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| **photo borrowed from completed eBay listing** |
And yet another! The Disney Store Lightning McQueen 3D Plush Costumes sell well. Check out completeds HERE.
BOLO: Mrs. Potts Costume (Beauty & the Beast)
Another day, another costume. Here’s a good one to watch out for ~ Mrs. Potts from Beauty & the Beast. It appears to have been produced for both adults and kids. Check out completeds HERE.
October Goals —–> Aiming High! (+ September’s Sales)
Well, I fell short of my listing goal in September. So what does that mean for October? Set an even bigger goal, of course! I am not where I’d like to be sales-wise, but I have high hopes for the fourth quarter. Of course, to sell things they need to be listed, and I have a lot of unlisted inventory languishing in my storage room. So, I am setting a goal of 200 new listings for October. I’ve never accomplished that many in one month before. Maybe this time?
Halloween items are flying out the door, which I love. It’s taken over the second spot in my store’s top performing categories (behind plush). I had over 100 sales in September, and right around 20% were Halloween related, be it costumes, clothing, decor, etc. Fun, fun, fun. But, I am saving those for a different post. Below you will find a handful of my other September sales, along with the varied times it took for each item to sell.
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| Vintage Memory Game – Complete Paid: $0.99 @ Value Village, Sold: $24.95 (2 months later) This is the second copy of this game I have sold. |
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| Baby Einstein Book Lot Paid: $2ish, Sold: $19.95 (3 days later) |
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| NEW Winnie the Pooh Twin Flannel Sheet Set Paid: $5 @ church rummage sale, Sold: $49.95 (4 months later) |
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| Minnie Mouse Fanny Pack Paid: $0.75 @ ys, Sold: $19.95 (1 month later) |
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| mini-Caboodle Paid: $0.25 @ ys, Sold: $24.95 (1 month later) |
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| Firetruck Sweater, Size 2T Paid: $0.50ish @ ys, Sold: $24.95 (6 months later) |
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| Duck Metal Watering Can Paid: $3.50ish on clearance last summer, BO Accepted: $38.55 (1 year later) |
So, obviously not everything was a quick flip. But I still think *almost* everything will sell eventually!
Ugly Christmas Sweater Fashion Show
I sold several Ugly Christmas Sweaters this year, including:
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| Sold: $29.95 |
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| Sold: $24.95 |
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| Sold: $24.95 |
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| Best Offer: $15 (had very small hole on shoulder) |
And some Christmas-y shirts:
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| Sold: $27.95 |
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| Best Offer: $12 |
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| Sold: $17.50 |
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| Sold: $14.95 |
Scrubs, too:
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| Sold: $19.95 |
A fun baby holiday costume:
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| Sold: $19.95 |
I sold a few girls holiday dresses:
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| Sold: $9.95 |
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| I had 2 identical dresses like this. Size 24 Mo: Best Offer $8 Size 3T: Best Offer $10 |
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| Sold: $9.95 |
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| Sold 2 for $12.50/ea |
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| Sold: $9.95 |
And I even sold a few kids “Ugly Christmas Sweaters”!
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| Sold $9.95 |
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| Sold: $12.50 |
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| Sold: $12.95 |
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Halloween Items – List ’em If You’ve Got ’em
Costumes are one of my favorite things to sell, and I list them all year long. They can be pretty consistent sellers, no matter the time of year. A few weeks ago I finally got around to listing all of the Halloween outfits (not costumes, but clothes of the “Baby’s First Halloween” variety) I purchased last November. And you know what? I sold three outfits in June, and several others have multiple watchers. Some people obviously already have Halloween on the brain. As I’ve been sorting and organizing in preparation for our big move, I’ve started gathering a bin of unlisted Halloween items. It’s time to get those babies listed!
My Funny Valentine
Remember back in October when I had the awesome sale that wasn’t?
Well, it sold again!
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| Adult Eeyore Costume Paid: $5 at yard sale Sold: $174.95 – shipping |
Quick recap:
I bought the above costume for $5 last summer, and sold it just before Halloween for $174.95! I happily shipped it off to its new owner . . . who had the wrong zip code listed on his account. The costume ended up being returned to sender . . . after Halloween . . . and I ended up refunding the money.
Well, it sold last week for the same price, and the buyer sent this note:
Is it possible to include a note with the costume?
I would like to say " Happy Valentines! Love, Mom".
Thanks, xxx
That’s a rather generous Valentine’s Day gift! I was momentarily concerned that she was going to ask me to mail the costume to a different address than was listed on her account, but nope, when I went to print out the shipping information it came up with her son’s info at Dartmouth. (Another college boy!) And the package shows as delivered this time, so we’re already in better shape than the last.
But I liked the below sale even better.
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| NWT Simba Broadway Musical Plush Paid: $1.49 at Value Village Sold: $15.95 – shipping |
Because the buyer sent me this note after I e-mailed him that Simba was in the mail:
THANKS!!
It is going to be part of a Valentine’s present including tickets to see the Lion King musical, so timing was getting tight!
I am a HUGE theater lover, so that is my kind of Valentine’s gift!!! I hope his Valentine appreciates it as much.
As for actual Valentine’s items? I only sold one:
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| My First Valentine’s Day Outfit + Bib Paid: Maybe $1 at a yard sale? Sold: $13.50 – shipping |
I had several Valentine’s Day plush listed, but here they still sit. Oh well.
Once Upon A Child
I know this is a chain store, and I believe it is national. It is like a consignment store except they buy items outright (for next to nothing, so I’m told). If you are familiar with it and have one near you, you just might want to check and see if they have their Halloween costumes on clearance. For me, this store is all the way across town, and generally priced too high for me to make money buying items to resell, so I almost never stop there. Well, I’m glad I did today! We were almost ready to leave empty-handed when I noticed a sign – 80% off Halloween costumes and apparel. I looked through all four racks and came away with 37 items for $41.50! Some were even NWT. My poor son was almost literally buried in costumes by the end of it.
Now the hard part . . . do I set them aside and list them sometime next year, or get them listed right away? I’m leaning towards listing them now as I have time. I’ve already sold two costumes since Halloween. You just never know what people might be looking for.
I ♥ costumes!
I sold a bunch of costumes and other Halloween accessories over the past few months. Here is a list of some of what I sold. I will include how much I paid and was paid when I can remember. I am trying to do this kind of quickly – but even uploading all the photos took a long time. This is not a comprehensive list.
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| TCP Dragon Costume Paid $2? @ YS Sold $17.95 – shipping |
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| Captain America Baby Costume Paid $1ish @ YS Sold $19.95 – shipping (I think) |
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| Mickey Mouse Plush Hand Gloves Paid $3 @ YS Sold $29.95 – shipping |
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| R2D2 Toddler Hat Paid $0.74 @ VV Sold $12.50 – shipping |
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| Buzz Lightyear Ray Gun (with sound and lights) Paid $2.50ish at Value Village? Sold $22.95 – shipping |
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| Ruby Red Slippers Paid $1 @ Mother Goose Sold $11.95 – shipping |
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| Spiderweb Converse Shoes Paid $6.99 @ GW Sold $39.95 – shipping |
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| Old Navy Spider Hat Paid $0.50 @ YS Sold $9.95 – shipping |
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| NWT Halloween Vest Paid $1 @ yard sale Sold $12.50 + shipping |
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| NWT 3 Halloween Turtlenecks Paid $3 @ Estate Sale Sold $23.95 – shipping |
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| NWT OshKosh Engineer Overalls Paid $1 @ YS Sold $17.50 – shipping (I think) |
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| Children’s Place Hat Paid ? Sold $8.95 – shipping |
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| Mickey Pirate Shirt Paid less than $1 @ Target clearance Sold $8.75 – shipping |
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| 3 sets of Shrek ears Paid $1.49? @ VV Sold $12.50 – shipping |
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| Great Pumpkin baby shirt Paid less than $1 @ Target clearance Sold $8.50 – shipping |
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| Pirate Costume Paid ? last year during Target clearance Was “bought” but I never received payment |
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| Butterfly Ballerina TuTu Paid $1? @ YS Sold $19.95 – shipping |
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| Mickey Mouse Costume (my youngest wore last year) Paid $5ish @ Mother Goose Consignment Sold $27.95 – shipping |
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| Old Navy Pirate Costume Paid $4ish @ VV Sold $44.95 – shipping |
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| Lil Stinker Skunk Costume (my youngest also wore last year) Paid $3ish? @ consignment sale Sold $19.95 – shipping |
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| Ralph Lauren Orange Pants Paid $1 @ YS Sold $13.95 – shipping |
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| OshKosh Engineer Overalls Paid $0.50? @ YS Sold $13.95 – shipping |
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| Toddler Candy Corn Costume Paid $4ish @ VV Sold $29.95 – shipping |
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| Toddler Faux Leather Jacket Paid $1 @ YS Sold $19.95 – shipping |
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| Old Navy Bat Costume Paid $8 @ Fall Consignment Sale Sold $39.95 – shipping |
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| Mater Costume Paid $4ish @ VV Sold $29.95 – shipping |
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| Dumbo Plush Costume Paid $5 @ Fall Consignment Sale Sold $34.95 – shipping |
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| Blues Clues Plush Costume Paid $6.99 @ GW Sold $34.95 – shipping |
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| Baby Gap Bee Costume Paid $2.50 @ Goodwill Sold $21.95 – shipping |
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| Adult Angel Costume Paid $2? @ yard sale Sold $17.95 – shipping |
I actually had at least 5 more costumes that I sold this year, but bought last year. The photos are on my other computer so I don’t have access to them right now. The costumes and Halloween gear kept me busy – but I love it! Definitely one of my favorite things to buy and sell.
Happy Halloween!
The Coulda Shoulda Woulda Been Awesome Sale
This summer I came across this costume at a yard sale:
It is a men’s adult talking Eeyore costume. They wanted $5 for it, which made me balk a little bit. I’m cheap, what can I say. But I went ahead and bought it, and I was really glad I did when I got home and looked it up. But then . . . it just sat around, taking up space. It’s hard to tell in this photo, but this costume is gosh darn big. It was hard to come up with enough floor space to be able to photograph it. But, eventually I took the photos, and I finally got around to listing it on October 13th. Really, what was I waiting for?! But, happily, it sold just six days later, for my asking price of $174.95. Yes, almost $170 more than I paid for it! I wish the story ended there.
The buyer and I e-mailed back and forth quite a few times. He was hoping to receive the costume by Wed (10/24). It was late Friday afternoon at this point. I was fairly certain that it would get there without any problems (even though it had to go all the way across the country from OR to MA), but decided for the price he was paying I could put a little extra effort into it, and I packaged it up right away and made an extra trip to the PO. The buyer was very appreciative, and enthusiastic. I don’t know for sure, but I picture him as being a college student. This was one of his messages:
I already have tigger this is gonna be awesome!!
Thank you!!
I was tracking the package as it made its way across the country, and when I woke up to a message from him on Tuesday morning I was expecting another enthusiastic thank you. But instead I got this:
says undeliverable as addressed – can you confirm that you sent to:
xxxxxx
Yeah. Not good. This was his first-ever eBay purchase. Long story short, his zip code was listed incorrectly, which must have caused the problems. At first he wasn’t concerned because it was just one number off, but we both made calls to the USPS and got the same answer – the package had already been returned to sender.
Here’s the interesting thing, at least on my end. I didn’t freak out. I didn’t get stressed. In an odd way it kind of felt like an eBay turning point. It made me realize that I really am in this for the long haul, and one sale is not going to make or break me.
I was disappointed, but really, I was more disappointed for the buyer because I knew how much he was looking forward to getting the costume. I received the costume back today, and refunded him his full purchase price. I’m out the $15 in shipping. Not great, but not the end of the world. I am going to go ahead and get it relisted right away, even though I’ve missed the Halloween window for this year. Who knows when somebody else will be feeling Eeyore-ish.