She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

Still a BOLO: Creative Memories

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I mentioned Creative Memories as a BOLO back in 2015. And holy heck were those some high prices I got! I’m still fuzzy on what is going on with the company, but I think some of the products have been reissued and probably aren’t worth as much as they once were – but they’re still worth picking up at the right price.

At the beginning of March there is a huge church rummage sale that I look forward to going to every year. This year I spent a big chunk of the day there. It is one day only, opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. I was there in line ready to shop at 8 a.m. But starting at 1 p.m. everything goes half-price, so I went back later in the day.

And what did I find? A HUGE tote of brand new, sealed Creative Memories scrapbooking supplies.

What the heck?!

First – amazing find. But how in the world did I miss it in the morning? I absolutely would have paid full price for all of it.

Second – why was it still there? Probably because the tote was on the floor instead of on a table so everyone just looked right over it, as I must have done that morning.

Half price made the Creative Memories items just 50¢ each!

As I type I still have three Creative Memories lots left from the rummage sale purchase available for sale. Read on to see what has already sold (listed in the order it sold).

Creative Memories 12×12
Natural Pages, Sheet Protectors
Paid: $1, Sold: $29.95
(1 day after listed)

Creative Memories 12×12
White Pages, Sheet Protectors
Paid: $1, Sold: $29.95
(1 day after listed)

Creative Memories 8.5×11
5 White Scrapbook Pages
Paid: $2.50, Sold: $59.95
(2 days after listed)

Creative Memories 7×7
5 Page Protectors
Paid: $2.50, Sold: $59.95
(1 day after listed)

Creative Memories 8.5×11
Scrapbook Pages/Protectors
Paid: $1.50, Sold: $49.95
(2 days after listed)

Creative Memories 7×7 Lot
Albums, Pages, Protectors
Paid: $3.00, Sold: $59.95
(5 days after listed)

Creative Memories 8×8
3 White Scrapbook Pages
Paid: $1.50, Sold: $44.95
(4 days after listed)

Creative Memories 12×12
2 Page Protectors
Paid: $1.00, Sold: $29.95
(6 days after listed)

Creative Memories 12×12
Gold Dust Pages + Protectors
Paid: $1.00, Sold: $29.95
(9 days after listed)

Creative Memories 12×12 Lot
Albums, Pages, Protectors
Paid: $3.00, Sold: $99.95
(19 days after listed)

Creative Memories 12×12 Lot
Album, Pages, Protectors
Paid: $1.50, Sold: $59.95
(26 days after listed)


I have grossed over $550 so far. Not bad at all!

Happy hunting!

Favorite Flips Friday – January sales

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Here are a few of my favorite sales from January on eBay.

Baby blankets are always my top favorite. These all sold between $27.95 – $34.95.

This particular Spark Create Imagine elephant plush seems to have a good sell-through rate.

Paid: $2.99 @ GW, Sold: $19.95
(4 days after listed)

Squishable plush are new for me, but this one sold very quickly.

Paid: $0.40 @ GWO, Sold: $19.95
(1.5 hours after listed)


I sometimes find duplicates of plush or loveys. I usually list one and keep the second in a duplicates tote, and list it after the first has sold. (With used items I hesitate in making multi-quantity listings because the condition may be different). I sold two of these People Pals plush cows for $24.95/ea about 2 months apart … to the same person. She also asked that I let her know if I find any more in the future.

Boo Boo Bear Plush
Paid: $1 @ ys, BO Accepted: $30
(listed since July, 2019)


I picked up this aardvark (??) plush at a small local thrift when visiting my in-laws last summer.

Paid: $0.50, BO Accepted: $35
(listed since Aug, 2019)

Toddler Piglet Costume
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95
(2 days after listed)

Purple Hush Puppies
Paid: $3 @ ys, BO Accepted: $34 + shipping
(listed since Sept, 2019)

JLo Lovelies Jeans
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $39.95
(listed since July, 2019)

VTG Gunne Sax Girls Dress
Paid: $5 @ ys, Sold: $39.95 + shipping
(auction that only got one bid)

Princess Leia Her Universe Dress
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $39.95
(2 days after listed)

The North Face Denali Jacket
Paid: $1.92 @ GWO
Sold: $49.95 + shipping
(9 days after listed)


Did you have any fun sales in January? I would love to hear about them!

Adventures in Mercari

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I finally opened up a store on Mercari back in November. To begin with I was enjoying something new. At the time I was working on listing all of the costumes I had recently purchased, so that is what I was also mostly listing on Mercari. And I did get a few sales right away.

I shared recently what kinds of items have been selling for me on Bonanza, and at first it was my intention to use that data to inform what I would be listing on Mercari. Basically, I was planning to list costumes, plush and loveys on Mercari but no clothing. But then for I don’t know what reason I did end up listing a dress on Mercari that wasn’t a big name brand and actually had a flaw, and it sold almost immediately. So that made me question my plans. Should I just list everything?

Answer? Ugh. I honestly don’t know. But I have been listing this and that and like PM it feels haphazard and also like PM I’m not getting the best results. I have had 18 sales total since opening my account in November.

I do appreciate Mercari’s low fees. Shipping is a bit of a pain though because I am offering free shipping on all of my listings. When purchasing the shipping I go through Paypal if it is under a pound and can be shipped First Class. If it is over a pound and smallish I will purchase shipping through Pirate Ship because it is a bit cheaper than Paypal.

Interested in what I have sold on Mercari since November? Here’s the scoop:

I have sold a few clothing items, including another 49ers shirt, a baby Columbia jacket, Hanna Andersson training pants, men’s dress shirts and a dress.

A few miscellaneous items, including a Dora plush lot, a Princess Leia hologram potato head, and a fancy Mario pencil box.

And a bunch of costumes, since that is basically all I listed for the first month or two. I sold two of the Blue Ranger costumes.

I do like having another platform on which to sell my items, and to have a bit more money coming in. Crossposting takes a little time but very little brain power so I don’t mind it too much. I did try using Vendoo when it was free and liked it okay, but felt like I was double and triple checking everything to make sure information transferred correctly so I didn’t feel like it was necessarily saving me time. I am currently doing all crossposting manually.

I would love to hear from others who are selling on Mercari. What do you love? What bugs you about the platform? Do you have specific categories of items that sell best? I’m all ears!

January sales on Poshmark

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Another month has come and gone. I sold a total of 20 items on Poshmark – only about 2/3 of the way to my goal of selling an average of at least one item per day.

I have a bunch of things listed. My closet is actually so big it makes it hard to share because there is just so much. It is not curated at all, instead pretty haphazard, a bit of this, a bit of that.

I am super close to being finished going through my closet adding “3/$25” in front of a bunch of my listings in hopes that it will increase bundle sales. Thus far it has resulted in exactly zero bundle sales.

So. Ho hum.

But if you’re interested, here are a few items that did sell on PM last month.

Someone was preparing for the Super Bowl!

Victoria’s Secret 49ers tank
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $22

I do sell a fair number of costumes on PM.

Simba costume
Paid: $1.99 @ WM, Sold: $20

These toddler boots were so darned cute. They were with Halloween clearance, so I got them for 90% off.

Paid: $2.49 @ Target, Sold: $25


Guess what else I like to sell on PM? Shocking no one … plush and baby blankets, of course. Honestly, I sell about as many loveys on PM as I do clothing.

Tiddliwinks Giraffe Blanket
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $20

Carter’s Thank Heaven for Baby Boys Blanket
Paid: $2.49 @ GW, Sold: $25

Ikea Dog Plush
Paid: $2.39 @ VV, Sold: $26

I listed consistently on PM in January, and I have to say I was quite underwhelmed by the results.

How is Poshmark looking for you? Please share.

Bonanza! A sales update.

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Something has been going on with Bonanza. I have my listings set up to automatically import from eBay to Bonanza. Usually I have one sale a month on Bonanza, maybe two. But the last week of December I had three sales! That seemed like a lot all at once. And in the first few weeks of January I sold EIGHT more items.

I actually starting writing this post last week, so in the final week of January I have had zero more Bonanza sales. It seems my streak is over. I think it is still worth sharing though because from what I can tell almost all of my Bonanza sales come from people randomly searching online and stumbling across Bonanza items. The majority of my sales are to people who I can tell just created their accounts to be able to purchase my item.

Wondering what has been selling on Bonanza?

Boys Referee Costume
Paid: $0.49 @ WM, Sold: $14.80
(listed since Dec, 2019)

Pink Kellytoy Plush
Paid: $0.99 @ VV, Sold: $17.77
(listed since July, 2015)

Sheep Blanket
Paid: $2.39 @ VV, Sold: $24.70
(listed since Oct, 2019)

I sold not one, not two, but THREE lollipop costumes to the same person.

Paid: $3 @ Target (each)
Sold: $24.70 (each)
(listed since Nov, 2019)

Mickey Mouse blue lovey
Paid $1 @ ys, Sold: $14.80
(listed since May, 2018)

Little Miracles Chevron Blanket
Paid: $3.19 @ VV
BO Accepted: $35
(listed since Nov, 2019)

Men’s Joker Costume
Paid: $2.99 @ WM
Sold: $29.65 + shipping
(listed since Nov, 2019)

Kellytoy Plush Bunny Rattle
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $24.70
(listed since June, 2019)

Carter’s Musical Dog
Paid: $1 @ rummage sale, Sold: $17.77
(listed since April, 2019)


Although there were more than usual, these are the types of items I typically sell on Bonanza. Of my 200ish lifetime sales on Bonanza, I can only remember selling a couple of clothing items, and those that I do remember selling were coats. I just went looking for a place in my account that lists my total sales and while I didn’t find that, I did find this:

Which confirms that the majority of my sales (at least over the last 30 days) came from Google. I think this holds true in past months too.

Side note. If there is a way to automatically import from eBay to Bonanza, why can’t this be done for PM or Mercari? Do they not want to be flooded with eBay listings? Are eBay and Bonanza affiliated in some way? I’ve actually wondered this for a long time, and it seems like I even looked it up once but wasn’t able to confirm it was true.

Does anyone else still sell on Bonanza? How is it going over there?

Goodwill Outlet

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There is a Goodwill Outlet on the other side of my town – probably a 15-20 minute drive from my house. I went there for the first time about 10 years ago. The only way I can really place it in time is that I had my oldest (and at the time, only) son with me. We went in, looked around, I felt overwhelmed by the people and chaos and underwhelmed by the kinds of items (I think at the time I hadn’t started selling clothes). I bought my son an Elmo toy and we got the heck out of there after just a few minutes.

Fast forward 10-ish years, I had never once gone back. I don’t remember even being tempted to go back. But as you may know, my Value Village closed. And now that I am working from home full-time I have started listening to Youtube videos in the background as I work, and the majority of folks seem to shop at the bins. So I decided it was time to go back.

One of my personal goals each year is to donate blood at least 5 times (eligible donors can donate every 56 days!) The Red Cross blood donor center recently moved … in the same general direction as the bins from my house. So I decided that the next time I donated blood I would go to the bins after.

It was pretty much exactly how people describe it. Most items are priced $1.29 per pound if you purchase 25+ pounds, media items are priced separately. You dig. Mine is busy, but not so busy that you can’t keep your cart next to you all the time. I didn’t encounter anyone that was rude or overly aggressive. It was fun, but at the end I had to be honest that I didn’t find many amazing things … mostly Nike, Under Armour, Columbia and the like that will bring in small but decent sales. I was also super curious about how much I actually paid for each item, so I weighed every single thing to get an idea of actual cost. Here are a few of the items I have sold so far:

Nike athletic pants
Paid: $0.56, Sold: $14.95
(2 days after listed)

Athleta tank top
Paid: $0.48, Sold: $15.95
(11 days after listed)

Outfitter’s Ridge Boys Camo Jacket
Paid: $1.68, Sold: $24.95
(4 days after listed)

Rothco Concealed Carry Hoodie
Paid: $1.76, Sold: $24.95
(less than 12 hours after listed)

Pottery Barn Kids
Beatrix Potter fitted sheet
Paid: $0.64, BO Accepted: $30
(7 days after listed)


I was also given 2 Red Cross shirts for donating blood. Probably about half the time I go they have some kind of freebie offer going on, this time it was a long sleeve tee. Apparently they had boxes and boxes of the shirts because one of the gals working there encouraged me to take more than one if I wanted.

2 Red Cross Long-Sleeve Tees
Paid: $0.00 (1 pint of blood)
BO Accepted: $16
(11 days after listed)

I have to admit I enjoyed the GWO experience. When I got home my boys asked why my blood donation appointment had taken so long and I told them I had gone to the Goodwill Outlet.

8yo: You went to the bins?!
Me: How do you know it is called that?
8yo: That’s what they say in all of the videos you watch.

I came home with a lot of mediocre items. (AND, unlike shopping at Value Village where I mostly bought NWT items, I felt the need to wash absolutely everything.) If I was low on inventory it would be a very cost-effective way to get more … but right now I am still making my way through backlogged inventory. So I don’t plan to go back often.

That said, last Friday was my birthday and when my husband asked what I wanted to do I told him I wanted to go to the Goodwill Outlet. He was totally a good sport and went with me. I was kinda hoping he would love it, but notsomuch. We did find him a new pair of work pants, which I washed over the weekend. He just (minutes ago) came downstairs wearing them and said he found a dollar in the pocket. !!!! I thought I had checked every pocket on every item, I’ve seen pictures online of people finding money in pockets and I was hoping I might get so lucky. But, no.

Current score: Me – $0, Husband – $1

Do you shop at the bins? Do you love it? Please share!

BOLO: Skip It

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This BOLO comes courtesy of an article I came across on FB this morning that included a list of ’80s items that people wish had not been discontinued. Of course I was a sucker and clicked the linked (hey, it’s research! At least that is how I justified that particular time-suck to myself.) Many of the items included were food products, but some were items we could possibly find to resell. One being the Skip It!

This absolutely looks like something that would be sitting in a driveway at a yard sale that I would walk right by. But, it might be worth picking up. It’s not a huge profit, but it seems like they can often be sold for $25-$50, and they have a strong sell-through rate. Check out completeds HERE. You will see that the Skip It was actually re-released in 2013 in what appears to be some kind of a collaboration with Demi Lovato, and those also sell well.

As always, if you find a “BOLO item” I recommend that you look it up prior to purchase as the market, demand and prices do change over time. Happy hunting!

Costume Sales Update

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Back in November I shared that I had spent $812.41 on Halloween costumes that were on clearance at 90% off. I said I hoped to hit $1000 in gross sales by the end of December. For a long time I thought I was going to make it. On December 23 I was up to $879.36 in costume sales. And then I didn’t sell another costume for the rest of the year …

Sales in general slowed down that last week, but they’ve picked up again and by January 6 I had sold another 7 costumes which pushed my total gross sales for recently purchased costumes up to $1028.26! So I have met my $1000 goal, just six days later than I was hoping. Still not bad.

The majority of sales came from eBay, but I also sold some of my newly purchased costumes on Poshmark, Mercari and Bonanza. I am happy to get a sale anywhere I can make it! All of the costumes shown here are some of those that have sold in the last few weeks – for several I have sold multiples of the same costume.

2020 Goals: Finish

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Last year I read the book Finish by Jon Acuff, and man, it spoke to me.

In it he talks a lot about how people set goals, and some of the reasons they get derailed and never finish their goals. Of course there are a lot of reasons things don’t go as planned, but one of the biggest (and the one I related to the most) goes something like this: I have a goal of listing a minimum of 12 new items per day. I am trucking along, getting my listings up and feeling really good about it, but then life happens and one day I just can’t get it done. I let it derail me, and instead of dusting myself off and starting again tomorrow I feel discouraged that my streak is over and less motivated to try again. And before I know it a month has slipped by without me being consistent and I feel frustrated and defeated.

One of the strategies Acuff suggests in combating this is: Cut your goal in half.

I love it. It’s brilliant.

Making the base goal so much more attainable elevates my motivation to try and achieve and keep achieving. It’s the marathon-not-a-sprint or tortoise-and-the-hare mindset. Keep plugging away, possibly at a slower pace, but being able to attain the goals builds momentum and I’m more likely to end up where I want to be, even if it takes a bit longer than I want it to.

In my life there are three areas that I always feel I am striving to do better.

#1 – make more money
#2 – manage my health
#3 – home organization

{Of course there are other priorities as well, such as my family, but I feel like I already do a good job in that area. I don’t feel I need to make a more concerted effort to stay on track.}

These are my “cut the goal in half” bare minimum daily to-dos that I keep track of in a memo on my phone.
Work related:
eBay – create at least 6 new listings.
Poshmark – crosslist 4 items
Mercari – crosslist 4 items
Health related:
Track my food/exercise on the Lose It app.
Exercise for at least 20 minutes/day.
Home organization:
Focused 30 minutes of organization/purging/cleaning.
Bonus:
Add at least one post on my kid blog. (Mostly just for the grandparents and for me to eventually print out in lieu of a photo album. I am super behind.)

Do I have other goals I want to get done every day? Of course. Do I want to get more than just six items listed on eBay every day? Absolutely. But for some reason instead of having a huge goal in front of me (where I will eventually flounder) having these small bite-size goals to work on each day keeps me really motivated.

I know these goals don’t look like much. Some days they are all knocked out in the morning. Some days I finish up just before midnight. I also give myself the weekends off from trying to meet all of the goals, which helps me push through the weekdays – knowing a weekend is coming. My hope is that it will be a recipe for consistency and sustainability.

Do you have any specific goals this year? How are you going about attaining them? I would love to hear about it!

Mystery Money Box #1

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It has been about 6 weeks since my Value Village closed. (Sniff, sniff. No, I’m not really over it.) But the silver lining is that I am making my way through some old inventory. Take this box:

This was a really big box that I have in my storage room. It was under some other boxes. I really and truly thought that it was empty. Until something inside the box shifted and started playing music. And would. not. stop. It played and played until I unburied the box and opened it up. Inside I found a huge number of things that probably should have been listed years (yes, years) ago. But since it wasn’t, I am listing what I can now.

This wagon was the music culprit. If you push down on Pooh he plays music and talks. The wagon was kinda big. I had no interest in trying to ship it so I sold it locally for $10.

This is a super cute Melissa & Doug Noah’s Ark set, but a couple of the animals are missing so I decided to sell it locally. I’ve actually gotten a bunch of messages about it, but so far no one has purchased it.

I found not one but two(!) Wiggles guitars in the box. The red one works, but the purple one doesn’t. I’ve been waffling on whether to sell them online or locally due to the condition.

I am almost certain this toy was a gift to my now 8yo when he was a baby. I listed it on eBay and it sold for $29.95 (20 days after listed).

I found an entire shoe box tote full of what I figured out were Bratz dolls. I have NO memory of buying these. I am guessing it was literally years ago.

I listed the entire lot for $39.95 + shipping. A potential buyer e-mailed me and asked if he bought the lot at full price if I could send only the clothing and accessories including those on the dolls, but not send the actual dolls. In the past in similar situations I usually put up a new listing with only the items the buyer is interested in included, but I looked at his FB and he seemed like a nice, active eBay buyer with no red flags so I just said yes I could keep the dolls if he didn’t want them and left the listing as is. He promptly purchased the lot, I sent it to him sans dolls, and he left the following feedback:
Thank you for compromising! Shipped fast packaged well

It kind of made me laugh because the “compromise” was that he got less than what he paid for, but whatever. I relisted the dolls and they sold on their own for $19.95. So, yay.

This was a GAP mock turtleneck velvet top. It sold for $15.95 (3 days after I listed it). I think it is the only other item in the box I have sold … so far.


Here are some more of the toys in the box. Of these only the Rudolph rattle is listed on eBay. I listed the Sesame Street toy locally, the Little Einsteins game is missing pieces, and most of the other items I am going to lot up. I need to do research on the dolls – they are Polly Pocket ish, but Disney, so I think they are actually something else.

There was also misc clothing and books.

Some of the books are listed. The Star Wars sticker books are brand new, I am waffling on whether to list them or give them as a gift. My youngest son snagged the Tony Hawk hoodie. The skirts are cute and Gymboree, but show a fair amount of wash wear. The stack of pants are all maternity and also show wash wear. I am guessing when I bought them the intent was resale, but they are things I would never pick up now (mostly due to condition). If I ever participate in the kids consignment sale again I may take them there, that way the buyer can clearly see what they are buying prior to purchase. (The condition isn’t bad, I am now just super picky about what I buy to resell, and generally only buy items that show almost no signs of wear.)

I wish I could say this is the only neglected box in my storage room, but I do have some totes that I know I need to go through … and I have no idea what I will find inside. But hey, it’s been there so long it now it feels like free inventory. Yay?