She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

BOLO ~ Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube

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NEW Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube
Paid: $1.39 @ VV, Sold: $49.95 + shipping (two days after listed)

There seem to be two different versions of the Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube.  My best guess is that the version above is the older style.  It seems to be more rare, which means it generally sells for more on eBay.

I found the above cube at a thrift a few weeks ago.  And I left it behind!!  I was being super picky with what I bought because I knew the store was having a 50% off *everything* sale a couple days later (the first of its kind as far as I know, usually this particular store only does 50% off clothes/bed/bath).   So there were several things I had been eyeballing that I was hoping would still be there when the sale rolled around.  Luckily, the toy was still there, and this time I looked it up, and quickly put it in my cart!

It sold two days after I listed it, and the buyer actually messaged me hoping I had more of them I could also sell him.  (I wish I did!)  Even the used ones of this style seem to sell consistently.  Happy hunting!

Reaching a goal

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Oh, what a summer.  I can’t believe it’s slipping by so fast.  I’m slowly starting to make the mental shift towards fall, my boys starting back to school, and having a more regular routine.  But that doesn’t mean I am wishing away the last few weeks of summer!

Every week I think about doing a “what’s sold” post and a “what I’ve found yard saling” post.  While I find good items here and there at yard sales, and the prices are generally unbeatable, I feel like the number and quality of yard sales this year has gone down.  Maybe because of all the FB and other newer online selling venues, maybe because it has been unseasonably hot, maybe for reasons I haven’t even thought of.  BUT ~ this weekend there area a couple big rummage sales, as well as a “neighborhood” sale in my area.  I put neighborhood in quotes because it is actually dozens of streets.  My boys wanted us to have a yard sale too, but I said heck no!  This is the weekend to shop.

I’ve kind of gotten into a listing groove recently.  I have been listing 12 items every day.  A small, consistent, doable goal.  And my sales are improving.  In fact, I hit a goal I’ve been eyeing for quite awhile.

My sales are up over 100% over the same time period last year!  I’ve been watching the % creep up, but it finally tipped over the 100% mark today.  Yay.

 

How is your summer?  How are sales?  Trucking along or summer slowdown?  I’d love to hear about it!

 

My best auction ever

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I’ve started dabbling in auctions.  In part just to mix things up, in part because I get 500 free every month and I hate to see them entirely go to waste.  A couple weeks ago I pulled a tote of unlisted inventory out of my garage.  I was pleasantly surprised to find some really good items in it.  One was a vintage Cabbage Patch doll.  I don’t know a lot about CPK, but I do know that the soft sculpture (cloth face) dolls sell for the most.  I have sold two in the past, for around $75-$100/ea.  In the tote I found this doll:

I bought her and another soft sculpture CPK at the same time from a FB kids sales site.  I paid $10 for the other doll, and sold it back in September, 2015.  It was in excellent condition.  This one I only paid $5 for.  It was still in nice condition, but had some marks/spots on it, so I procrastinated listing it … for TWO YEARS.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, I listed it at 7-day auction for $49.95.  A minute after listing I got an e-mail inquiry asking if I would add a BIN price.  Less than a minute after that the listing got its first bid.  At first I was a bit both confused and slightly irritated wondering why they bid if they wanted me to add a BIN?  Then I realized it was someone else who had bid.  Within a couple minutes I had four watchers.  Ten minutes after that it was up to 11 watchers.  I got several more inquiries about adding a BIN price and one outright asking me to cancel the auction and sell it to them for $250.

I’ve never had an auction with so much interest before.  I decided to let it ride.


The most watchers I saw was 65.  It ended with 879 views.  With one minute to go it was at $202, but it had a bunch of (literal) last minute bids, and ended at $427.18.

The gal who bought her e-mailed me immediately, she was SUPER excited!  We traded several e-mails over the past few days.  My impression from her is that doll was more sought after than some others because of the hair color and year of production.

And I just got the note below:

Hi Kari, My super cute baby just arrived safe and sound. I love her. I do want to name her Kari Lynn if you don’t mind. We are going to Georgia the end of August. We will only be one hour from BabyLand, so I will take her to bathcamp. I’m a little afraid to try and clean her myself. You can be sure she will have a good loving home. Thank you. Please have a good day. Best Always, xxx

Love the good flip, but also love that the buyer is so happy to have her.  ♥

BOLO Update ~ LuLaRoe

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Over a year ago I mentioned LuLaRoe as a BOLO.  At the time my SIL was in the process of signing up as a consultant.  Fast forward a year and she has a FB group of over 1200 people who shop with her, and she “cruise qualified” her first year (she and my brother just got back from a LuLaRoe Caribbean cruise a couple weeks ago).  Direct sales is not at all my thing (I much prefer the anonymity of eBay), but she is amazing.  I was talking to her a week or so ago, and she told me that LuLaRoe recently announced a collaboration line with Disney.  It’s going to be hot, hot, hot!  It’s not even out yet, so it won’t be showing up in thrift stores anytime soon, but if you’re invited to any LuLaRoe parties in the next few months keep an eye out!

BOLO ~ Oregon Trail Game (for Wii, DS, etc)

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I went on an end of the year field trip with my third-grader last week.  His class has been working on a big history project, so we visited some historical landmarks.  We live in Oregon, so of course talk of the Oregon Trail came up.  Which got all of the parents reminiscing about playing the Oregon Trail computer game back in our own school days.  Someone mentioned that it has been re-released in updated formats, so I thought it might be a fun game to buy for my boys to play over the summer.  If I luck across one at a yard sale we will keep it, but I can’t see myself paying these prices:

Oregon Trail for Wii

Oregon Trail for DS

Honestly, I would probably take a second look at any version I came across.  Happy hunting!

BOLO ~ Dean Koontz Pseudonym Books

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Here’s another BOLO I picked up from working the Reference Desk.  A patron was asking about Dean Koontz books.  THIS is my favorite website for getting lists of authors’ books, it’s especially great for figuring out the order of a series.  When I pulled up the Dean Koontz page I noticed that there was an entire section of pseudonyms that Dean Koontz has written under.  News to me.  Noticing a woman’s name, I was curious and looked it up on Amazon.  Impressed by the listed prices of the books, I then switched to eBay to see if any of the books were actually selling for high prices.  Here are links to solds to some of Dean Koontz’s pseudonyms:

Deanna Dwyer

Brian Coffey

K R Dwyer

John Hill

Leigh Nichols

Anthony North

Richard Paige

Owen West

Aaron Wolfe

David Axton

Of course I was curious both about why Dean Koontz had so many pseudonyms I had never heard of, and why the books published under those names were so valuable.  I did a little research.  It turns out when he first started writing he wrote in several different genres (sci fi, horror, etc) and at the advice of his editors he published his books of different genres under different names.  Once his books started to become bestsellers he started to write under his own name consistently.

And the reason why the older books are worth so much?  For many of them, Koontz bought back the rights so that they cannot be republished.  Interesting, no?

Something fun to keep an eye out for at yard sales this summer.

Happy hunting!

Avoiding Negative Feedback

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Overall I think I do a really great job providing good customer service to my eBay buyers.  With very few exceptions I only sell items that are new or in nearly new condition, I package items neatly (usually wrapped in tissue, with a packing slip that I write Thanks! 🙂 across), I always ship within one business day, I send a friendly e-mail to the buyer after the item has been dropped off at the PO to let them know the item is on its way.  I know I add in extra steps that aren’t necessary, and they take time, but I like providing that level of service.  And in return my buyers are generally very kind, friendly, gracious, and appreciative.

But every once in awhile, I do make a mistake.  It happens, it sucks.  Usually this takes the form of pulling out a clothing item I have just sold, only to find that it has a flaw.  Like at the end of last week.  I sold a beautiful cashmere sweater, and when I was packaging it up I noticed it had a small hole on the back.  How I could have missed it I have no idea, because I always try to be sooo careful with cashmere sweaters, looking for flaws.  And yet, there it was.

So, what would you do?  Cancel the sale?  E-mail the buyer to let them know, and ask if they still want it?  Send it anyway, and hope they don’t notice?  Or?

Here’s what I did.  I packaged up the sweater, and mailed it.  Then when I went to send the “your package has shipped” e-mail, I sent this instead:

Good morning,

I wanted to let you know that I dropped your package off at the Post Office yesterday (Thurs) morning. When I was packaging up the sweater I noticed a really small hole on the back. It’s not very noticeable, but it is there. The sweater is beautiful, and I hope that you are still able to wear it and get enjoyment out of it. But, I am SUPER picky about what I list on eBay, and I would never have listed this if I saw the hole earlier. I am going to refund your money in just a couple minutes. But I’m not canceling the order, the sweater is already on its way. I hope you still love it!

If you have any questions or concerns about this transaction please let me know.

Best,

Kari

Is it overkill?  Maybe?  Does it save me from getting the occasional negative feedback because I’ve owned up to an honest mistake, and tried to make it right?  It’s certainly possible.

And in addition to saving myself from negative feedback, I also simply want to give the buyer a positive eBay buying experience.  While the buyer probably won’t come back and buy from me again, I have hopefully spun my negative into enough of a positive that the buyer won’t be turned off from buying on eBay in the future.  We’re all in this eBay thing together, and hopefully the good, responsible sellers outnumber the crummy ones.

This particular situation where I’ve missed a flaw on an item that has sold probably only comes up a couple times a year, and this is how I have generally chosen to deal with it.  About a year ago I sold a NWT dress, only to realize that it somehow had a stain on the front.  I had purchased several of the same dress at the same time, and obviously hadn’t looked over every single one closely enough, and of course the one with the stain was the only one I had left.  I shipped the dress, refunded, and sent an e-mail of apology/explanation.  I had looked up the buyer’s feedback history, and she left negative feedback a LOT.  But that time?  Not only did she leave me positive feedback, but she sent my money back to me(!), with a note saying she washed the dress and the stain “mostly” came out.  So that scenario turned out much better than I could have hoped.

And the cashmere sweater I sent out last week?  Here’s the feedback I got today:

Positive feedback rating Best seller on eBay, fast shipping, great communication with seller.

Of course there are no guaranties, but when buyers know we are trying to do our best, they appreciate it and often respond accordingly.

 

BOLO ~ Marx Airplanes

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In my “real life” I am a reference librarian at a public library.  It’s an interesting job, no two days are ever alike.  I always say it’s not my job to know everything, but it is my job to know how/where to find the answer to any question.  Patrons can walk up and literally ask anything.  Occasionally I even get questions about eBay.

Yesterday afternoon at work a patron asked me to help him research Marx airplanes on eBay.  What did I know about Marx airplanes before yesterday?  Nada.  But I now know that Marx was a toy manufacturer from 1919-1978, and was most popular in the ’50s.  It produced a range of products, not just planes.  And many of those items are still sought after by collectors today.  I also learned that some sellers read the logo as “Mar” instead of “Marx”, and therefore list it incorrectly.  Looking at the logo below, I think it’s an understandable mistake.

Check out some Marx airplane completeds HERE.

The Popeye plane also caught my eye, and after doing a bit of research I realized Marx had a number of Popeye products.


Check out Popeye completeds HERE.

Outside my normal scope of thrifting/flipping, so something I never would have looked at twice.  Happy hunting!

Favorite Flips Friday, 5/5/17

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My sales haven’t been overly exciting this week.  Here are a few of my better or more interesting ones.

NEW Robert Taylor Wings of War Puzzle
Paid: $2.50 @ consignment sale, BO Accepted: $35.00 (listed since May, 2016)

I love this cribbage board!  The buyer was excited to add it to his cribbage board collection.


3-D Airplane Cribbage Board
Paid: $3.99 @ VV, BO Accepted: $40.00 (listed since May, 2016)


Monkey Bone Plush
Paid: $2.99 @ VV, BO Accepted: $29.95 (listed since May, 2016)

I picked this up at a yard sale two summers ago because I thought it was interesting.  And it has sat and sat and sat.  And then it sold this morning out of the blue at full price.


VTG 1963 Pacific Title Insurance Co Rates Plaque
Paid: ? @ ys, Sold: $19.95 (listed since August, 2015)

I was at a thrift a couple months ago, and made a second detour through the plush/toy area just before leaving only to discover boxes and boxes and boxes of older Barbie items had just been put out.  I looked them all up, and this was the only one worth snagging.

  NEW Krissy Swing ‘n Play!
Paid: $4.19 @ VV, Sold on sale: $54.05 (listed since March, 2017)

I am dreading the possible summer slow-down, since sales aren’t amazing as it is.  How are sales for you?

BOLO ~ Julia (Sesame Street)

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Sesame Street has a new character.  Her name is Julia, and she has autism.  A very limited number of Julia books and plush have been released.  My understanding is that they have all been given out as gifts/prizes, and have not been sold.  If you’re lucky enough to find one now, snap it up!  Check out completeds HERE.

***In the future I am sure there will be a mainstream store release of Julia items, at which time the value will go down dramatically.  I would always recommend looking up “BOLOs” before purchasing, to determine the current value.***

Happy hunting!