She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

Shop on eBay via Ibotta!

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I promise I won’t keep droning on about Ibotta, but wanted to offer one last way that I use it to great effect.  Ibotta will (sporadically) offer bonuses for mobile shopping.  So, I used my eBay shipping coupon and completed the purchase through the Ibotta app.  My grand total for the items I purchased was $50.90 (out of pocket 90¢).  I got back 1% just for shopping through the Ibotta app, and then also got a $5 bonus for completing a mobile shopping transaction.


The “Christmas in July” bonus is available for almost another week (until July 25) and is good for almost anywhere online you want to shop, not just eBay.  An easy $5.

Happy shopping and saving!

Big Summer Goals: Week 6

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I hit my listing goal this week.  What I really need to start doing is exceeding my listing goal because there have weeks where I’ve fallen behind.  If I am going to have any chance of actually hitting my big goal I need to make up some ground now.

Anyway.

This week I listed 77 new items.

Since June 1 this puts my grand total at 443 new listings.

Sales this week are my worst in months.  This whole summer has been pretty awful, but this week took the cake.  I am actually feeling pretty discouraged about it all.  I know last year sales were slow in the summer and picked up again in August.  I am hoping that happens this year too, but I dunno.  I really don’t know what to think.

In addition to listing, I am also trying to keep up on getting my newly listed inventory put away.  Also, keeping my tax info updated.  Also, I am still updating my listings that are mysteriously missing photos.  And I have been trying to cross post most of my new clothing listings to Poshmark.  And hang out with my kiddos and have fun since they are on summer break.  It’s a lot to juggle.

Onward to a fresh new week!

Will you be my Ibotta buddy?

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I am in need of some new Ibotta buddies!

I like using the Ibotta app.  In its most basic boiled down way I use it as a way to download coupon offers for different stores, then I purchase said items(s), scan the receipt, and get credited back the coupon amount.  This is how I use Ibotta most frequently, getting money back from grocery shopping I would do anyway at Fred Meyer, Winco, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Circle K, the Dollar Tree, etc, etc.  (Smart phones are smart.  I notice when we are in different areas it automatically updates to include participating stores in that area.)

You can also get rebates for shopping online, participating in different bonuses, etc.  Participating in bonuses is where I could use help!  Sometimes if your Ibotta friends meet a certain rebate threshold within a month it can help you in earning a bonus.  (I must have originally signed up for Ibotta via FB, because FB friends who use Ibotta show up as Ibotta friends.)  I used to have a couple “friends” (aquaintances I never actually see in real life) who used Ibotta quite frequently, but for whatever reason they haven’t been using it over the last couple months.  I need some new friends!!  If you haven’t signed up yet, but are interested in doing so you could use my link HERE.  We could be friends and help each other out.  Even better, I would get a $5 bonus if you sign up, and you would get a $10 welcome bonus for signing up.

Once you get to a $20 threshold you can cash out in different ways (purchasing gift cards, Venmo, Paypal, etc).  I always just deposit my funds into my Paypal account.  Gotta love cash.

I’ve been using Ibotta for awhile now.  I’m not going to say that it is a huge $$$ maker, but it does add up.  And, depending on your personality, you might think it is fun.  I don’t play games on my phone, but this is kinda like my game.  The game that pays me money!   🙂

 

How many items do you list each day?

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Consistency seems to be my biggest nemesis.

Yesterday I listed 28 items.  Today I have listed 3.  Tomorrow I am working most of the day at my other job and have plans in the evening, so if/when I get some listing done it will be minimal.  Argh.

I have seen the occasional Youtube video about people listing 50+ items a day and I just don’t get it.  30 is about where I have topped out, and it’s not a sustainable pace for me.

But I am curious.  How many items do you usually list each day on eBay?  And how long does it take you to get them listed?

And if you actually are a high volume lister and have some tips or tricks that make it possible, I’d certainly love to hear about that.

Happy summer listing, everyone!

Big Summer Goals: Week 5

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This has been a kinda weird week, listing-wise, because for 3 whole days during the week I didn’t list at all.  What I did do was enjoy my 4th of July and spend part of the weekend at my parents’ house.  But, I was determined to get my listing in anyway, and put in a lot of work the last couple days.  I finished up my last few listings for the week not long before midnight, happy to exactly meet my weekly goal.  And then I did the math for this blog post.  And realized I was off, and am actually 10 listings short for the week.  Darn.  It.  Anyway.  But, thinking I was closer than I was to my goal made me work harder to reach it, and I did extra listing tonight that I probably wouldn’t have done if I realized hitting my goal was out of reach.

Anyway.

This week I listed 67 new items.

Since June 1 this puts my grand total at 366 new listings.

Sales have maybe ticked up a bit, but honestly it still seems really slow.

Here’s to starting an even more productive week tomorrow!

eBay and the case of the missing photos

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Who else has listings missing photos?  I can tell from the eBay FB groups that I am not alone.  It seems that the photos in at least 100 of my listings have gone AWOL.  Ugh.

So, I first noticed a few days ago, in a couple of my listings.  And I admit I ignored the problem.  Hoped it would magically fix itself.  Spoiler alert:  it didn’t.  But it also gave my brain a couple days to think over the issue without really thinking about it, if you know what I mean.  And although I don’t save photos for items I already have listed (and just a week or two ago I actually finally emptied my trash can on my laptop, forever deleting thousands and thousands of photos) … there was another place I could look for the photos.

Bonanza

Yup, I import my listings over there.  I sell maybe a couple things a month there (oddly, almost entirely replacement loveys – I have a theory about this, maybe I’ll go into at another time).  Every once in awhile when inventorying I come across an item that is no longer in my eBay inventory.  I then turn to Bonanza to see if it is still listed there, so I (hopefully) don’t have to recreate the listing from scratch.  Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not.

New problem, same possible solution.  It’s still a hassle, don’t get me wrong.  I am still investing hours of my time looking for my items in my Bonanza booth, saving the photos, and then re-uploading them to eBay.  But, it’s a heck of a lot better than having to re-take the photos.  (Which I will still have to do for a few items that for some reason are no longer in my Bonanza booth at all.)

Want to see if you have some items missing photos?  Here’s the most direct way I’ve found to do it, from a suggestion on an eBay FB group:This tip helped me a lot, so I know exactly which listings to focus on.  I’m less than a third of the way through fixing my listings (more sighs), but I will keep chipping away at it.  Here’s to hoping you dodged this particular eBay bullet.

Big Summer Goals: Week 4

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I fell short of my listing goal. And my sales are down quite a bit.  I had several days in a row where barely anything sold.  It’s so strange.  I feel like eBay has been SO glitchy lately.  Things I notice that obviously aren’t right, and after a day or two they correct themselves.  Right now a bunch of my listings have photos that aren’t showing up when you click into the listing.  New listings, old listings, there seems to be no rhyme or reason.  I keep hoping it will resolve on its own, but I should probably call eBay.  I had someone e-mail me to ask about a $50 coat because they couldn’t see any photos.  Sigh.  I don’t want to have to take all new photos for a bunch of listings, so I keep holding out hope it will be magically fixed.  Anyway.

This week I listed 63 new items.

Since June 1 this puts my grand total at 299 new listings.

I have been fighting a summer cold, and went to be earlier than usual a couple nights this week.  And with the 4th of July holiday week coming up we are extra busy with fun stuff, so keeping up on my listings this week will be rough too.  And so it goes.

Sad week of sales:

Here’s hoping the summer slump doesn’t stick around, and things start to bounce back.

Big Summer Goals: Week 3

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Week three already.  I met my listing goal.  But, just.  And because I listed about a third of my week’s listings today.

But, you know what?  That means this is working.  I certainly listed more today (and this week overall) because of my Big Summer Goal, and knowing that I will be posting this weekly update.  And I’m okay with that.  Whatever it takes to get the work done.

This week I listed 78 new items.

Since June 1 this puts my grand total at 236 new listings.

I am still struggling with balance.  Sometimes I get up early and get a lot of work done and feel really good about it.  Sometimes I get up early and feel really tired and go back to bed.  It’s not a perfect system.  My to-do lists are long, my time is always running short.  Sometimes I feel like I am just along for the ride.

My sales have ticked up just a bit this week:

It’s not much, but it is nice to see it in the green.

How are your summer goals going this week?

Dabbling on Poshmark

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I have been thinking about listing clothes on Poshmark for quite awhile.  In fact, when I went to set up an account recently I was surprised to discover that I already had one, that I set up way back in December, 2016.

A few days ago on a whim I decided to list a couple items.  Now, I honestly have no idea how it all works.  I know I have heard that sharing is important.  Is the sharing just – random?  Does it matter what I share, or just that I do it?  Should I just follow absolutely everyone?  (Are the 300+ people who have started following me for no known reason just hoping for a follow back?)

Can people always make offers?  I only had a handful of items listed, and this evening I got an offer on one of them.  It was a bit low, but I decided I should take it, just to get my feet wet.  So, yay!  First Poshmark sale, check.

I got the e-mail with the shipping label.  I know it will go Priority, and when I was reading through all of the Poshmark FAQs a few days back it seemed they recommend using the free USPS boxes.  The item I sold is a small skirt.  It seems silly to put it in a box.  Are polymailers still okay?  It seems maybe I remember sellers buying cutsie polymailers for their Poshmark sales?

If you are already on Poshmark and have any tips or tricks I would love to hear them.  And/or if you follow any Poshmark sellers on Youtube please share that too.  I think someone here recommended The Empty Hanger awhile back, and I have watched a few of her videos, but other than that this is all brand new to me!

Thanks, friends!

Hahaha. Joke is on me.

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Well, I did get up a little after 5 a.m. this morning, and got a bunch of listing done before my boys got up.  I worked at my “real” job, went home and did a few chores around the house, enjoyed a BBQ with my family, put away some inventory, was (and still am) planning to take a bunch of pictures.  Overall, after the disaster of yesterday I was feeling pretty great about how the day went, and all that I got accomplished.  And then … (because of course it can’t just end there) … our internet went out.

My husband spent about an hour on the phone with our internet provider, trying to troubleshoot.  They say the issue is the router, and they are sending us a new one.  At our cost.  Today is Tuesday, and they can “overnight” one, which won’t actually arrive until Thursday, or we can use regular 2-day shipping, which won’t arrive until Monday.  What in the heck kind of math is that?  Anyway, we are “overnighting” a new router.  Fingers crossed it actually fixes the problem.

I was feeling all motivated to get up early tomorrow morning and list, but I guess that’s not gonna happen.  So, my store is now on an impromptu vacation.  Which almost belatedly occurred to me, I made a mad dash to the library to update everything on their wifi.  And now I gotta go, because they close in less than 5 minutes.

So – ha!  Best laid plans, right?  My new plan is to take hundreds of photos so I can list, list, list, list when the internet is restored.

Hope your week is going more smoothly than mine.  🙂