She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

Work … and … work

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I have worked at the public library in my town for nearly 16 years, starting in the Circulation department, then working in the Administration office while I was getting my graduate degree, and eventually becoming an actual Librarian.  I worked in libraries in high school and college too, so it’s kinda in my blood.  I enjoy it.  But after my oldest son was born I moved from full to half-time, and after a couple months dropped down to a sub status.  I will always feel lucky that I had that option, and appreciate that I was a mostly-SAHM while my boys were young.  I started dabbling with eBay shortly after my second son was born (6ish years ago?) and for a long time I thought of eBay as a hobby or a “fun job”.  And it was, and still is.  But over the last couple years (as my boys are in school more and my time has become more my own) things have started to shift, and I have taken it more and more seriously.

A couple weeks before we went on our Disneyland vacation I found out that one of my coworkers at the library was retiring.  I was asked if I could work more hours through the end of the school year.  The good news is they are totally working around my schedule, so all of the extra hours worked have been when my boys are in school.  Which is great!  And … not great.  Great, because I am able to help out my coworkers (they definitely need the extra help), and the extra money in my paycheck is nice too.  But not great, because the majority of shipping and photographing and listing hours are now being used in other ways.

I like working at the library, but I have come to realize that the more I do it, the less I enjoy it.  When I am just subbing and working a couple 4 hour shifts each week it is a fun time to engage my brain and get out of the house.  But now that I am working four or five days a week I am really, really, REALLY missing the fun and flexibility of eBay.  Having ownership of my own time is HUGE.  So, if nothing else, working all of these hours is a stark reminder to appreciate the things I love about eBay.  And they greatly outweigh any of the drawbacks or annoyances that come with it.  How lucky are we to live in a time to have opportunities like this outside of the mainstream to make an income.  So lucky!

So for the next few weeks I probably won’t be hitting my listing goals, which means I probably won’t be hitting my sales goals either.  And in this situation, that’s just the reality of the time I have, and I’m (mostly) okay with it.  But it is also motivating me to set some big goals for the summer, and gear up for the fall and holiday seasons.

Did you set some eBay goals for this year?  I would love to hear how they are going!

Favorite Flips Friday, 5/4/18

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Here are a few of my flips from the last week.  It was nice to get rid of some of my older inventory.


Nordstrom Men’s Wool Blend Coat
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $44.95 + shipping (listed since January, 2018)

Fitflops are my personal favorite!  I wear them all the time.  I like the plain ones best though, and these were too big for me.


Fitflops, Size 10
Paid: $6.39 @ VV, BO Accepted: $25 + shipping (listed since March, 2018)


Nikes
Paid: ? @ ys, BO Accepted: $50 (listed since June, 2015)


Hallmark Mary’s Angels Rosebud Ornament
Paid: $1 @ ys, BO Accepted: $25 (listed since May, 2013)

Starbucks Tumbler
Paid: $2.39 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (listed since February, 2018)


World Market Pig Plush
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $27.95 (listed since July, 2016)

HUGE Plush Dog
Paid ? @ ys, BO Accepted: $30 (listed since January, 2018)


NWT Build A Bear Werewolf Plush
Paid: $5 @ VV, Sold: $39.95 + shipping (21 days after listed)

Hope you had a great sales week!

BOLO ~ Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

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Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit

My family got back from California a few days ago, where we spent a week playing at Disneyland, Legoland, and Universal Studios.  Our boys are 10 and 7 years old, which is such an awesome age.  They both love all of the thrill rides, and we played hard the whole time.  But now we’re back in the real world, and I am REALLY struggling to get back in the work groove.  Before we left I was getting my listings up consistently, day after day.  Now – I’m just not.  I really need to get back in the swing of things … starting tomorrow?  Ugh.  Motivation, discipline, come back!

Anyway, when we were at Disneyland a few people had Oswald ears (instead of Mickey ears).  I only had a fuzzy recollection of Oswald, so I did some research.  Oswald was actually the first Disney animated cartoon character to feature in their own series.  What followed was a messy series of events in which for many years (1928-2006), Universal Studios actually had the rights to Oswald.  But he has since returned to Disney.  Of course I found all of this very interesting, and took my curiosity to eBay.  Check out Oswald completed listings HERE!

eBay encounter

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My family is on a little vacation in California, and yesterday we ran into the State family at Disneyland.  (Which is actually kinda funny because although we had never met before, in real life we actually only live an hour apart.)  It’s a small world after all!  ♪ ♫ ♩

If you are not familiar with Nicole State, she has a popular eBay reselling Youtube channel called State’s Place.  Her main focus is women’s clothing.  I sometimes watch her haul videos while listing.  I’ve picked up a number of BOLO brands from the videos, as well as some great descriptor key words.  We operate our businesses pretty differently, but I appreciate her positivity.  And she and Joe were very nice in real life too!

Word of the Week: Peplum

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As an eBay seller, I am constantly learning new words.  Many (but not all) have to do with clothing – styles, fashions, designs.  I have never been mistaken for a fashionista, and I often feel out of my depth when it comes to descriptors.  One I came across this last week that I remember reading before (but it obviously hadn’t stuck with me) is PEPLUM.

Dictionary.com defines peplum as:
 [pep-luh]
1.a short full flounce or an extension of a garment below the waist,covering the hips.
2. a short skirt attached to a bodice or jacket.

Google images views peplum as:
A great descriptor!  Hopefully this time it sticks.

BOLO ~ Easter Blow Molds (and more!)

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Blow molds can be a great flip . . . if you’re willing to deal with all of the hassles that come along with them.  The biggest being that they’re so, well, big.  What a pain to ship.  And making sure that they work, and aren’t cracked in not immediately obvious ways, etc.  I will often eyeball them at yard sales (and even currently have a Christmas Mickey Mouse in my garage my boys talked me into keeping this last summer), but I’m not anxious to buy them to flip because it honestly seems like a lot of work.  But at some of these prices, maybe I will change my mind!  Check out some of the sold links below.

Easter Blow Molds
Christmas Blow Molds
Thanksgiving Blow Molds
Valentine’s Day Blow Molds
St Patrick’s Day Blow Molds
4th of July Blow Molds
Halloween Blow Molds

And of course a lot of these are currently out of season so could likely bring in even higher prices at different times of the year.  Flipping them locally, while maybe not as profitable, is always an option too.

I want to give a shout out to Money in the Garage because I am pretty sure his talk of flipping blow molds is what originally brought them to my attention several years ago.

Favorite Flips Friday, 3/30/18

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Here are a few of my better or faster flips from the past week.

Quacker Factory doesn’t sell as well for me as it used to, and I now pass it up at least as often as I buy it, but I had a good feeling about this one.


Quacker Factory 2X Shirt
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold on sale: $22.95 (7 days after listed)


Old Navy Leather Skirt
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $24.95 (8 days after listed)


BCBG Max Azria Leather Shirt
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (listed since Feb, 2018)


WHBM Rose Cold Shoulder Shirt
Paid $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (7 days after listed)


NWT Banana Republic Wrap Dress
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (same day as listed)

Little Bedding Sports Mobile
Paid: $2.78 @ VV, BO Accepted: $25 (listed since Sept, 2017)


Little Miracles Plush Zebra
Paid: $2.39 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (20 days after listed)

These two blankets are the same brand and are a very similar pattern.  The same buyer purchased both.


Paid: $2.59, Sold: $59.90 (total)
Listed for 11 days and 9 months respectively

I have sold a stencil set like this once before.  This one sold for less because it had fewer stencils than other I sold.

Tupperware Tuppertoys Stencils Set
Paid: $0.50 @ rummage sale, Sold on sale: $22.95 (14 days after listed)


Creative Memories storage tote
Paid: $1 @ ys, BO Accepted: $25 (listed since Nov, 2017)

This was actually a 4 volume set, and I was only able to find 3 of them.  Which is a bummer, because I think if I had found the fourth I could have gotten almost twice as much.

Hebrew/Greek/English Bible Set
Paid: $3 @ rummage sale, Sold: $49.95 (17 days after listed)

And a few fun Easter sales.


Minnie Mouse Easter Plush
Paid: $1 @ rummage sale, Sold: $19.95 (18 days after listed)


Big Dan Dee Pink Plush Bunny
Paid: $2.39 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (listed since Jan, 2018)

Finally!  I “sold” this bunny a few different times and the buyers never paid.  When it sold earlier this week I was quick to get it ready to mail, only to discover that it was sold via GSP and was going to Germany.  So, it won’t be there in time for Easter.

NWT BABW Hop Bunny Plush
Paid: $4.99 @ GW, BO Accepted: $34 (listed since Sept, 2016)

Did you have any fun sales this week, Easter or otherwise?  Please share!

Nickel & Diming ~ Postcards

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Here’s another item I’ve been nickel and diming into a profit.  Last summer I bought a couple bags of postcards at a thrift for a total of $5.58.  It was one of those purchases I knew in my brain I should pass up … but on the other hand, it kinda looked like fun.  I ended up divvying them up into about 30 different lots to list.  So far I have sold those shown above (as well as a lot of Howard Stern postcards that sold immediately that I no longer have a photo of).  I hadn’t realized before starting this post that almost all of the postcard lots that have already sold have been of musicians.  Interesting.  So far my profit has been around $70, and I still have 20+ active postcard listings.  Slow nickels, not ideal, and yet I did have fun sorting and listing them.  So I’ll still call it a win.