She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

First Rummage Sale of the season!

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Today is an inservice day for my boys, so my youngest and I were out running errands first thing and drove by a sign for a rummage sale. I am glad we were out and about because this is a fundraiser for a local MOPS group and I make a point of going every year. In the past it has been in May though, so if I hadn’t stumbled across it I would have totally missed it.

As soon as I saw the sign I took the corner to head to the sale, then realized it was just after 8 a.m. and the sale didn’t start until 9 a.m. We finished our errands and got back to the sale just before the doors opened. We did a really quick in and out because I had groceries that needed to get home and into the fridge. So if you’ve ever wondered what it is I look for at a yard sale – this is it!

This is what I found ~

Plush:
Jellycat pink bunny lovey
Simply Lavender by Partylite lamb with scent pack
3 Caltoy plush bird puppets
NWT Taco Toons plush
Fine Toy brown bunny plush
Serta sheep
Carter’s brown musical dog
Packers plush lovey
Folkmanis Jack-in-the-Box puppet

Baby blankets:
NWT Disney Baby green Pooh blanket
NWT Mini Muffin sheep blanket

Costumes:
NWT Carter’s dinosaur costume (24 mo)
Flash costume + mask (toddler)
Old Navy lion costume (6-12 months)

Media:
NIV Audio Bible (on CD)
NEW Anatomy Flash Cards
Happiest Baby on the Block DVD
NEW Leap Frog Let’s Go to School DVD
NEW Best of Musikladen Classic Rock DVD
4 Beatles DVDs (2 still sealed)
NEW Paul McCartney Wingspan DVD

Clothes:
1 pair pajamas
2 sleep sacks

Because of the groceries in the car I didn’t spend any time looking up items, I just grabbed whatever caught my eye. There are a few duds (some of the DVDs specifically), but overall I think I did pretty well.

For the last few years they have run this rummage sale as “make an offer” which I really, really don’t like. I know it’s less work for them, but I’d rather just know what they want for things. As a result I always end up spending way more than I would at any other yard sale, but … whatever. It’s for a good cause. I offered them for $30 for everything above and they were super happy with that, they even threw in a couple extra things for my son. It’s more than I probably would have spent elsewhere, but I will have no problems making my money back and then some, so it’s all good.

This was my first rummage or yard sale of the season. The weather is finally starting to come around, I am looking forward to finding more treasures. Have yard sales started where you are? Any exciting finds yet this year?

weird eBay talents

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Who has a weird talent thanks to eBay?

I can’t be the only one.

For example, I am now pretty good at guessing the fabric contents of clothing without looking at the tags.

When shipping packages under one pound I can usually predict the weight within one ounce.

When I am at work and I see babies with their blankets in their strollers I sometimes think: Oooh! That’s a suchandsuch brand blanket, worth $xx. Nice!

None of these skills are particularly useful outside of eBay, I will admit. But there they are.

Who else has gained a weird eBay talent?

Favorite Flips Friday, 2/15/19

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

Shrek Happy Meal toys.
Sold: $17.95 (6 days after listed)
Anakin 3.75″ figure
Sold: $19.95 (1 day after listed)
  • Paid: $3 @ GW, Sold: $29.95
    (listed since Sept, 2018)
  • Paid $1.59 @ VV, Sold: $29.95
    (listed since March, 2018)
Paid: $1.50 @ ys, BO accepted: $35
(listed since July, 2018)
Donnybrook long wool coat
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $44.95+ship
(listed since April, 2018)
TB Trading Bunny Plush
Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $29.95
(9 hours after listed)
Lock & Shock Disney Store Plush
Paid: $2 @ rummage sale, BO Accepted: $35
(listed since March, 2018)
Hidden Mickey Bear
Paid: $1.99 @ VV, Sold: $99.95 + shipping to Japan
(listed since Sept, 2018)
Sesame Street Little People lot
Paid: $12 @ consignment sale, Sold: $119.95 + shipping
(9 days after listed)

Who Am I? Disney Plush ID

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We had a bit of down time between my boys’ basketball games on Saturday, so we stopped by a Goodwill. The first time I have been thrifting this year! I checked out the plush first, of course. It was painfully overpriced (most of the plush I was interested in were priced at $6.99 each(!), too much for me). But, those plush that had run their course and had not sold appeared to be bagged up and sold as a lot for $2.99. That’s more my speed. It was kinda hard to see what all was included, but I went ahead and picked up a couple of those plush bag lots, figuring I could at least make my money back.

So, the following two plush both have Disney tags . . . and I don’t recognize either one! I spent a fair amount of time looking this afternoon to no avail. Does anyone recognize them?

Favorite Flips Friday, Costume Edition

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I just had the worst week of sales – probably the worst week I have had in years. Dismal. But instead of dwelling on it, I thought I would share with you something that has been selling. Costumes!

Seems random, right? Talking about costumes in January?

Costumes are one of my favorite things to sell. In September and October 2017, I sold a LOT of costumes, and those two months were some of my highest sales months ever.

Unfortunately I timed things wrong after Halloween that year and I missed out on all of the post-Halloween costume sales. I wait until stores have costumes at 90% off, and unfortunately I waited too long and missed out on the good sales. Which meant that when Halloween season 2018 rolled around my sales dropped dramatically from the year before because I had almost no costumes left to sell.

Fast forward to post-Halloween, 2018 and I was determined to stock up once again on costumes. And stock up I did. This year I timed it exactly right and shopped 90% off sales at three different stores, and purchased around $500 worth of costumes (making the retail cost around $5000!). Costumes are pretty easy to list, so I got them all up in a month or so. And guess what? They’re already selling. Below you will find images of costumes that I purchased in November, 2018 that have sold in the last month and a half or so. A handful of those shown have had multiple sales of the same costume.

The costumes above are mostly just bread and butter sales, nothing jaw dropping.

Yard sales are also a good place to pick up costumes, I have picked up some in years past selling for $$$! (Adult talking Eeyore/Pooh costumes have been my highest sellers!)

If you’re interested in past costume sales I have posted about them quite a bit in the past. You can find some of them HERE.

Have you had any costume related flips you were excited about? I would love to hear about them!

Favorite Flips Friday, 1/11/19

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

I found this Maleficent dragon toy in a tub when doing a playroom purge, and set it aside to list. I’m not sure what I paid for it, or when I even bought it.
Sold: $12.95 (2 days after listed)

I had this blanket with a lot of 5 other Aden & Anais swaddlers, and was contacted a couple months ago asking if I would sell just this one on its own. It’s a lot of work to do that, so I declined. Earlier this week she asked again, and said she would pay $30 for just the one blanket (I had the entire lot listed for $45 + shipping). I decided it was worth my while after all.

Paid: $1 @ rummage sale, Sold: $30
listed since July, 2018

I got the following water bottle for donating blood a couple weeks ago. It just sold today, and I got a really nice note from the buyer saying she knew they were only given to people who donate blood, and thanking me for being a blood donor. (One of my ongoing annual goals is to donate blood at least 5x each year.)

Free gift, Sold: $17.95 (6 days after listed)

I think this jacket sold once before and was returned. I love the cute bow pockets. The buyer has already received it, and left enthusiastic feedback.

Tulle Peacoat
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95 (listed since March, 2016)
Calvin Klein dress
Paid: $1.50 @ rummage sale, Sold: $29.95 (8 days after listed)
Circo blanket
Paid: $3 @ ys, Sold: $34.95 (21 days after listed)
Creative Memories baby boy lot
Paid: $10 @ consignment sale, Sold: $49.95 + shipping
(4 days after listed)

Overall my listing was fairly consistent and my sales ticked up a bit.

How were your sales this week?

Possible BOLO: Tattoo Books

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I was helping a patron this week at the library who was trying to track down the tattoo book above. While the library does own some tattoo books, our collection is never as big as we would like because (1) the books are generally expensive and (2) they are some of the most frequently stolen and/or never returned books.

The specific book he was looking for sells for over $200 on Amazon, and has one recent sale on eBay for almost $150.

Pretty much any tattoo books I come across I would give at least a second look. There are definitely some titles worth picking up. Check out some eBay completeds here.

Happy hunting!

Favorite Flips Friday, 1/4/19

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Here are some of my better sales from the last week or so. Some of it was really old inventory ~ always nice to see old listings go.

Plush and baby items are still my favorite things to sell. The following five items sold for $24.95 each.

  • Paid: $2 @ BBD
    (listed since May, 2018)
  • Paid: $1.99 @ GW
    (listed since Feb, 2017)
  • Paid: $2.39 @ FM
    (listed since Sept, 2017)
  • Paid: $1.49 @ VV (listed since Dec, 2018)
  • Paid: $3 @ MG (listed since April, 2015)
Charles Klein Ultrasuede Jacket
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $30 + shipping
(listed since Sept, 2018)

The same person bought these two vintage items. The dress has a rather fabulous butt bow.

  • Roberta California Dress
    Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $29.95
    (listed since June, 2017)
  • Perry Ellis Wool Coat
    Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $44.95 + shipping
    (listed since March, 2018)
Paid: ? @ ys, Sold: $39.95 (listed since Aug, 2015)
GANZ Reindeer
Paid: $3.98 @ VV, Sold: $49.95 (listed since Oct, 2015)

Did you have any good flips over the holidays? I would love to hear about them!