She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

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?

Favorite Flips Friday, 12/20/19

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Of course I sold a bunch of loveys. All of those shown above sold for $24.95.

The three listed above sold for $29.95.

This Juicy blanket got a lot of attention on PM, but finally sold via GSP on eBay.

Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $26.95
(listed since Oct, 2019)

I thought this phone was really fun, but it took forever to sell!

Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $29.95
(listed since Aug, 2015)
2015!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I pretty much keep things listed until they sell. Thankfully it is rare for it to take that long.

Littlefoot Gund Plush
Paid: $2 @ rummage sale
Sold: $29.95
(listed since July, 2019)

Some Land Before Time plush sell better than Gund brand. Keep an eye out!

Disney Pooh Butterflies Blanket
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $34.95
(listed since July, 2019)

‘Tis the season for selling coats. All of those above sold in the $30-$40 range, plus shipping.

Every year at Christmas my boys’ BABW plush get new outfits. I purchased the lot on the left on eBay for $16.99. I kept all of the super hero outfits, and sold the Disney outfits on the right for $17.95.

Not huge flips, but I have had good luck selling NWT Bark Box dog toys. I bought a box of them at a ys over the summer and they all sold quickly. This one is Vincent Van Squirrel.
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $17.95
(listed since Nov, 2019)


How has your Q4 been? I can’t believe the new year is right around the corner!! Where oh where does the time go?

Favorite Flips Friday, November Sales

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I had fairly steady sales throughout November. Here are a few of my favorite flips.

I sold a lot of loveys in November. These all sold for $24.95:

All of these sold for $29.95:

These sold for $34.95:

This gingerbread plush sold last month. I was watching a new Netflix (Hallmark-esque) Christmas movie not long after and saw the exact same plush! Made me wonder if it caught the eye of someone else watching the movie and motivated them to look it up on eBay?

Paid: $1 @ ys
Sold: $18.66 (on sale)
Listed since July, 2019


Someone bought Kermit at the end of October. He was packaged up and ready to go when I got a cancellation request stating that her son accidentally ordered it. I was skeptical and a bit annoyed since I had it all ready to go and had to void the label, etc, but since I hadn’t mailed it I did as she requested. About a week later I was running a sale and it sold again for a few dollars less. Kermit was still packaged in the box so I grabbed it, removed the old label, printed the new label only to discover … the exact same person bought it again. (Insert eye roll here.)

Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold $21.21 (on sale)
Listed since August, 2019

You can sell anything on eBay! These were still new, factory sealed. I picked them up out of a free box at a yard sale over the summer.

Paid: $0, Sold: $14.95 + shipping
Listed since Sept, 2019

I knew I wanted this when I saw it at a GW, but it took me awhile to figure out what it even was.

Coleman oversized dog toy
Paid: $2.99 @ GW, Sold: $34.95
(21 days after listed)

This was the only Ugly Christmas Sweater I picked up to flip this year, and I was glad it sold relatively early.

Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $24.95
(15 days after listed)

Little Miracles is found at Costco, and is definitely one of my favorite lovey brands to pick up. This was a set of a blanket and mat.

Paid: $5 @ consignment sale
Sold: $44.95
(17 days after listed)


Tis the holiday season. My sales aren’t amazing, but they are pretty steady. How are things shaping up for you? I’d love to hear about it!

Costumes!

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This is what I have been up to this last month … times five. Yes, I bought five carts full of Halloween costumes on clearance. I wait until the price drops to 90% off. I think I did my biggest haul yet, split among four different stores. I spent a grand total of $812.41(!) earlier this month. (Which means that the initial retail price of the costumes was $8124.10.) My best guess is that I paid an average price of $2 per costume, which equals about 400 new items. The great thing is that I bought duplicates of quite a few, some in different sizes, meaning I can list it once and sell it again and again.

I am at least 2/3 of the way through listing them all. I have sold 14 of the newly listed costumes so far, and am approaching $300 in sales. I am keeping track of my gross sales from the haul, and am hoping to hit the $1000 mark by the end of December. When I hit that I will feel like I am close to making back my initial investment.

Here are some of the costumes I have already sold from my new listings – and I have sold multiples of the PJ Masks, Fancy Nancy and Puffer Fish costumes.

I will say that buying and selling costumes in this kind of quantity is not for everyone. There is, of course, the initial financial investment, not to mention the physical space all of the costumes will take up. You definitely need to take the long view because most won’t sell right away. But, I do sell costumes every single week. The sales come in slow and steady most of the year, and then mid-August to mid-October I sell costumes like crazy. The past few years September has been my highest sales month of the year.

Because the prices are so low, I do almost no research before purchasing. If I like it, into the cart it goes. The research starts when I get them all home. For some costumes the market is so saturated that they end up selling below retail price. Most sell right around retail price. And there are always a handful of costumes that are actually quite rare and sell well above the initial retail price. It’s a mixed bag for sure, but I enjoy it. And so I will continue to buy and sell costumes.