She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

2014

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With the new year I have, of course, been thinking over the goals I would like to achieve in 2014.  

They include:

#1)  Keeping up with the boys.  I am still a busy mama with two young boys (ages 6 and 2), and they will always be my priority.  I know how lucky I am that I am able to stay home with them full-time.  I am very thankful to have found a way to contribute to the family budget while being with them, but I also know eBay could take over my life if I’d let it.  Sometimes I will need to put eBay on the back-burner of life, and just let it simmer.  And that’s okay.

#2)  Continue growing my eBay store.    I know it will be a slow grow.  But, I would like to eventually get my store up to 1000 items, and then try to hold steady.

#3)  Continue to branch out, but also list what I love.  It’s gotten to the point where I feel like I could list pretty much anything, and I do.  And while I am always happy to find a hot item that sells for big bucks, I also enjoy some smaller sales too.  Some kids clothes or plush may not bring in a lot of money, but if I enjoy buying and selling them – then it’s worth it.  I want this “job” to stay fun as well as profitable.

#4)  Tackle Amazon!  I’ve procrastinated long enough.  I’ve sold a few things myself, but still haven’t ventured into FBA territory.  This is the year.

#5)  Continue attending my local eBay sellers Meet-Up group.  I found it on a fluke, and have been attending regularly for almost a year.  Even when the topic of the month isn’t something that I am especially interested in, I am always happy that I showed up.  There’s something great about sitting in a room with like-minded people who totally get the eBay/Amazon/Etsy draw to selling online.

#6)  Continue to write this blog.  I love reading the blogs of other sellers, and I am always happy to be able to pay it forward when I come across a BOLO.  I value the connections and friendships this blog has afforded, and for that I thank all of you.

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January is going to be a very busy month for me, so I am keeping my listing goal conservative at 100.




Happy New Year to all!

Raffle Prize Ideas

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Each month, the Meet-Up group that I have been attending concludes with a raffle prize drawing.  The first time I attended I won some mailing labels.  Last month I won a roll of packing tape.  Both awesome prizes for an eBay seller!

The gal who runs the group invites everyone to bring a raffle prize to donate (not required, just for fun).  They can be anything.  One gal brought some potholders she had knitted, another person brought a mail scale they no longer needed.

I’d like to bring something next month, but can’t think of anything clever or useful that would be eBay related.  Any suggestions?

The Good, The Bad, And The Birthday Boy

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The Good:

I listed 46 new items in the first five days of April.  46!  For me, that is a lot.

The Bad:


I tried to go thrifting this morning, two boys in tow.  The boys were actually great, even my youngest who has a low tolerance for thrifting.  The problem?  Nothing to buy!  

Our first stop was Bellies, Babies + Beyond, which is a sale that happens twice a year.  It just runs for four hours, and has a lot of small booth-type-areas where people sell their own items.  In the past it has been PACKED, with buyers and sellers.  Hard to navigate a stroller through.  Today?  There was actually a little empty space at the back of the gymnasium where they could have had additional sellers, and there were noticeably less buyers there too.  There was a $2 entrance fee, and then I paid a whopping $2 total for a pair of Toy Story pajamas and a snowsuit.  There have been times in the past in which I’ve left that sale with a full trunk, so this was a bit of a letdown.  We then visited a kids’ consignment store – no finds.  We stopped by Value Village.  The first person I run into is a gal I met at the Meet-Up, and the only other person who sells kids items.  Of course!  She is actually incredibly nice, and she did have a cart full of plush.  I found a bag with a Fred Flintstone plush and a Bugs Bunny plush ($1.99) and my oldest found a bag of Army men ($0.99).  One final stop at a small local thrift, but there was a sign on the door that they were closed for the day.  O-kay.  All in all, a bummer of a thrifting day.


The Birthday Boy:

My youngest is two today!

I bought his birthday boy shirt on eBay, of course.

Selling in Secret

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I went to my second Meet-Up group tonight.  This month was all about using social media (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to benefit your online selling.  It was good information, some of which I’ve heard before.  At this point I do not use social media at all to promote my eBay listings.  I have a personal Facebook account, but not one for my eBay store.  I have a Pinterest account, but have only logged into it twice, ever.  (Do I really need another time suck?)  I actually think I have a Twitter account too, but I’ve never used it.  I still don’t really even understand how Twitter works.  #confusing  Or something.

I get the potential (because how can you tell if it’s really working?) benefits of pinning and FBing and the possible marketing opportunities, but . . . for some reason I don’t really feel comfortable using social media to promote my eBay store. 

The truth is, not a lot of people know that I sell on eBay.  It’s not really a “secret”.  Come over to my house and step into my entryway and you’ll know something is going on.  My family never actually uses the front door, so I’ve co-opted the bench in our entryway as a kind of box and packing materials assembly line and storage area.  (Putting it away and dragging it back out every day just became too much of a pain.)  My parents and inlaws know about my eBay venture, as do some of my closer friends.  Sometimes it will come up in a conversation, and I’ll share information about what I do, but I don’t broadcast it far and wide.  I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that.  And, it follows, that I don’t really feel comfortable broadcasting it all over FB, etc, either.  I guess it would feel like I am asking my friends to shop at my store, and that would just be – awkward.

I am curious to hear if anyone has had great success with social media marketing.  Am I really missing out here?

eBay Meet-Up Follow-Up

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I attended the eBay Meet-Up meeting last week.  It went well.  There were around 20 people there.  They’ve been meeting once a month since last summer, and I got the impression that this was the biggest turnout that they’ve had yet.

There seem to be 2 co-leaders of the group.  One favors eBay, and she actually teaches eBay classes at our local community college.  The other sells some on eBay, but he favors Amazon and is the Postmaster at a rural Post Office about half an hour from where I live.  Both were very nice, knowledgeable, and welcoming.

The talk was about Amazon basics.  The co-leader who favors Amazon gave the presentation.  We were there for about 2 hours and only got half way through everything he had prepared to talk about (he knew he wouldn’t have time to get through it all . . . may do a part 2 presentation some time in the future).  He had an extensive Powerpoint with lots of screen shots.  He was great about answering questions.  It was very informative and I feel like I have a much better understanding of how selling on Amazon works, and understand the concept of FBA now.

He and his wife (also a postal worker) are getting close to retirement, and he said their dream is to travel the country thrifting and sightseeing, and sending items in to FBA from wherever they might be.  How awesome is that?! 

The group had a thrifting event last Saturday, to which everyone was invited.  They were carpooling and going to six or seven different thrift stores from Salem to Portland.  It sounded like it could be fun, but I couldn’t help wondering where they were all going to put their treasures if they were all driving together.

To cover the cost of the meeting room fees, they ask everyone to pay $2 for two raffle tickets.  They had quite a few prizes.  I won some mailing labels.  Perfect, right?

Next month’s meeting is about promoting yourself via social media (FB and Pinterest specifically).  I’m not sure how much that topic will appeal to me, but if my schedule is free I will probably attend.  Right now I do zero marketing via social media.  Maybe they will convince me that I should change my ways.

eBay Meet-Up Groups

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I was reading a blog earlier today that mentioned the possibility of attending an eBay Meet-Up group. The idea intrigued me, and I just looked up eBay Meet-Up groups to see if there are any in my area.  Not only is there one, but the group is holding a meeting in a couple weeks.  About this:

Amazon, FBA, Books and Beyond /Basics of Selling on Amazon

I have long wondered about selling on Amazon, but have yet to venture into it.  Goodness knows, eBay keeps me busy enough all on its own.  I feel like I don’t have the time to figure out the Amazon ropes, but if someone wants to take an hour and a half and explain it all to me?  Sign me up!

Also, kind-of-but-not-really-coincidentally, the meeting is taking place where I work.  I am a (since having kids, super part-time) librarian, and the library where I work rents out meeting rooms.  It is in one of those meeting rooms that the meet-up will take place.  I won’t even have to venture out of my comfort zone to attend.

I am feeling quite excited at the prospect of attending this meeting, and yet also a little wary.  I love the online eBay community, network of blogs, and all of the “friends” I have made.  And while in some ways it would be wonderful to experience that in person, in others – well, honestly, maybe I am afraid of the competition.  It’s different sharing all of your secrets and BOLOs with people who might actually beat you to a yard sale!

Anybody have any experience with an eBay Meet-Up group, or the like?