She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

Womp Womp. Yard Sale Fails.

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I thought it would be fun to start posting my weekly yard sale finds because I am always really interested to see what other people pick up. This weekend were my first yard sale outings of the year, and unfortunately – it was almost entirely a flop.

Yesterday morning I went to cheer my son on at his jogathon at school, and then gave myself two hours to hit some yard sales before heading home for lunch. It took me less than two hours to go to all of the yard sales on my side of town that I found listed online. And I found very little to show for it.

Three Bluray DVDs that we are keeping, three stuffed animals and one baby blanket. In almost two hours.

Today my youngest had a basketball game in the next town over, so I looked to see what kind of sales were going on in that area. Before his game we went to a church rummage sale. I generally love church rummage sales, but it was on its second day and was super picked over. I bought one pair of footie PJs. We had time to stop at one more yard sale before his game where I picked up a bunny plush and some Harry Potter pencils. And – that’s it. All of my finds for the entire weekend.

Good thing (kinda) that I still have a backlog of other goodies I can get listed this next week.

How are yard sales where you are? Find anything good this weekend?

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?

My trip to a “boot sale”!

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And I’m not talking about footwear.

We are currently visiting my brother’s family in the UK.  Knowing my love of yard sales, my brother decided to treat me to their version!  Basically, sellers all come to the same predetermined field and sell their goods next to their cars.  Of course I loved it.

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It was an interesting experience.  Other than the fact that they were all in the same place (which is awesome), it wasn’t that different than yard saling in the states.  An interesting mix of kids items, baby gear, tools, housewares, books, tons of DVDs, etc.  I noticed a couple different people selling new in package items, one selling vegetables, but the majority seemed very yard sale-y.  Most stuff wasn’t priced, which was kind of frustrating, but the things that were priced seemed super cheap.

If we didn’t have to worry about getting things home on the plane there were more than a few things I would have been interested in buying.  (We pack super light, even with the kiddos – carry on only!)  But even at that I couldn’t pass up this canvas at only 50 pence.  (The seller said she was moving to Egypt, and was practically giving things away.)  I can’t wait to hang it on our wall, but getting it home is going to be a pain.

All summer my oldest has been collecting the books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  He now owns all but #2 and #10.  He asked me to keep an eye out for them.  I thought it was a long shot, but whaddya know:

A fun morning spent!

Yard sale drama + a BOLO

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This morning I made it to my first yard sale of the day around 8:20 a.m.  I got a bit of a late start because both of my boys were with me.  I looked around the first sale, and the only thing that caught my eye was a bright bird-like puppet.  At first look I actually thought it might be a Fraggle.  I found a tag on it that said “The Burds”, which didn’t mean anything to me.  There wasn’t anyone else shopping at the sale, so I put it back, stepped out of the garage and looked the puppet up on my phone.  Check out completeds HERE.  After seeing the results I quickly went back into the garage, picked it back up, paid the $5, and headed to the car with my boys.

And then, the drama.

While we were still sitting there a van pulled up.  It stopped in front of the driveway, a woman hopped out of the van and headed to the sale inside the garage, and the driver of the van pulled over to park.  I didn’t think anything of it.  After I buy something at a sale I make a quick note of what I bought, where, and for how much so it is easy to update my records when I get home, and I was jotting down those notes.  Then the woman who had walked into the garage sale walked back down the driveway and across the street to her ride where I heard her yell:

It just sold a couple minutes ago.  For FIVE DOLLARS! 

That, of course, caught my attention.  Since I was the only one who had been at the sale in the past few minutes, she must have been talking about me.  She was obviously upset, and I was just about to feel bad when she continued:

God damn it!  We should have left when I wanted to!  (expletive expletive expletive)

And the elderly woman driving the van who I assume was her mother was just shaking her head saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

I did, in fact, feel very bad for the older woman, being yelled at like that.  But not at all for the other gal.

Have you had any yard sale drama yet this summer?

Summer 2015 Yard Sale Wish List

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I’ve got a few things in mind that I would like to find at yard sales this summer.  I remembered that I wrote up a wish list last year, and was wondering if I had found most of the items on the list.  Turns out – not so much.  Most of the things I’m looking for I wanted last summer too.

2014 Wish List:

Faux Christmas tree (we’ll still get a real one, but we’d like to have one the kids can decorate on their own) – UPDATE – whenever I see them at yard sales they are all boxed up, and I’m  too chicken to buy one without really seeing how it looks put together.

Christmas Lights (the lights for our old house don’t work at all on our new house) – UPDATE – still looking . . .

Kitchen glasses (I have a couple patterns I’d like to find – probably won’t, but you never know) – UPDATE – After almost 13 years of marriage, and losing a glass or two every year, our supply of kitchen glasses in perilously low.  I actually found 2 of one of our patterns at Value Village last month, but we still need more.

Wooden stepstool (to put in main floor bathroom) – UPDATE – Didn’t find, but no longer need.

Wall clock (also for main floor bathroom) – UPDATE – I actually bought a super cute one at a rummage sale a couple weeks ago!  Got it home, and it doesn’t work.  Dangitanyway.

Girl gift bags (I have a plethora of boy-themed ones, but when my boys are invited to a girl’s party, we’re out of luck) – UPDATE – I had completely forgotten about this, but it’s still a good idea.

Small bookshelf (for my youngest son’s bedroom – right now all our kid books reside with my oldest because he has the only kid bookshelf) – UPDATE – Still looking.  Have found a few that could work, but not in my price range.  Books have taken over a whole shelf in his closet in the meantime.

Coat rack (for entryway, so we can stop hanging everything over the stairs banister) – UPDATE – Still looking.  If I don’t find one this summer I’ll take drastic measures and pay retail!

Entryway table (can you tell we need some entryway organization?)  – UPDATE – Didn’t find, but no longer want.  It would just collect clutter.

Toy eggs (my youngest loves “cracking” eggs, and we don’t have any in our play food) – UPDATE – This made me laugh.  But he’d probably still enjoy them, so sure, I’d buy some if I found them.

Banana hanger – UPDATE – Actually found last summer!  And I love it and use it all the time!

Mini muffin pan – UPDATE – had forgotten about, but still a good idea.

Cupcake stand – UPDATE – Still looking.

Chicken Little DVD – UPDATE – Random.  I’m not actively looking for this, but might buy it if I found it for $1.

New additions:

Boys clothes  (We don’t need much, but I’m looking for a few things for my boys, mostly pants.  And TANK TOPS!!)

Pokemon Stuff (Ugh.  But my 7yo has recently discovered Pokemon, and is a bit obsessed.)

Short-sleeve shirts (For me!  Somehow my entire wardrobe seems to be made up of long-sleeve shirts.  Notsofun during the summer.)

2-Drawer Plastic Storage Tote – To store next year’s completed-and-sent-home schoolwork.  One drawer for each boy.  I sneakily recycle some things, but if they had their choice they would save it all.  So at least now it will have a home, and when the drawer is full, they’ll have to purge.

Record Holder – My husband has a collection of Hard Rock Cafe album (record-shaped) t-shirts that are still sealed.  He loves the Hard Rock, and I’ve supplemented his collection by buying shirts off eBay for locations we have already visited.  I’d like to find a way for him to store/display them.  For awhile I was looking on CL for record storage/display stands, but anything I came across seemed really expensive.  Time to resume the hunt.

Backpack for 7yo – We bought him a matching backpack/lunch box from Wal-Mart at the beginning of the last school year and both started falling apart almost immediately.  Ugh.  Hoping to find something of higher quality/durability.

Kid Towels – Time to purge all of the cute, small hooded towels as my 4yo has outgrown them.  Need some new ones to replace them with.

Wine Glasses – I almost never drink, but I do enjoy having friends over, and it would be nice to have some glasses to use when they bring wine.

I’ll add more as they come to me.

What’s on your wish list this summer?

BOLO: Organic Jeans

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Paid: $1 @ ys; Sold: $49.95 (next day)

Am I the only one who didn’t know there was such a thing as organic jeans?  I was going through a stack of pants at a yard sale a couple weeks ago and this tag caught my eye:

 

To be honest, I don’t really understand what it means.  Organic Air Wash?  Size 30?  But I figured they were worth more than the $1 they were asking, so I picked them up.  When I was getting ready to list them I couldn’t find any like them listed anywhere.  So, I wrote exactly what the tag said, included measurements, and picked a price out of thin air.  Some organic jeans sell for a lot more (COMPLETEDS HERE).  Should I have listed mine for more?  Probably.  But turning $1 into $50 in one day?  I’m happy.

BOLO ~ Stinky Pete (Toy Story)

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I have long suspected that Stinky Pete (aka the Prospector, part of Woody’s Round-Up Gang from Toy Story 2) might be a BOLO, although I had never looked him up before.  It was the fact that I’d never come across him in years of yard saling that made me think he might be worth some $$ if he was out there.  My 3yo found the above PVC toy amongst some other Toy Story characters in a Ziploc bag for $1.  I am letting him keep Stinky Pete, but I had to come home and see what this character’s merchandise is selling for.  You can find some completeds HERE.

One Stop Shopping & Other News

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Every year there is a ginormous sale at a church downtown. They have professionally made signs, and they put them up weeks early.  (The dates are clearly listed, so hopefully most people notice and don’t go looking for the sale weeks in advance.)  They have it outside in a parking lot and inside a gymnasium.  Here are a few photos.

A parking lot full of goodies!
Piles and piles and piles and piles of clothes.
But can you see the prices?  Most kids clothes start at $3/ea.
Another angle.  Behind the clothes are a bunch of aisles of knick knacks,
some toys (more out in the parking lot), books, etc.


Sounds like a dream sale, right?  Well, not so much.  It runs Thurs-Fri-Sat, and the first day most prices seem sky high to me.  Also, it’s stimulation overload.  There is SO MUCH stuff.  And kinda grubby stuff at that.  But, I’m sure there are some gems to be found.  With two kids in tow though I don’t have the time or motivation for a full-scale hunt.  We stopped by Thursday afternoon.  I’m not sure what their prices look like on Friday, but Saturday everything becomes much more bargain-friendly.  This was part of a flyer they handed us on Thursday:

Specials on Saturday:
Baskets: 5 for $1
Games & Puzzles: 5 for $1
Picture Frames: $1 each
All the shoes and purses you can fit in a shopping bag for $5

That sounds great!  I wonder what kind of chaos it creates, though?  Would it be worth it?  I don’t know, I’ve never gone the last day.  I did pick up three different games on Thursday for $2/each (by far one of the more reasonably priced items at the sale that day).  AND one big score – a mostly full case of diaper genie refills – 9 in all for $4 total!  A steal for sure.  Happily my youngest has been potty trained for a few months now, so I will be selling these.  They usually cost around $6 each, and I always found the cost kind of annoying – it adds up afterawhile!

On Friday I did find a one-stop-shopping sale that I loved.  A couple was having a yard sale as a fundraiser to help fund an adoption from Haiti.  The husband said that 16 families had donated things, and that more stuff would continue to arrive over the weekend.  The prices were great, and it was nice to help support them in their endeavors.

Friday afternoon we headed down the coast to visit my parents for the weekend.


My youngest petting a baby tiger at a game park near my parents’ house.

My mom has her co-workers trained to save all packing supplies for her which she passes on to me.  It’s SO wonderful!  This was the back of our Jeep when we left their house this morning:

It’s completely full of packing supplies (boxes, air pillows and lots more!),
and a couple jars of the yummiest jelly ever.

In other news, for the first time EVER, plush is no longer my top selling category.  It’s been taken over by women’s clothing (bested by a whopping 35 cents).  I knew it was coming – I’ve been watching my women’s clothing numbers climb while plush numbers stay about the same.  Clothes definitely sell more quickly for me, but plush will always be my true love.

Back I go to listing now.  I am currently only a little over halfway to my listing goal of 200 for the month, which is definitely more than half over.  I am going to keep at it and see how close I can get, but my goals for July and August are going to be completely different, and I can’t wait.  Happy eBaying, everyone!


Summer 2014 Wish List

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All winter I was compiling a list of the items I am hoping to find at yard sales over the summer.  I thought I’d share the items on my wish list, and hopefully I can report back at the end of the summer to say I’ve found most of them!

Faux Christmas tree (we’ll still get a real one, but we’d like to have one the kids can decorate on their own)

Christmas Lights (the lights for our old house don’t work at all on our new house)

Kitchen glasses (I have a couple patterns I’d like to find – probably won’t, but you never know)

Wooden stepstool (to put in main floor bathroom)

 Wall clock (also for main floor bathroom)

Girl gift bags (I have a plethora of boy-themed ones, but when my boys are invited to a girl’s party, we’re out of luck)

Small bookshelf (for my youngest son’s bedroom – right now all our kid books reside with my oldest because he has the only kid bookshelf)

Coat rack (for entryway, so we can stop hanging everything over the stairs banister)

Entryway table (can you tell we need some entryway organization?)

Toy eggs (my youngest loves “cracking” eggs, and we don’t have any in our play food)

Banana hanger

Mini muffin pan

Cupcake stand

Chicken Little DVD

AND – I’ve actually found a few things in the last month!  Including:

Perfection (found at my son’s school’s rummage sale.  He really likes playing it!  Unfortunately, when I was picking it up at the sale the back part came off and all the pieces went flying.  When we got home we were missing a piece.  Did I leave it behind at the sale?  Was it missing already?  We’ll never know.  Maybe I can find another game this summer to use for pieces.)  Paid: $1.
Kid hot chocolate mugs (when we had all that snow last winter I realized we didn’t have any mugs that I didn’t care if they ended up broken)
Paid: 5¢/each @ ys
Key dish (It’s nice knowing where to find your keys!)
Paid: $1 @ ys. 
The gal who sold it said it was purchased in the Philippines

 What’s on your wish list this summer?

Recent Quick Flips + Rummage Sale L♥ve

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I found a bunch of goodies at a rummage sale over the weekend, and am still working my way through it all getting it listed.  But, I’ve already had two of my rummage sale items sell, making back almost half of what I spent that day, and I have SO many more items from that haul yet to sell.  

Worn Brand Men’s Corduroy Pants
Paid: $2 @ rummage sale, Sold: $24.95 (within a couple hours)
NWT Kohl’s Wocket Plush
Paid: $0.50 @ rummage sale, Sold: $14.95 (day after listed)

 

And here are a few more fairly quick flips:

Annie Little Einsteins Bean Bag Plush
Paid: $1.50 @ local consignment store, Sold: $14.95 (6 days later)

I love buying and selling Dr. Seuss book lots, but this was a good reminder that the board book lots don’t sell for as much as the hardcover book lots do.  My profit on this sale was really low.

Dr. Seuss Board Book Lot
Paid: Around $4, Sold: $14.95 (8 days later)

And I think I should have priced a little higher on this one.

Mini Lalaloopsy Treehouse Set
Paid: $8? from FB ys site, Sold: $39.95 (day after listed)


A couple weeks ago I happened across a yard sale on the way home from my
son’s school.  They were selling all shirts for $0.25 and all pants for $0.50.

Women’s Neeso Camo Pants
Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $14.95 (17 days later)

I love finding these “train conductor” style overalls.

OshKosh striped “train conductor” overalls
Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $15.95 (4 days later)

 I thought these were really cute!

GS115 Distressed Jeans, Size 3T
Paid: $0.50 @ ys, Sold: $19.95 (7 days later)
Electric Purple Fit Flops
Paid: $5.99 @ VV, Sold: $64.95 + $25 shipping to Australia (3 days later)
Baby Blue Disneyland Mug
Paid: $2.99 @ GW, Sold: $29.95 (8 days later)

How have your sales been this month?  April has been a bit weird for me sales-wise.  It started off busy, and then slowed down to almost nothing for several days, then picked back up to normal yesterday.  Here’s hoping the sales continue!