She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

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 . . .

Tuesday, Week in Review (Dec 26 – Jan 3)

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My sales for the last week or so.   I had 8 sales, which is right around the 10% goal I have set for myself . . . but these were all low-profit sales.
BIN
These books had been listed for a couple months now.  Was glad to see them go.
4 Arthur books: $9.99 – shipping
 Second time I have “sold” this book.  This time the buyer actually paid for it.
$6.99 – shipping
Ditto on this book.  (Second time sold, this time actually paid for.)

Promotional Rudolph Book: $11.99 – shipping
I paid $1.50 for this set awhile back at a consignment sale.

T-Rex Little People set: $24.99 – shipping
This looked brand new.
Musical Wonders Soothe and Glow: $13.99 – shipping
Auctions
This is kind of a “why did I bother?” auction.  I listed them awhile back when I listed a bunch of small kids’ book lots that I just wanted to get out of the house.
2 Hardy Boys books: $5.99 – shipping
I talked about buying Shrek here.  I had planned to take him back to VV the next week, but I was in my brief no-thrift zone so didn’t make it back.  Am glad to see him go.
Talking Shrek plush: $21.99 – shipping
This one kind of made me laugh.  It’s been hanging around for awhile now (since I bought it for my husband and myself several years ago – never got around to using it, of course).  Hopefully the new owner will be better at turning over their new leaf this year.
$8.99 – shipping

I also listed my first Care Bear a couple days ago, and it sold today.  I kind of felt like selling my first Care Bear was an eBay rite of passage.  And ya gotta love a quick sale!

Store Anxiety and Revised Goals

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I really think I need to open a store.  It’s kinda stressing me out.  Thus far on this whole eBay adventure I have stuck to free-listing (and one one-cent) Tuesdays, in addition to the 50 free listings we get every month.  But I’ve decided I want to get serious.  And more importantly, to sell consistently.  And that’s just not gonna happen when Tuesdays (like today) slip by, and the majority of my auctions from the previous week come to an end, and I’m not able to relist, relist, relist what didn’t sell.
And when I think about it, I like the idea of not having to relist, relist, relist every single week.  It takes awhile.  And I think the powers that be at eBay like to mess with us a little, because it is never as simple as just relisting.  There always seems to be one small change – from 7 days to 5 days, removing BIN, adding BIN, that causes me to have to go into each individual listing, and that can take a lot of time.  And that time prevents me from getting more new listings up.
So really, I think it comes down to the fact that I am cheap and don’t want to have to pay.  It’s not even the $15 fee or whatever it is, it’s the 20 cents for each listing.  That just reinforces the fact that I probably shouldn’t mess with the small potatoes listings – focus on what I can sell for a bigger profit and I won’t even feel the impact of a 20 cent listing fee.  Yup, I’m just thinking out loud here.  (In a sense.)
And, for my revised goal.  I need focus and a clear vision.  Which means I am going to earn/save up $5000 by the end of September, and pay for the entire anniversary trip to New York in October.  Previously I had been planning to try and contribute to both a vacation in May to WDW and the October NY trip.  Things are a little up in the air right now as to whether we’ll even get to go to WDW in May (my BIL is getting remarrried right around then and he won’t be able to set a wedding date for at least another month, which means we won’t be able to make/confirm vacation plans until then.  It’s kinda killing me.  I really hope we’re able to go!)  Assuming the scheduling end works out, we will pay for that trip out of our regular vacation budget.  Which turns NY into an extra expense.
Want to hear about the NY trip we have planned?  I’m SUPER excited!  I am a theater geek through and through (although only in the spectator sense).  There is almost nothing I love more than getting to see a play.  So, we will be making our third trek to NYC to see as many Broadway shows as we can cram into 2? 3? 4? days.  And, since we’ll be planning this trip further in advance than the last time I am going to try my darnedest to get tickets for my husband to see a taping of The Daily Show while we’re there.  (Last time we were able to get stand by tickets for the Colbert Report, which he loved.  Saw the Wikileaks guy, which was kind of interesting.)  And also get tickets to see The View (which I’ve been addicted to for 4 years now, ever since being on bed rest at the end of my first pregnancy.  We got stand by tickets for The View last time too, but I will go every time we get over there if I can.)  I am also going to splurge and buy full-price tickets for The Book of Mormon before we get there.  Can’t wait to see it!  (We usually just buy discounted tickets through TKTS once we’re there, but I’m not going to take any chances with this one!)
But wait, there’s more.  We’re planning to take the train and spend a couple days at? near? Niagra Falls (the romantic portion of the anniversary getaway).  And then we will go to Buffalo and see a Bills game (my husband’s favorite team).  I am getting jittery excited just typing all of this, I can’t wait. 
AND . . . I am going to pay for the whole darn trip with my eBay earnings.  That’s the goal.  To have at least $5000 in the bank by the end of September.  The good news is, I already have the first $1000.  The reality check is, I won’t be able to earn the rest if I’m not listing my items on eBay.  Which brings me full circle.
I need to open a store.

And if I can’t come up with a decent name for this blog, how in the heck am I going to name a store?!

eBay Goals

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Good grief, can I blather on.  I just wrote a long post elaborating on all of the eBay related goals I have, and all about the vacations we will hopefully be spending my earnings on.  Here is the abbreviated version of that post.

Ongoing eBay goals:
  • sell 10% of my listed items in any given week (current goal that I’ve been able to meet pretty consistently) 
  • list 5 new items per day, 5 days per week (equaling 25 per week/100 per month – I really want to get all of my “inventory” aka clutter listed and organized!)
  • average at least $125 per week in sales ($500/month) above and beyond eBay + PayPal fees
Where will the money go?  Vacations!  Specifically to assist in funding:
  • Orlando family vacation: May, 2012
  • 10 year anniversary vacation in New York: October, 2012

So far eBay has been a bit of a lark, a fun hobby.  But, if we’re going to be able to pay for two “real” vacations this year it’s time for me to get busy and start selling.  And saving!