, you can call me, you can ask me questions. I do consultations for people. Like, I just think that y'all need to have some communication. And if you're not a communicator, like if you're a total introvert and you hate communicating and you hate this podcast because you think it's too long-winded or too detailed or too informational or too whatever, then you probably shouldn't be on whatnot. And I'm just gonna say it. I think that if you are a scared person and you have communication problems, you shouldn't be in the selling business at all. I mean, I think working in a blood lab or you know, being, I don't, I don't know, uh working at Hallmark or H E B, somewhere where you can not have as much interaction as this website needs. And I I I just really think that's huge. Some lady asked me the other day, she says, I'm really, really shy. You know, you don't know who this woman is. So she said, I'm really, really shy, and I just want to put my stuff in the buy it now. Will I make money doing that? And the answer is no, I don't really think you will. I mean, I know some people put their stuff in the buy it now and some people shop on this app like that, but it's not really what it's intended for. And you're gonna do better if you do auctions, just point blank. And I'm I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying some people are better suited for different apps than others. That's all, you know. Um, and and some of us are very easily able to communicate our feelings and our thoughts and you know, process and say what we are thinking very easily, and some people aren't. And and it doesn't mean you can't work on it and you can't get better. But I think if if you're planning on coming over here and you're like, I'm scared to see people and I don't want people to see my face, it's probably not the app for you. I'm just saying I love you guys, but anyways, okay, but we are losing integrity and communication and human interaction on the app slowly but surely. That is really a huge part of this whole you know rant that I'm probably still on a little bit, is that people are reacting instantly, they're reporting instantly, they're blocking instantly. I left the dog in there. Hold on, my dog is in there. Did you get locked in? Oh, sorry, Wednesday. Um, but that's what's happening, guys. Um, people are leaving anonymous one-star reviews on my podcast, and they don't even communicate why they disappear. At the end of the day, everything is becoming automated. It's emotional, it's anonymous, it's reactionary. There's not thoughtful interaction and communication and relational help between human beings, which is what we're supposed to be, which I know I started this with the UPS thing, but I I really think that's what all of this connecting it all in my head right now comes down to. If people, um, the dogs are playing. Um, if people would just communicate and stop and think for a hot second, you know, even I was reactionary instead of responding calmly and whatever. I I I went on there to say, here's what happened, but I kind of did purposely want to be elevated for the show. Um, if anybody saw it, it was only 70 people in there. But my point is I did elevate it. Um, kind of like if you've asked your kids to do the dishes eight times and they still haven't done it, by the ninth time, you're you're pretty much exasperated and you're like, okay, this is ridiculous. You've something's gotta happen here. You know, you're taking their phones, you're grounding them, some kind of action has to be there. And I and I get that, but what's happening is all of this is happening like we're we're just so fast, so fast to make a judgment, so fast to make a whatever, boom, boom, boom. Um, you know, reacting, reporting, blocking, just being emotional and and just you know, knee jerk reactions and panties and a wad reactions. It it's just it's got to stop, guys. I get that we've had these phones for I don't even know how many years. I I think it's 12 years, maybe more, 14 years, but it is not a good thing for us. Y'all need to pull back, you need to stop, you need to think, you need to process in your brains, okay? And think about these things. Um adults should be able, and if you're on this platform, you're at least 16 years old, I think. Um, adults should be able to communicate with one another. Have have use your words, communicate, right? Um, we're gonna get into it. Um, but the uh what I'm just gonna say this. I think I said it up above. There is a seller on this app, and he was gonna come to my house um and help me sell some of my stuff because I had so much inventory, it was just insane. And I literally had a phone conversation with him, and he I said, So what packing supplies do I need? I expected like a nice, you know, written out, you need this much bubble wrap, you need this much tape, you need this much saran wrap. Because if I was going to somebody's house to do a show, which I'd be happy to do, by the way, if anybody wants to get me a plane ticket, I'm there. Um, I would have had a list that said, here's what you need. And he said, just order these things from the post office. We'll use them as filler. I I I promise. I'm not gonna say who it is because I don't want to have that battle, but he's a big seller on here and he tells people to do that. And I st I I canceled with him. I just did not, my Christian ethics and work ethic and my integrity would not allow me to work with somebody who that was what he did. And so I this was this was uh oh like almost two years ago or something, and I was just like not gonna do it anymore. But the longer I've been on this app, the more I keep seeing the same repeated pattern. They're cheap products, careless packaging, bad communication or weak communication, um, poor shipping practices, bad buyer experiences. I'm a buyer, I buy. It's getting me a really bad taste in my mouth to have this kind of stuff happen day after day after day. And I I told you guys at the beginning of this thing when I started that little rant right afterwards, 10-15 minutes, I got a flood, a flood, guys. I don't even know, I didn't count how many, it was at least 15 probably messages that said this happened and that happened. Did you hear about this? And it it this is widespread, guys. This is this is huge. So don't get shocked when buyers stop shopping with you and they lose confidence. And I I definitely feel like whatnot has gotten too big for its britches at this point. All these new people coming on, and I think whatnot definitely needs to raise the bar on how they're doing things. Um, but anyways, um, where am I? I'm going through this. Okay, so if you're taking people's money, there should be some level of care, effort, professionalism, consideration, kindness on your part involved if you're a seller. Period. Point blank, done. Okay. Um, and okay, now what else I got? What not jail? I was gonna make this two different episodes, but since I'm going out of town, um I am going to talk about this. I got put in 180 days jail. And I know it's not called that. This is my own terminology, but in a nutshell, that's what it is. And I'm really ticked off about it. Like really ticked off. Um, for 180 days, my account, which is always said excellent, usually it says 100, 100, excellent. Right now, I think it's 99.4, 99.6, uh that in that area, and then good. Instead of being excellent, it's good. And they don't exactly describe exactly what's gonna happen to you. Like when you go to jail, you find out you're gonna get bologna sandwiches and green Kool-Aid, but and and plastic shoes, but not here with whatnot. They just say this could affect, this may affect, this shouldn't affect, whatever, but it's affecting your bookmarks, your traffic, how many people they're gonna send to you. So basically for 180 days, that is not a slap on the wrist, that is not a warning, that is not a and I get if somebody does something very intentional, very wrong repeatedly, that definitely they should get called out on it. I totally agree. I mean, that's what I'm doing here. So I'm not saying I should be above the law and I should, you know, oh, I whatever. That is not what I am saying. But when I tell you what happened, um, it is so insignificant. And I think that's it was the combination of seeing the crap shit that is sorry, going on, the really bad service and the not caring people get away with it. And I know it's the world we live in. Sometimes somebody doesn't call, and those guys racing down I-10, going 110 miles per hour, they get away with it, they don't get pulled over, you know, stuff happens. I get it, but I really think whatnot needs to change a lot of what they've got going on. Um, because I'm sitting here watching shipping shipping disasters, um, people misusing and abusing USPS supplies, they're packing carelessly, they're not putting packing uh slips in there or a thank you or anything. And here I am dealing with 180-day restrictions because I forgot to hit the giveaway button when I was doing um I was giving cash in two of my shows. I was giving cash and I forgot to hit the button one time and give it the money to the Gibby Goblins who reported me, no doubt. And um, yeah, that just bothers me because I didn't hit the button. And when you try to reach out for seller support with whatnot, it's awful. It's terrible. Um, there's never actually a conversation with an actual human being. If it is, all they're doing is cutting and pasting like regular automated responses. Um, it's not like real humans. Even when I'm like, are you serious? Am I gonna? I actually was like, I'm probably gonna have to get a job because if I can't get people in my room, I can't sell stuff. If I can't sell stuff, I'm not making money. If I'm not making money, I'm gonna have to, you know, like I didn't get into that, but that was my thought process. And it's basically like you're talking to an AI computer. I mean, it's just it's it's pasted stock answers, and there's never an opportunity to really explain and go back and forth. You can't pick up a phone and say, wait a minute, here's what I did, here's why I did it, whatever. Um, and basically what it was do what I was doing is I was taking a dollar from every every item that was sold in my shop and putting it in a crystal bowl. And I the first time it was $30 and somebody literally got $30 sent to them. And the second time it was $11 and somebody got $11 sent to them out of the buyers because I drew the name, but I also pushed the buyer's giveaway button so a random person also got something the first time. The second time I forgot to hit the button. So I'm I'm sorry, I'm human, but the fact that I forgot to do the buyer's giveaway is it's really making a lot of people. I I talked about this the other day in the show. And a lot of us are like, the the buyers' giveaways are gonna go away. I mean, eventually, I don't know. I think that's one of the main reason people are even on here. They spend all day just you know trying to win something just to get, you know, some stickers in the mail or whatever. But um the whole buyer's giveaway thing is off. It's pretty awful because now what's happened, and I've mentioned this before, is people can get something in the mail for free, for free. And we some of them can be terrible. We we joked about this. One seller once sent me his signature on a packing label. That was what I got. He literally took the packing label that I got one something on the other side. He slapped on the mailing label, so it was like two stickers back to back and his signature, and that was it. And I was like, really? That this is what I got, your signature. So, yes, some of them are terrible and awful, but I would still, even with that guy, I'm not gonna go on and say, Oh, what you got a one because I didn't get any, you know. I just moved on, I just moved on, and I just am like, I yeah, even the girl who did this, I gave her a four-star rating. I I would not ever give anybody a one-star rating because in my mind, I'm like, maybe she's really new. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt, I which is ridiculous because I think she has to know. You have to know what you're doing. It says it everywhere. She knew when she was ordering it. Gee, I'm not paying for these, these are free. I think she knows, but even then, I gave her a four-star. So I just think it's horrible that people would go anywhere, my podcast included, which I'm gonna talk about, and just give a one star and then not give a reason or a review or whatever and and try to be constructive with that. Um, anyways, I hope I'm not getting way off. Okay. Um, but a lot of sellers are now avoiding giveaways altogether because they can do that. And I think it under, you know, I think it makes sense. It tanks your ratings and uh reporters are instantly, you know, knee-jerk. Oh, I didn't get what I wanted. And it's affecting somebody's vitality of their business. I mean, it was literally free. Even that guy's signature, I didn't pay for it, I didn't deserve it, I didn't do anything. Even if I sat for five minutes watching the guy waiting for the timer to go down, that was my own choice or whatever. I don't remember this, it was a long time ago, but um I don't know. Um, and my thing is the whole buyers thing, even if you go to Las Vegas, and I've talked about this, I've talked about the history of gambling and everything in another episode. I don't keep up with them. Maybe when I get to 100 episodes, I'll I'll compile it all and make it into a book. But I did go back to, you know, talking about Louisiana and the 1940s and how gambling affected this and how our laws are this, and that's why whatnot is trying to adhere and letting people write, like, you know, fill out little forms so that they can get in the buyer's giveaway. But I still think that that is wrong. I think the law needs to get into this because even if you go to Las Vegas, you still have to pay to play. So people are not paying for anything, they are getting something for free, they are not paying at all. I can't go fill out in a form in Las Vegas and say, gee, I don't have any money, give me stuff for free. It doesn't work that way. So I'm I'm trying to figure out the law even more because I I definitely think that this is wrong. And the fact that they can review you on a giveaway is uh just absurd. That that just needs to be gone altogether. Although, you know, is there any way to I I don't know. I I don't know what's gonna happen with that. Um, but um the system starts feeling backwards, and honestly, it's more frustrating, and my one accidental mistake can destroy the momentum that I've spent years building, and now my traffic is dropping, my bookmarks, my visibility, everything all of a sudden feels buried. I went from having 65, roughly, you know, 55 to 75 people in my every show to about 20, 25, except when I ranted because that was drama. There were 70 people in there, and um, that's that's the whole conversation on the whatnot jail um is very real to me. It it really upsets me. It really, because I I feel like it is so unfair, you know. And then I I start thinking, you know, how is the platform actually evaluating sellers? What matters the most, you know? It does does this matter or does that matter? You know, how are we evaluating this and checking over the overall quality of somebody's business and their time? Because I guarantee you, whoever gave me my no, we're gonna move you from excellent to good, they didn't look at my reviews, they didn't look at my shipping time, they didn't look at my shows and see how off awesome I am and how I lower my prices and give free stuff away and throw in free Skittles. They they did not do that. I'm just a number, I'm just a person on a screen and I screwed up because a Gibby Goblin, you know, I did I forgot to run it, and the Gibby Goblins complained, and boom, I'm it's over. And I I just think it's a platform issue, and the computers, the AI systems are not looking at the whole picture. You know, they're looking at isolated action actions, reports, buttons, keywords, violations, automated systems, you know, they're not actually evaluating somebody's overall quality of business and how I do it. They're not looking at, you know, Addy the other day and her lamp broken and how I paid 40 bucks of my own money. I didn't ask what not to. I didn't ask UBSPS to do it. I did it with my own money, my own time, my own energy. I go above and beyond. And and and bring it. If you think I don't, bring it. I will make it right. And now that this isn't this isn't uh, hey, come and abuse me and use me and screw me over, you know, thing here. I I there's some awful horror, horrible human beings who have really bad intentions and I don't think they're upright people. So, no, you're not going to get boxes from me and throw them down on the ground and put them into a bunch of pieces and have me, you know, believing for a hot second that it was wrong, you know. And if it gets to that point, I'll start taking pictures because I mean, I wrapped something the other day, it took me 20 plus maybe 25 minutes to get this one lady's order out because she had so much glass and so much breakables. I filled up every crevice of every vase with good paper. I did the bubble wrap, I did the foam, I did the tape, I did I 20, 25 minutes. So if my all my packages start, you know, getting broken because somebody's like trying to take a take a stab at me, I I will fight that, you know. Like I'm I'm I'm crazy, but I'm not stupid. And and uh, you know, this is not an invitation to be a jerk to me and try to ruin my reputation. Um, but I I definitely think we need a more holistic evaluation, a holistic evaluation of sellers. And to I wrote a list of of what some of those things would be. I've said a few of them shipping times, buyer satisfaction, packing quality, communication, um, consistency long term, like how long have you been on there? I mean, if if I was a newbie and I did that in the first week, um, there should be some grace because it's first time ever doing it, you know, whatever. I've been on the app for a long time. I forgot to hit a button. Oh my gosh, you know? Um, so I think that needs to be considered professionalism, customer care, um, your seller reputation over time. So I'm gonna repeat that one more time because I think whatnot needs to really have a better picture instead of some stupid AI computer going, nope, some giver, give me goblin said you didn't run it, beep, we're not gonna give it to you anymore. Now we're gonna move you from excellent to good, beep, beep. Now we're not gonna send people your way. Now we're not gonna do this. Now you're gonna give it's 180 days, guys. It's not five days, it's not 15 days. Now, if they would have said for the next 15 days you got it, I would probably would have been like, You're right, I forgot to run it. I totally take 15 days. That's not what's happening here. There's not some tiered system. When I got pulled over by the police officer the other day because um I didn't stop long enough at the stop sign. I stopped, but you're supposed to stop for like three seconds or whatever. I didn't stop. He pulled me over. Guess what? He gave me a warning. That's what should have happened here. Hey, we we saw this, and I would have said, oops, if you go back and if you look, but I couldn't talk to anybody, you're talking to stupid computers. And if there are humans, like I said, they're just cutting and pasting responses, they don't care about you. All they care about is their money and getting their job. They're probably making 15 bucks an hour if there's a human back there. It's not a good situation. Whatnot, definitely, definitely, definitely nobody is going to ever argue if definitely actually ups their game in this area because it really it's horrible. It's horrible. I want to say other words, but I'm gonna just stick with horrible. But here's what the things that if they took a holistic approach. And I've had breast cancer twice. I'm actually finding out my blood work at four. So I am all about the holistic looking at the whole picture. These are the things, whatnot, I think you need to listen to shipping times, buyer satisfaction, packing quality, communication, consistency, professionalism, customer care, and seller reputation. I think all of those things it would make a huge difference. Let me have my coffee here. Hold on. I got heartburn this morning. It doesn't help that I ate Mexican food twice yesterday, lunch and dinner, and had margaritas. So, anyways, um, there's a huge difference between somebody making one mistake here or there and someone genuinely trying to run a professional business, and then someone who is consistently creating terrible buyer experiences through careless practices. I could tell you so many stories of how I have received terrible, terrible packages. I almost wish I had kept this one that was ornaments and stuff, heads were cut off, there was broken glass in there. They didn't even wrap it. It was like they must have been high or drunk or whatever. They just threw a bunch of shit into a box and that was it. I didn't, I don't even think I gave them a one-star review, guys. I I seriously probably gave them a three or a four and just didn't want, you know, the backlash and didn't want to hurt somebody who was maybe drunk or so, whatever. Um, but I definitely think there needs to be a better rating system and that they need to think about this because when they're pulling over the little old lady who, you know, did not that I'm the little old lady, but example guys here. I am 55. But when they're, you know, the cop pulls me over, he sees I don't have tickets. I I'm a respectable person in my community, I have kids, I have a nice car. You know, like he he's looking at, you know, I'm taking care of everything. Um, I've got my, you know, tags, I've, you know, whatever. He's not gonna go, oh, well, you're definitely getting a ticket for this. No, he's going, you're human, you're right, you should only get this. The 180 days in jail, you know, going from excellent to good is totally, and I'll I will repeat this till the cows come home. It is totally and vastly wrong. It should be on some tier system where I got maybe five to 15 days, boom, and I feel that like I mean, I'm honestly thinking about not coming on for three months. I'll come, I'll go on my vacation and I'll come back and we'll see how things go. But I'm like, I'm not gonna sit here and fight with the stupid algorithm. That's absurd, and there's no human being over there. So maybe I just get off for three months and then come back when I can get my people in my room. Because even people were coming in there and they were like, You're not showing up in my feed. I had to go looking for you. And so that just seems like uh above and beyond punishment for my circumstance and situation. I even told them I have a podcast and I'm gonna talk about this. So of course, I was probably talking to a computer, so you know, whatever, whatever. Um, anyways, um, platforms in general need to get better at identifying the sellers that are actually representing the app long term. And I think what they're doing instead is just going money, money, money, money, money, money. And I think that that is yeah, um, you know, it's not the best way to do it. Sellers creating positive buying experiences is what they need to focus on. Sellers that try to build trust and communication and go above and beyond. The sellers that put real forth, effort, professionalism, consistency, hard work, determination that are are good sellers on here are the ones I should be getting a high five, a pat on the back, recognition, thankfulness. And instead, they're they're I mean, I think they're shooting themselves in the foot, especially if I go off for three months, because I guarantee you, I'm not shopping on that for three months if I am kicked off for three months. You know what I mean? So you're gonna lose all the sales that I would have made, all that money, and I'm not buying on, I'm not, I'm just gonna get off. And I'm not saying I'm doing that, but that's what I'm thinking because I I'm fighting with an algorithm, guys. Literally, it's an algorithm, it's choosing who it's gonna send to your room. You know, when you go into certain rooms and they have 600, 800 people, the algorithm brought those people there. It's it's letting them know, or the bookmark that you have that you can click on. And I'm on my fifth one, so I I've only got like 122 people or something uh on that. And it should probably be 600 or 1,000 at this point, if had I kept the same on. So, anyways, okay, um, but this is what I wrote notes. Because when platforms stop separating those type of people, the overall reputation of the app is going to change, it's going to get worse, people are gonna notice it, and more people are gonna get frustrated, and it's going to get a bad reputation. Um, what's that guy's name? Oh, Charlie Sheen. Guys, you can totally tell that these shows are not scripted. Charlie Sheen, remember he was in um all the 80s movies and whatever. He everybody looked up and oh, Charlie Sheen, Charlie Sheen. Then he got into alcoholism and he started doing stupid sitcoms and he got in trouble with the law and whatever. We could do that with all kinds of actors and actresses, you know. You know, whether it's Miley Cyrus or Winona Ryder or whoever Winona Ryder stole stuff, I think. Um, but you see it, it becomes public, and everybody knows so-and-so did this, so-and-so did that. And I think that whatnot is going to be shooting itself in the foot when they take down people like me who are above and beyond on integrity, communication, hard work, ethic, all of that for 180 days. And instead of giving us a warning, or instead of, you know, saying, okay, how about you know 15 days or 20 days, whatever, instead of making it appropriate, it's feeling like an episode of La Mez episode, the movie, the book, whatever. Um, you get what I'm saying. The guy steals a loaf of bread to feed his kid, you know, whatever. And now he's working as an indentured servant, you know, uh in hard manual labor for the rest of his life till he kills over and dies. Uh it's it's over the top. It's just over the top. Okay, anyways. Um, but um, I and here's some things that I think whatnot could make reporting to make things easier. Okay, here we go. When buyers receive damaged orders, they should be able to, you know, report that and take a picture and say, here, I did on this, took a picture because the items were broken. But there should also be you could take a picture when they ship USPS stuff and you're they're using it as a filler. There should be a quick, like little toggle with here's a photo upload, and here's your re reporting option, you know, somewhere in there because that way whatnot is helping the government, the USPS, uh USPS, yeah, said right. Um, they're helping with not raising our prices, like they're helping with good standard practicing, uh, best practices. They should definitely have some way for people to do that. Um, and something simple, like you know, USPS supplies are improperly used. Click here, poor packaging, click here, insignificant, you know, protection. Like when I got that box and there was nothing, nothing but a bunch of junk in it. Um, and then shipping damage caused by packing issues. That's the one that's on there right now that you can, you know, if you have a problem with your order, you could click on it and it does say shipping damage, and you could take pictures of the broken stuff. And then you're, I guess now coming up. I think it's in June. I I have an episode about it, but um, they're gonna make it where the seller has to pay it, or they're doing it right now. The seller had to pay the one dollar. I don't I didn't hit her on all of it. It just I didn't want to take all the pictures and whatever. I said it's like four or five items. She gave me a dollar back. I'm just like, okay, whatever. But, anyways, these are not vague accusations, guys. I these people have actual pictures, it's patterns of behavior, it's obvious, it's it's and those people aren't getting pulled over. So I'm sitting here watching myself be in jail, looking out the window, watching the birds fly by, and watching everybody else get away with it. And I just I feel like it is so, so wrong. Anyways, okay, where am I? Um, issues that affect buyers' trust are far more uh uh uh affecting the app and everything than somebody forgetting to press a giveaway button um one time and and still giving money away. I mean, like, let's think about this. What is the action? I was giving money away, literally. That's why I'm in jail, because I was being kind and giving money away. I wasn't intentionally stealing, I was giving money away. You see the difference here, guys. You you please, somebody, raise a hand. Tell me you see the difference. The the crime, the punishment for the crime is not in alignment at all, at all, at all. Um, but anyways, okay, last thing the review system. This is another thing. It comes down to integrity, it comes down to communication. This is another thing that has frustrated me. I started this podcast and uh in the beginning I was at a five for a while. And then it went down to a 4.6. Now it's at a 4.4. I get when you're running with the ball, people are gonna want to catch the catch you and take you down. I get that. There's certain people that that's just the way they are. But what's frustrating is I'm spending $125 a month. Once again, me giving money away, giving my time, giving my energy, reporting on all these things, giving good advice, you know, my my time, my energy. I'm creating the content, you know, as they say. Um, I'm trying to have helpful conversations, I'm doing interviews, um, I'm doing best practices, news, social stories, discussions about things that you find on whatnot or in social media, whatever. Stuff that genuinely helps people. And you're welcome to go look at the reviews. They're good reviews. And if you come into one of my shows, people are in there and they're like, Oh, your podcast has helped me. Or if you caught meet some of my people that I do consultations every week, I do consultations every week. I pop into shows and they're like, Carrie, I took your advice. I'm almost to my 1k. That literally happened to me this morning. I went into another show. Oh my gosh, Carrie's here. Hello, hi, she helped me. We did an interview, it was on so-and-so. I'm I'm not trying to do anything bad here, guys. My intentions are good. They are good, noble, honorable intentions. I'm not here to, you know, knock people down or throw people down or be rude or mean or any of that. I have a good heart here. I am trying to be kind, I am going above and beyond. And it's just really frustrating when I go to all this, and then there's people who are coming in here and giving me one star and nothing. And I get that I'm not going to be everybody's cup of tea. And that is totally fine with me. Guess what? You might not be my cup of tea. Okay. Everybody has different personalities. We have different levels of what we can handle and what we can't handle, and at different times of our lives, right? Nobody's stagnant. I mean, for the most part. I mean, we change, we grow, we evolve, we develop. And, you know, I get that you might not like my personality or my opinions or my approach to things. And that is totally fine. But what I think I find very interesting and wrong is that the constructive criticism that I have received has actually been helpful. One person told me that I could be long-winded sometimes, which I totally agree. Totally, totally. I'm above and beyond on communication. It literally says that in my profile. It says that in my profile. Go look it up. Carrie Kennedy, K-A-R-R-I, Kennedy, K-E-N-N-E-D-Y. I know that about me. I I gotcha, bud. High five. I I can totally be long-winded. I gotcha. Another person pointed out that I needed to remember to mention the episode. I needed to put the number of the episode, not just the title, so that it would clearly show so they could keep up because they were trying to believe it or not, it's crazy. Some people listen to every episode. I do. I don't know. I I don't know. I'm just saying. So they wanted to be able to see the numbers. And I went in and I put episode 87 next to the title, up in the title, so that they could keep up. So that was constructive. It was very well received, and I changed it. I did it, and it works, and that makes the difference. So constructive criticism, which, you know, I don't know about those two words together because it's still a criticism, but you know, suggested ideas, advice, I love that because then I can actually improve. I am not beyond growing and developing and learning. I am a human being just like the rest of you. And I mean, if you're your own boss, I've said this time and time again, after every show, you should do a critique after every month or every, you know, change in the way you're doing things. Do self-critiques and go, okay, how could I have done that better? Or oh, I wish I had done that, or maybe next time we could try this. Obviously, I'm gonna reconsider the giveaway thing, you know. Um, but the thing is, if you give advice, if you give suggestions, then maybe I can do something. But when you come in here and you give me a one star and you those people, they're not giving anything. Hmm, why is that? Hmm, I I I wonder, you know, um, honestly, if somebody truly believes that what I am saying is wrong, unhelpful, un you know, inaccurate, unfair, wrong, then go for it. Explain. There is a place on every it's on ep actually, it's every episode that you can leave a rating. Like you can go into an episode and and then at the bottom you scroll down, it lets you do stars. This is an Apple that we're talking about, guys. I don't know all the other ones, and I haven't looked at other ratings, honestly, anywhere else. In the Apple one is where we're talking about. So if you're listening on some other place, you can get into Apple, listen to an episode, go to the bottom and give a review. Okay. But here's the thing that I'm gonna say with everything I've talked about. Have the conversation. For God's sake, for the love of God, have the damn conversation. I swear, since we've got these phones, kids don't know how to talk anymore. I'm at the mall and I'm seeing kids walk down, literally standing next to each other. Three or four kids walking down the mall together, all of them looking down at their phones. They're not communicating with each other anymore. I watched the movie Um uh Murphy's Romance the other day. It's a great movie. You guys should go watch it. It's an old movie with James Gardner and Sally Fields, but it's it's set in the 80s, and everybody was holding each other's hands and putting their arms around their waist and talking and having ice cream and sitting on bark benches, and they were communicating. And at the end of the day, I think that's really my frustration. It's a whole societal frustration because we're not communicating anymore. These knee-jerk reactions from a stupid computer, some stupid algorithm to treat me like I'm just, you know, like I'm some idiot because some Givy Goblin reported me because I forgot to run the button. Why didn't the Givy Goblin message me and say, hey Carrie, you're gonna you really messed up? And I would have said, Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I forgot to hit that button, and then I will do better next time. I'm sorry, Frank, that sits around and spends all day trying to get Givy Goblins. I'm really sorry about that, you know? Like I give me a chance, you know, and and that's the thing. If I'm wrong, if I'm unhelpful, inaccurate, unfair, you know, if I've said something that's that's not true, go for it. Tell me. I give you all kinds of opportunity. I have uh Instagram, I have Facebook, I have a whatnot Facebook group, I have my phone number and my profile. I'll say it here. You're welcome to text me. It's 832-607-1526. Some people think I'm crazy for giving that, but I am totally fine with that. So, you know, you guys text me, I will message you back. Some people message me just a simple question, like I'm stuck in this little shipping issue. I need help with this. Some people call me to set up, you know, hour and a half long consultations. Wherever you are in the mix, I'm here for you because I believe truly with my whole heart that we should treat others as we want to be treated. And I'm asking you, the you people who seem to be shy or just want to take me down a notch, to put some constructive criticism, some actual advice, because that's what I try to do in every one of these episodes. If you go back and you listen, it's never just me ranting. There's always a solution because just belly aching and bitching doesn't get us anywhere. I always, always try to come up with a solution. Go listen to every episode. I don't just say, here's the problem, I say here's how the solution can be fixed. And in this one, it's about integrity, communication, and giving people a chance, having grace and talking out things, you know. And so if you guys who are given the one-star review, just message me. My goodness, take five seconds. If you can take the time to be rude and give me one star, then take the time to give me your wonderful insight and advice and explaining, make the world a better place. If you think you can do better than me and you can make me better, and I'm doing something wrong, then explain yourself. That's it. Constructive criticism, have the conversation, right? Because valid criticism, it has specifics, which you've heard in this episode. I give specific ideas, it has real reasoning, thoughtful insights. You know, you're actually using your brain, you're like, hmm, how could we solve this problem? It has context, you know, you're looking at the episode. If you got a problem with a set specific episode, put it there in this episode. It it was at, you know, the two twenty mark, you know, two minutes, two two 20-second mark. Carrie said this and it isn't accurate, and she needs to change it. Great, let me know, bud. But that's the problem here. There is a lack of communication, hence why I have this podcast in the beginning. So valid criticism comes with specifics, reasoning, context, and communication. That communication can be you suck, or it can be I think you could improve here, or I would take my advice because I'm an expert in this and you're not. Great, bring it. If you know more than me and you're better than me, and you've got better advice, bring it, bring it, bring it all day till the cows come home. Can we please have dialogue? It's not that hard. Get off your phone, pick up the phone, call me. I am more than happy to dialogue with you. But anonymous negativity without any context, without any advice, without any suggestions, without it never's gonna help. You're never gonna help anybody. You're not helping improve the world, you're not helping improve the podcast, you're not helping improve me, you're not improving anything, and that's the problem here, guys. We need to improve. The app needs to improve, the accountability needs to improve, the uh determination of what somebody's you know, uh punishment is needs to change. You know, we've talked about these things, and and that's that's the thing. At the end of the day, um all these things come down to it the shipping problems, the whatnot, the ratings and reviews, it's all communication. Anonymous negativity is not gonna help anybody. Let's let's bring it all back to a integrity, a Accountability, professionalism, and communication. Come on, guys. You just get get get me worked up and it's it's not even 8 30. It just turned 8 30. Anyways, okay. So how sellers treat buyers, how platforms treat sellers, how people communicate with each other, professionalism, not sending you SPS boxes, you know, all of that is what this episode is about. And I think really deep down inside, it's my own personal issues and and frustrates me because it just seems like people don't care. And I know it's not everybody, but and I I think I'm I'm going off to a counseling, you know, type thing for the next two weeks. And that's something I'm gonna talk about, but it it does, it just feels like people just don't care anymore. And you know, I know that's not the case, and I just want to point out um this wonderful girl, Malia 2010. She's a seller on the app. She sent me a card the other day, y'all, and it was just the sweetest thing. And I've got that card sitting up on my bookcase. And every time I, you know, walk towards my kitchen, I see that card. And I think, no, there are still people out there who care. And and there's coupon mom of is it coupon coupon mom of three, it might be. Um, she also has sent me cards and in things, and I've had other people, Kelsey. I could go on the list, cards, presents, thank yous, appreciation for the podcast, for my consultations, whatever. So I know that there are good people out there. I know that there's are people with kindness and integrity and care and communication. I just wish that there were more of us. My I think that's I just have a a genuine sadness that that there's not more of us. And there are amazing sellers on this app, and people can definitely feel the difference. They can tell who is is working hard and who hasn't. Um, you know, I've been on the app for about two years now. I probably ship somewhere around 20,000 items because I bundled so many things. One time I did a box show um of books, and I ran a whole box of books for one dollar. So, I mean, I I'm guessing it's like 20,000 items that I've sent. Um, so you guys are more than welcome to look at my ratings, to look at my numbers. I spend around $850 to $1,100 a month on shipping supplies. I try to give a good customer experiment, experience, not experiment, experience. So at the end of the day, I wrote a list. Here it is. I'm wrapping up professionalism, buyer trust, communication, packing quality, presentation, consistency, community, relationships, caring. These are things that matter to me. And I and I want them to matter to everybody. And I remember that um I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Coca-Cola. If you guys go look it up, it's Coca-Cola back in the 1970s, and it's all these people from all these cultures, and they're all holding hands and they're talking about how they'd like to ever see world peace. I mean, it was like a hippie-dippy trippy time. But I look back at that and it's like you just yearn for it. As a Christian, as a mom, as just a human being, as a woman in this world, you just want the world to be a better place. And that's really at the end of the day what I'm wanting here. I want people to care. I want people to put forth effort and communication and talk, you know. I've mentioned this before. I'm estranged from four of my kids, four out of six. I don't really think that's necessarily a reflection of me as much as it is them and things that happened. And it's sad, it's a whole epidemic. You guys can go type in estrangement in Facebook, and there's a gajillion groups, there's books, everything. If you don't know anything about estrangement, it's a huge issue. But it is the biggest heartbreak of my life. And I I will never experience another pain like it. And so I think it really affects me harder, maybe, than most people, because I'm dealing with that level of sadness and grief. Um, but yeah, I want people to care. I want everybody to hold hands, I want everybody to work together as a team. And when they don't, it's sad and disappointing and frustrating. And there's just this deep yearning pit in my body that just, oh, I just Jesus come back. Heaven, I can't wait. And you know, blah, blah, blah. So, anyways, okay, last thing. Um, I'm going out of town on Sunday morning. I will not be back till late the 5th, I think. So um, there's gonna be a pause before I do any more upcoming episodes. Um, I'm not even gonna think about it. I'm not gonna worry about whatnot. I'm probably not gonna get on at all. If I do, it'll be like five minutes. I am going to Austin um to an interesting retreat. I don't know if I'm gonna talk about it here or if I'm even gonna start a new podcast about it. Um, but I'm gonna be gone for two weeks. And uh, so I I that's why this episode was longer. I wanted to get it was really three episodes. Uh, you know, we talked about the USPS stuff and the integrity. We talked about my being in whatnot jail and the inaccuracy and the harshness of the slap on the wrist for 180 days and my thoughts on that. And then we talked about how people are coming in here and just giving one-star reviews and not communicating. And we really talked about a lot of it, but that was really three episodes in one that I did today. Um, at the end of the day, I want you people who are listening, who care to succeed. I want you to get to your 1K. I want you to do good. I want you to make good choices. I want you to make good decisions, I want you to send good packages, I want you to to put good forth in the world, bring goodness. And I want you to receive goodness. I really, truly, truly mean that, guys. Um, and I want but buyers to trust and appreciate me, and I want sellers to care about standards, and I want people to seriously think about their long-term consequences when they're lazy, when they're careless, when they have weak communication, anonymous negativity. Let's throw that one in there, and just poor buyer experiences as a whole. I think we can all work hard to do our best, and that's what we all should be doing. And with that, I'll see you guys in a couple weeks, I guess. Um, I don't even know if I'm having a show today. It's kind of been crazy. But, anyways, I hope you guys are doing really, really well. And um, we'll talk to you later. All right, bye, guys.