Thrift. Flip. Repeat.
As I previously mentioned, I spent most of the last school year working 5 days per week and thus spent a lot less time on my eBay business. Today is the first day in many MANY months that I have seen my “compared to same period a year ago” percentage in the green! At times I was in the red as much as 50% below last year. I know it’s a small thing, but it feels like a solid step in the right direction. Yay!
So, I have officially been on Poshmark over a year now. It was really, really slow going, but I am finally starting to feel like I am getting a bit of traction.
I will say though that I don’t have a particularly curated closet. I pretty much throw anything and everything up on PM, whether or not it’s super trendy. I have even started using the Home category, and have listed some baby blankets and plush.
It is my goal to list at least 5 items per day. I cross list from eBay, so this really doesn’t take very long. I am still working to reach my goal of selling an average of one item per day, but I’ve gotten so much closer!
In July I listed 143 new items on PM, and sold a grand total of 4.
In August I listed 144 new items, and sold 15.
In September I listed 147 new items, and sold 27.
Pretty darn close to my goal! May this month I will reach it.
How is Poshmark going for you?
I have moved into a new season of my life, both literally and figuratively.
For the past many years I have kind of had the best of both worlds. When my oldest son was born (now almost 12 years ago) I was able to stay home with him. This was really important to me, especially since we don’t have any family who lives nearby to help out. I know how lucky I was to have the choice to stay home. I was also lucky that I was able to move from my full-time job as a librarian into a substitute position. The great thing about the sub position was that I had total control over when I would work. When my boys were young this limited me to working on days my husband was off, which worked out well. As they have gotten older and are now in school full time I started working more and more, and during the last school year I was usually working 5 days a week.
That was, until the middle of June, when I found out that all sub positions city-wide were being eliminated. There were other departments in the city affected by this, but it hit the library especially hard – 18 people lost their jobs.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel. Part of me was sad, for sure. I had worked there for 17(!) years. But there was also a little part of me that has always wondered what I could do if I wasn’t trying to split my time between my work there and my work at home.
So, I enjoyed July and August with my boys being out of school, working from home. During those couple months I was still trying to decide if I needed to try and find another job, or if I should stick with online sales. In fact at the end of August I was in the middle of filling out an application (for a job that only comes open once a year) when I realized that I really, really did not want the job. What I wanted was to give myself the next 9 months to work from home and see what I could do when my time was really my own.
So of course I talked to my husband, and he was on board. The gist of what he said was – as long as we are able to pay our bills at the end of the month, we’re good. Do whatever makes you happy. Yup, he’s awesome. So I didn’t apply for the job, and I’ve given myself nine months (now down to eight) to see what I can do when my time is my own.
So far, this is what I have done. (This was as of 10 minutes ago, as I type.)
I have been working and working and working to get my “compared to same period a year ago” back up to 0. Because I was working so much at the library there were many months that my sales were 50% less than they had been the year before. I am soooo close to that goal! (Of 0%, ha. But we’ve got to start somewhere, right?)
I have many more goals that I am working towards, but that is my life right now in a nutshell.
I would love to hear about how the work-life balance is going for you. Do you have a good routine, or is it ever changing? Please share!
I actually posted this as a BOLO over four years ago, but I think it *bears* repeating. Many of the How To Train Your Dragon plush from Build A Bear Workshop can sell for a nice amount. Check out some completeds HERE.
Meatlug often fetches the highest prices.
And if you need help identifying some of the HTTYD characters, this website could be helpful.
Happy hunting!
Here are a few of my favorite recent flips.
A Wiggles cup! I knew it wouldn’t sell for a lot, but oh the nostalgia. I had to pick it up. It ended up being a quick flip.
Paid: $0.25 @ ys,
Sold: $14.95 (4 days after listed)
I know people say LuLaRoe is dead, but I still pick it up from time to time ~ but I have become much more selective. This dress was a super quick flip.
Paid: $3 @ ys,
Sold: $24.95 (10 hours after listed)
This David’s Bridal dress took awhile to sell,
but it was so pretty I couldn’t leave it behind.
Paid: $2 @ VV, Sold: $34.95
(listed since Feb, 2018)
I picked up several lots of yarn at yard sales over the summer. All sold fairly quickly.
Paid: $3 @ ys, Sold: $24.95
(26 days after listed)
I sometimes pick up Scentsy plush, but this was my first Partylite plush.
Paid: $1.50 @ rummage sale,
Sold: $29.95 (listed since April, 2019)
NWT Circo Bear
Paid: $1.49 @ VV,
Sold: $29.95 (listed since Sept, 2018)
NWT Lambs & Ivy Plush
Paid: $2.39 @ VV,
Sold: $34.95
(19 days after listed)
NWT Purple Hippo Toys R Us Plush
Paid: $1 @ ys
Sold: $39.95 (8 days after listed)
Taggies Kitty Blanket
Paid: $3 @ consignment store
Sold: $39.95 (listed since June, 2018)
Baby Morgan Pink Square Lovey
Paid: $0.50 @ ys
Sold: $49.95 (9 days after listed)
How have your sales been? I’d love to hear about them!
Here’s a brand to keep an eye out for: Barefoot Dreams. Among other things, sweaters and bathrobes can both sell high.
Check out completeds HERE.
Here’s a fun BOLO to keep an eye out for! There are a couple different spoons with the Nesquik bunny on them. This version sells for more. Check out completeds here.
Here are a few of my better recent flips:
NWT LuLaRoe Dresses
Paid: $3/ea @ ys, Sold: $34.95/ea (19 days/17 days after listed)
If you have any fun or noteworthy sales to share I would love to hear about them!
Any guesses as to what this tag says? Is that a 6? A G? An 0 or a 0? Something else I haven’t thought of? I’ve googled and reverse image searched and looked up the RN and done everything else I could think of, and I still don’t feel confident in what the tag actually says. Any guesses?
This is a BOLO I just happened to stumble across while researching another plush I was listing. I always take a second look at husky-like plush because I have sold a few for a decent profit. This white Samoyed dog (a breed I had never of before) by Douglas consistently sells for $150++! Check out completeds HERE. Other brands don’t seem to sell for quite as much, but are still probably worth pick up.
Happy hunting!