She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

$60

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So, I trekked over to the estate sale across town this morning, two boys in tow.  It started at 8 a.m., but we didn’t make our appearance until around 8:30. 
It was pretty much just as described in the Craigslist ad.  Rack upon rack upon rack of clothes.  I’d say about 2/3 of them still had the tags on them.  I overheard the folks running the sale (relatives of the deceased) telling customers in whispers that the owner had passed away, and yes, she was a bit of a hoarder.  Ya think?
I’d guess 90% of what was out was clothes.  I spent a grand total of $60.  This is what the back of my Jeep looked like when I was done shopping:
I organized the items when I got home, and here was the breakdown:
14 shirts/blouses
3 sweaters
7 jackets
9 pairs of pants
1 long skirt
3 full outfits (two tops with matching skirts, one top/pants outfit)
13 ugly Christmas sweaters/vests
7 Halloween sweaters/vests
1 pair of workout pants (for me)
I know that only adds up to 58 items – I’m not sure if I counted wrong as I was inventorying, or if the gal who counted up my items at the sale counted wrong.
7 Halloween shirts/sweaters/vests
13 Christmas sweaters/vests
I am not very knowledgeable about women’s clothing brands, but from what I could determine I think most of the items were originally purchased at either JC Penney or Macy’s.
outfits on the left, pants in the middle
I started by picking out some brands I recognized, but my strategy quickly changed to passing over the clothes with tags that had lower original prices (in the $30 range).  I tried to focus on items that had originally cost $60 or more.
jackets on the left, shirts on the right
The only item I’m keeping for myself.  Workout pants. 
Tag-free (thus easier to justify keeping them.)

My four-year-old son was pretty patient as I flipped through rack after rack of clothes.  He insisted that we buy me the following (totally maroon) outfit:
Three of the Halloween sweaters and about half of the Christmas sweaters had been previously worn, everything else is NWT.  A $60 investment, but I should be able to make my money back after selling the first 3 or 4 items. 
It was an estate sale, but they had everything outside.  Not sure why, but they were very clear that they had a whole house full of stuff to get rid of, but that they did not want anyone shopping through the house.  They said they would have completely new stuff out tomorrow.  I’m tempted to head back over there in the morning, but am trying to fight it.
Sooo, it’s obviously time for me to open a store already.  I’m using my ridiculously large typing project as an excuse to procrastinate.  As of yesterday, I’ve passed the half way point for the manuscript typing!   Can’t wait to be able to fully focus on the eBaying again.

Finding My Niche

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I’ve been thinking lately about what my “niche” should be . . . and then yesterday I was scrolling through my list of items sold and realized I’ve already settled on one.  I am sure it is not the most profitable thing to sell, but kids’ toys (and clothes to some extent) are definitely what I am most drawn to, whether at yard sales or thrift stores.  Here are some of the items I picked up yesterday at my local Value Village.  I spent almost $40 total – that’s a LOT for me!

big Bullseye: cost $2.24
Kohl’s Horton: cost 74 cents
8″ Share Bear: cost 74 cents
When buying plush I usually only pick up “characters” that I recognize.
But this guy was cute enough I thought I’d take a chance on him.

Safari Elephant: cost $1.49

I also really love to buy costumes.  I sold a bunch this last Halloween.  Apparently it had been awhile since I’ve made it to Value Village, because all three of these were the half-off color.  The Buddy costume for sure I would have already picked up if I had seen it before.

NWT Scooby Doo: cost $2.49 
Baby Gorilla: cost $3.99 
Buddy (Dinosaur Train): cost $2.99
I will probably list this, and secretly hope it doesn’t sell:
24 mo gorilla costume.  So stinkin’ cute! 
If it’s still around next year I will have my little one wear it.

Buddy is probably a 3T-4T, so a little too small for my oldest.
But he’s having fun wearing it anyway.


I also came across this big box.  
It looks like it has some selling potential.
Fort Apache: cost $7.49
And, last but not least, we found 4 lightsabers!
These I have hidden away, not to be pulled out until Father’s Day rolls around.  Shhh.
cost around $14 for all four of them

Selling items on eBay for other people

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I am wondering if anyone has had any experience selling items on eBay for other people?  I have a friend who knows I’m dabbling on eBay and has mentioned more than once that she has some items that she could bring me to sell.  If it was just an item or two here or there I would be happy to do that for her.  If it’s a lot of stuff though, or a potentially ongoing situation, I’m not sure how I should handle it.  eBaying does take a lot of time: researching, photographing, listing, packaging, not to mention the fees.  I’m sure this friend would not ask me to do this without some form of payment, but I’m not sure how to handle it.  (Definitely something we would need to work out/agree on before any goods change hands.)

Does anyone have any experience in this arena?  Is there an “accepted” split that is generally followed?  If anyone has any thoughts on the subject I would love to hear them!

Thursday, Week in Review (Jan 11-19)

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Better late than never, right?  My “distractions” project is keeping me REALLY busy!

This last week was decent, sales-wise.  I had 15 sales (from 122), so I reached my 10% goal again.  I also surpassed my $150 weekly goal.  This is what I sold:

BIN:

Piglet plush.  Purchased 12/31/11 for 50 cents.

Sold 1/11/12: $13.99 – shipping

Small Woody and Jessie talking plush dolls.  I’m pretty sure I picked them up on Jan 9th – I think they cost $2.24 for three of them.  There were two Woodys – I’ve got the second one listed right now.

Sold 1/14/12: $14.99 – shipping

Eeyore plush.  Paid 74 cents at the same time I bought Woody and Jessie above.

Sold 1/16/12: $14.99 – shipping

Bob the Builder – Birthday Scoop.  I don’t remember when or where I picked him up, but I would guess that I didn’t pay more than a quarter for it.  Pulled it out of one of my son’s toy bins recently.

Sold 1/18/12: $15.99 – shipping

EB Rabbit!  He is from the movie Hop.  I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I knew quickly that this guy was going to be a winner.  He actually didn’t sell the first week that I had him listed, but he had enough hits and watchers that I felt confident that he would eventually sell at the price I wanted.

Sold 1/19/12:  $29.99 – shipping

I sold quite a few items at “auction” this week.  The way that I (have pretty much always) run my auctions is that I start with the minimum price that I am willing to accept, and then I will include a slightly higher BIN price too if adding BIN is also free.

Auctions:

I came across these jungle Caltoy puppets at a consignment store a week or two ago, and fell in love with them.  They are super cute and looked brand new.  They were $8 total, which was kind of spendy for me, but I decided to buy them anyway.  I’ve had good luck selling puppets recently so I decided I would list them, but was secretly hoping they wouldn’t sell.  They’re so darn cute!  Well, they sold the first week, of course.

Sold 1/16/12: $26.99 – shipping

Pink Dearfoams slippers that I received as a gift 
a year or two ago and never wore.

Sold 1/19/12: $19.99 – shipping

Vintage Fisher Price Little People.  I talked about buying these on my very first Value Village thrifting-for-eBay-excursion way back in August.  They finally sold.  I didn’t lose money on them, but I think I made less than $5.  Oh well, live and learn.  Was glad to see them go.

Sold 1/19/12:  $9.99 – shipping

Sodor Mining Company.  I talked about buying a bunch of wooden Thomas accessories in my first ever blog post way back in July.  I bought seven different pieces for $20 total.  I had been holding on to them to give to my oldest, but when I pulled them out at Christmastime both my husband I am thought: meh.  They’re nice, but really, the kid has enough train toys.  To eBay they shall go!

Sold 1/19/12:  $39.99 – shipping

Winnie the Pooh silverware and chopsticks set.  I am almost certain this was a hand-me-down from my brother’s family.  Our oldest already has a Thomas set, so I thought we could part with Pooh.

Sold 1/19/12: $11.99 – shipping

Star Wars lunch box.  This was kind of a mistake on my part.  During a pre-Christmas sale, Woot had these lunchboxes on sale for $5 each.  What a deal! I thought.  I bought three for just under $20 total, including shipping.  This is the second one that I have sold.  While I won’t lose money on them, I do think that after the initial cost, fees, and shipping costs are factored in, they fall into the ‘not really worth the time and effort spent’ category.

Sold 1/19/12:  $18.99 – shipping

Really?  Random.  I originally listed it before Halloween, and have been relisting with a bunch of other items on freebie days.  I actually found a cute Halloween hat with some baby clothes last week that I was planning to list with it the next time around – oh well.

Sold 1/19/12:  $7.99 – shipping

I also came across these two Disney outfits when I was going through a big batch of outgrown baby clothes.  Thought they might be eBay worthy.

Sold 1/19/12:  $13.99 – shipping – not yet paid for

Infantino Hip Rider.  This was something I picked up at a yard sale for $3 thinking I might use it.  Quickly realized I never actually would.

Sold 1/19/12: $16.99 – shipping – not yet paid for
 I also sold a Hard Rock Cafe guitar shaped pin that I think we got for free on one of our trips.  But, I can’t share a picture of it because I originally listed it months ago . . . before the great computer crash of 2011.  No longer have a copy of the pic.
Sold 1/19/12: $8.99 – shipping (not yet paid for)
 Three still unpaid for – hopefully they pay soon!

Distractions

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There’s always something to distract you from eBay, if you let it.  Or is it just me?  Well, I’ve got a doozy of a distraction now.  
This weekend I met a woman who is working on a manuscript for a book, which in part was written in the 1970s on a typewriter.  In big part.  Like, 550 pages, single spaced.  And, she needs it to be retyped so that she can manipulate and edit it.  But was having a difficult time finding a typing service in our city.  
For some reason, I thought it would be a great idea for me to volunteer for this job.  Easy peasy, right?  I can type.  Pretty fast, even.  What a brainless job.  Type and watch TV and get paid.  No problem.
I started last night.  It’s not brainless.  And good grief, does it take longer than I expected to type a single spaced page, especially when I have to add in the handwritten notes written on the page.  Almost all day today I was really grouchy.  How did I get myself into this?!  I now realized the scope of the job I had naively volunteered for and felt overwhelmed.  
And then . . . this afternoon I got the e-mail specifically outlining how much I am going to be paid for the job.  And suddenly, my mood improved!  The pay is per character . . . it averages out to around $8 per page.  Wow!  That will add up!  Suddenly I was itchin’ to get back to work.  The faster I finish, the faster I get paid.

BUT . . . eBay will suffer for it.  Most of my auction listings will end tomorrow.  I won’t have time to list new items.  I’m on a deadline now.  The rest of January will sadly be a loss on the eBay front . . . and yet, it will still result in a tidy paycheck in my pocket. 

122! and a possible store name

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Oh, yes.  I took full advantage of yesterday’s free listing day, and now have 122 items listed!  It’s the first time I have surpassed the 100-items-listed mark.  Hooray.  Around 12 new listings, and around 90 items I’ve re-listed, in addition to the listings I already had running.  Yesterday was one of those days where everything was just clicking along.  Here’s hoping the effort turns into sales!

I’m still planning to open an eBay store.  I’ve been struggling to come up with a name.  I enlisted my husband’s help a couple days ago, but apparently I dismissed his first few suggestions a little too quickly, because before long he was a little miffed and told me I was on my own to think one up.  On one hand I kind of think the store name doesn’t matter much (as a shopper I don’t pay attention to them), but on the other hand if it’s something I am going to be stuck with I want to like it.  I was mulling it over again last night during dinner and came up with “Treasures To Travel.”  I like it more than anything else I’ve come up with.  Because I have treasures that will travel to the buyers, AND if I sell enough treasures it will fund my own traveling!  So, that’s where I’m at right now. 

Today’s a weird day at our house.  My 4-year-old seemed off all morning.  We went to a playgroup this morning, and I carried him into the house when we got home (which I never do).  I thought maybe he was just tired and took him straight to his bed and sat him down, where he promptly started puking.  Awesome.  He’s half asleep on the couch right now while his his bedding is in the dryer.  Hoping to get a few more things listed today, but we’ll see how it goes.

Warm Fuzzies – eBayers are awesome!

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I’m still fairly new to the whole eBay adventure, but I am continually impressed with how willing those with experience are to help all of us newbies out.  There are so many blogs out there devoted to such topics, and I have found it to be a fun, exciting, and supportive community to become a part of.  

Tonight I was working on getting a few items listed when the following message popped up:

Dear kxxxxxxx,

Hi, I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that BAMM BAMM is an awesome item to sell, I sell these as often as I can find them and mine, especially NWT go for $39.99 EASILY. Also, I ss that you’re spelling his name Bam Bam, it’s BAMM BAMM, that might help your item sell and be found easier. Best of luck!

– mxxxxxxxx

I had a Bamm Bamm (now that I know how to spell it!) listed a week or two ago that did not sell.  I am guessing this seller came across my listing when searching completeds.  There was no benefit to this other eBayer to send me this e-mail, and yet he/she took the time to do so.  I can’t get over how nice this was.  I sent an e-mail back thanking him/her, updated my listing, and relisted it.  

It also reminds me of a post I read on the Money Saving Mom website awhile back:

Reader Tip: Misspell Your Searches to Save on Ebay Purchases

It’s a reader tip, and also a seller warning!  I had listed a NWT Bamm Bamm at BIN $19.99.  Apparently if someone had actually been able to find him, this would have been quite the deal!

Tuesday, Week in Review (Jan 4-10)

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Sooo, it’s only ten days into the year and I am already way behind on my monetary goal.  Why, you ask?  The short answer is: I have almost nothing listed!  Because I’ve been relying so heavily on the free Tuesday listings.  I know, I know.  Time to open a store.  And I’m going to.  As soon as I come up with a decent name.  I can’t think of anything!

Here’s what I did sell this week.  Two things, that I’ve already mentioned.  
12″ Cheer Bear.  Bought on 12/31/11 for 50 cents.
Sold 1/4/12: $19.99 – shipping
Cat in the Hat sheet.  Bought on 1/3/12 for $2.49.
Mailed it to New Zealand this morning.
Sold 1/9/12: $24.99 + shipping

Yup, that’s it.  I have around 90 items that could easily be re-listed, and a bunch more that have yet to be listed.  I feel like this last week has been completely wasted.  Time to get busy.  And to think of a name for a store!

What I Sold: Sheets – Internationally!

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I have almost nothing listed.  Waah, waah.  I need to suck it up and open a store already.  But, one thing did sell today.  A (vintage?) Cat in the Hat twin flat sheet.  Tomorrow it will be on its way to New Zealand.

Cat in the Hat twin flat sheet (paid $2.49): $24.99 + shipping

What is it about vintage flat sheets and international sales?  Okay, so I’ve only sold a grand total of four sheets.

One was brand new, and stayed in the States:

Power Puff twin flat sheet (brand new – paid $2.99?): $22.99 – shipping

But the other two sheet sales?  
Both vintage, used flat sheets.  Both went to Japan.

Disney vintage flat sheet (paid $2.99): $29.99 + shipping

Little People vintage flat sheet (paid $4.49): $29.99 + shipping

I’ve discovered that twin flat sheets fit perfectly into a flat rate envelope.  I believe it costs $4.75 to mail within the states, and it has cost $13.25 to ship to both New Zealand and Japan.  (I always print my shipping labels at home, I believe it’s a little more expensive if you do it at the Post Office.)  With the international sales I’ve passed the shipping costs on to the buyers, and in all three cases the buyers seemed happy to pay it.

And to make things even better, each of the above sheets sold within a couple weeks of listing, all at my BIN price.  Decent little flips, and fun treasures to hunt for!

eBay: What I’ve Bought

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Just for fun, and to prove there is really no rhyme or reason to what people will actually buy on eBay, I thought I would share some of my own eBay purchases from over the past few months.
Okay, so this one isn’t exactly funny.  It might save my life!  I probably saw it on a book list in a magazine, and it’s been on my Amazon wishlist for years.  The library doesn’t own a copy so I finally decided to order one to read to my four-year-old.
It’s Time To Call 911: What To Do In An Emergency : $1.70 + shipping
LOVE these pants!  I actually have an eBay alert set up to e-mail me when someone lists something with the words “Old Navy” and “women’s” and “roll-up”, which is how I found this pair.  I originally bought one just like them (only khaki in color) on the clearance rack at Old Navy several years ago and absolutely loved them.  Of course, the store had no others.  So I went online and ordered a pair of yellow, (yes, yellow!) pants in the same style.  Yellow was the only color left in stock online.  I’ve even worn them a couple times.  I found a third pair (khaki colored) at Goodwill year or so ago.  But now I have a black pair!  ♥ ♥
Old Navy Cargo Capri Roll-Up Pants:
$5 + shipping
Say what?!  No idea why I bought these, really.  They were advertised in one of the e-mails eBay sent out pre-Christmas.  I haven’t even opened the package they came in.  I guess I thought at the time maybe we’d put them by our front door???  Haven’t even admitted to my husband that I bought them.
2 Pack: Dummy Security Dome Camera With Flashing Red Light:  $5  with free shipping
Ah, Flicker.  Bought him as a birthday gift for my oldest.  Used, because really, the kiddo doesn’t care.  When I opened it . . . I discovered that it didn’t work.  I e-mailed the seller and he was very quick to offer a refund and an apology (and an explanation that maybe the bulb came loose or something during shipping? which could be?).  I did take him up on his offer of a refund.  Felt guilty in doing so, like it was bad eBay karma or something.  But, the reality is, I would not have ordered it knowing that it did not work.  I gave him positive feedback for his good customer service.
Flicker (Handy Manny’s flashlight):
$14.99 + shipping
LOVED this book!  It’s the sequel to If I Stay, also very good (YA).  I got a hold of an ARC before it was published, and had a hankering recently to reread it.  When I “reread” I usually go audio, and my library doesn’t own an audio copy.
Where She Went by Gayle Foreman audiobook:
$9.09 + shipping
Love these shoulder bags.  Had an army green one and used it ’til one of the zippers finally broke.  Bound to happen sometime, I guess.  (If you can’t tell from the photo, it’s a bag made entirely of zippers.)  I have a few that are random colors, but I really wanted an all-black one, so I finally just ordered one.  I use it all the time.
Zip It shoulder bag:
$2.75 + shipping
I suppose this one is pretty self explanatory.  There was a good sale, I needed more coupons.
20 Huggies coupons:
$1.65 + shipping
My husband loves the Hard Rock Cafe, and on our last vacation he decided he wants to start collecting the album shirts from each location that we visit.  Well, of course we had visited quite a few before he made this decision, so I decided to try and find him some shirts from some of those locations for Christmas.  I set up an eBay alert.  I was able to purchase shirts from New York, Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas.  I tried to buy one from Chicago, but someone outbid me at the last second!
Hard Rock Cafe Album shirts:
$16.50, $10, $15.01 + shipping
Of course, an awesome investment for any eBayer.  I use it almost every day.
Postal Scale:
$29.98 with free shipping

I have a train-loving kid.
Edward (wooden train):
$9.99 with free shipping
And with the exception of some more wooden trains and coupons, that’s it.  A pretty random assortment of stuff. 
 And, here’s what I would really like to find(!):
Z’Animo chocolate cookies: priceless!
They are like animal crackers with chocolate on one side.  Deee-licious! Haven’t had them since I lived in France over 10 years ago.  I’ve looked them up sporadically on eBay over the years (they really are that good) and added an eBay alert yesterday.  Maybe someday . . .