She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

Big Summer Goals: Week 2

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It’s only week two, and I have already faltered.  I fell short of my listing goal by quite a bit.

This week I only listed  60 new items.

Since June 1 this puts my grand total at 158 new listings.

I really struggled with balance over the last week.  From listing, to working my other job, to my boys being out of school, to having fun family activities planned – I did not get everything out of it that I had hoped.  But, another week starts tomorrow, and I plan to do better!  Which includes going to bed early-ish tonight and getting up early tomorrow morning to get back to work.  I find that I am generally more motivated to work early in the morning before anyone else is up than I am when I put it off until after my boys are in bed.

Unfortunately, along with my lack of listing, my sales have dipped this week:

And so it goes.  Gearing up for a better week to come.

How are your summer goals going?

Favorite Flips Friday, 6/15/18

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Here are a few of my better or faster flips from this week.  Mostly plush and loveys.


Baby Gund Huggybuddy Lovey
Paid: $2 @ consigment sale, Sold: $24.95 (13 days after listed)


Pickles Elephant Lovey
Paid: $5 @ consignment sale, Sold: $24.95 (18 days after listed)


Carter’s Stars Baby Blanket
Paid: $2.19 @ VV, Sold: $25.95 (listed since April, 2018)


Carter’s Puppy Dog Lovey
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold on sale: $25.15 (20 days after listed)


Dan Dee Big Duck Plush
Paid: $2.39 @ VV, Sold on sale: $26.95 (listed since January, 2018)


NWOT Beast Disney Store Plush
Paid: $5 @ consigment sale, Sold on sale: $35.95 + shipping (17 days after listed)


Zenergy Chicos Capris
Paid: $4 @ VV, Sold on sale: $26.95 (5 days after listed)


NWT Talbots Dress
Paid $1 @ rummage sale, Sold on sale: $26.95 (3 days after listed)

     
Far Side Mug
Paid: $1 @ ys, Sold: $29.95 (7 days after listed)

Did you have any fun sales this week?  I would love to hear about them!

Big Summer Goals: Week 1

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This week I listed 81 new items.

Since June 1 this puts my grand total at 98 new listings.

So, I stayed just above target this week . . . barely.  Next week I will try to list even more.  I am still a little behind from the first few days, and I would like to have a bit of a buffer already in place because I know there will be some busy summer days during which it will be difficult to complete all of my listings.

I am happy to report that my sales are up a bit right now too.


How are your summer goals going so far?

Favorite Flips Friday, 6/8/18

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Here are a few of my better or faster flips from the past couple weeks:

Yesterday I sold the following two items, both of which I had picked up at yard sales last Friday.   Between the two sales I have already made back almost double what I spent the entire day, and I still have a bunch of other items from that day waiting to sell.  Such a good feeling!

Small Franklin Plush
Paid: $0.50, Sold: $14.95 (3 days after listed)

Starbucks Los Angeles Mug
Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $34.95 (2 days after listed)

‘Tis the season for bridesmaid dresses.  I’ve sold quite a few recently.


David’s Bridal Blue Dress
Paid: $2 @ VV, BO Accepted: $30 (listed since March, 2018)

Jackets have still been selling well, even though it is almost officially summer.


Halogen Leather Jacket
Paid: $2 @ VV, BO Accepted: $40 (sold in just over a month)

London Fog Coat
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $39.95 (listed since Dec, 2017)


Navarre Italian Stone Design Coat
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $39.95 (7 days after listed)

I had received a few low offers on these shoes, but I am glad I held out.  They ended up selling for my full asking price.

Nike Flyknit Shoes
Paid: $3 @ ys, Sold: $69.95 + shipping (listed since September, 2017)

Lots of baby blankets have been selling.

Carter’s “My Sweet Baby” Blanket
Paid: $2 @ consigment sale, Sold: $24.95 (11 days after listed)


Little Miracles Blanket
Paid: $3 @ GW, Sold: $24.95 (listed since March, 2018)

Garanimals Nautical Blanket
Paid: $3.19 @ VV, Sold: $24.95 (2 days after listed)


Baby Gear Polka Dot Blanket
Paid: $1.99 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (listed since March, 2017)

Folkmanis Peacock Puppet
Paid: $3.20 @ VV, BO Accepted: $30 (listed since March, 2018)

Winnie the Pooh Cloud B Soother
Paid: $2.39 @ VV, Sold: $39.95 (listed since April, 2018)

NEW Imation Neon Diskettes
Paid: $0.50 @ church rummage sale, Sold: $39.95 (5 days after listed)

Word Pictures In New Testament Set
Paid: $6 @ church rummage sale, Sold: $49.95 + shipping (listed since March, 2018)

Did you have any fun flips recently?  I would love to hear about them!

Big Summer Goals

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I have set a kinda big goal for the summer: 1000 new listings.

But really?  It’s not so big.  Because if I consistently list 11 items every day between June 1 – August 31 I will hit my goal.

Of course, I only set the goal this morning, so I am already behind.  Since the beginning of the month I have only listed 17 new items.

My plan is to check in every Monday with an update.  Anybody want to join me?  I would love to hear your summer goals (eBay or otherwise).  It would be great if we could help hold each other accountable!

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!