She Thrifts

Thrift. Flip. Repeat.

Let me be your personal shopper!

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I picked up the above sandals at a yard sale last weekend because a friend had told me a few weeks before that she had been regularly checking Craigslist in hopes of finding some Keen sandals for her son.  When I found these at a yard sale (in her own neighborhood no less – but she was in Mexico at the time) I decided I might as well pick them up.  They still looked new, and I figured if she didn’t want or need them anymore I could sell them on Craigslist or eBay.  But she did want them!  I sold them to her for what I paid for them:  ($10).  She seemed thrilled, and stopped by and picked them up this afternoon.

I love having things on my mental list to look for, whether for myself or someone else.  The mental list currently includes a slide for my parents’ house, Max & Ruby books for my cousin’s kids, and Spiderman/Superman/Batman toys for a friend’s son.  And I am always happy to have more things to look for.  Because I love the hunt!

It’s a Small World After All! (Craigslist sales)

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I haven’t done much with Craigslist in the last couple months.  I have a number of listings that I have pretty much been ignoring (as has everyone who looks at CL).  A couple months ago I set up a separate e-mail address for my CL account because I was having a hard time keeping track of CL e-mails amongst everything else, and I could not always remember what I had or had not responded to.  So, when I checked my CL e-mail account on Tuesday for the first time in several days, I was surprised to have several e-mails waiting for my attention.

 

The first e-mail was from a guy want to buy the Janet Evanovich books above.  I had them listed at $5 total for all 5 – they were kind of beat up, but still readable.  Not only did he want to buy them, but if I was willing to hold them for him for 24 hours he would pay me not $5 but $10!  Easy decision, since he was the only one offering me any money for them.  (Interestingly, this was not the first, or even second, but the THIRD time I have been offered more money than what I was asking for an item posted on CL.)  And to sweeten the deal?  I picked these books up last month at a yard sale on a rainy Saturday afternoon. The day had been rainy enough that I hadn’t even bothered to head out in search of yard sales that morning.  But, when out running errands later that day I saw a sign for a neighborhood sale I had noticed on CL the night before (and had been planning to go to that morning before being rained out).  Since the sign was up, the rain had let up, and they were supposed to be Saturday-only sales, I decided to check it out.  And, yes.  There were several sales still going on.  At the sale with these books the people were obviously ready to be done.  I was told that everything under the canopy was free.  So, I grabbed these 5 books, the newest hardback in the same series (which I have already sold on half.com), a book from the Twilight series, and a pair of maternity pants.  Freebies = free money, yay!  (In fact, now I wish I would have taken even more of the books – she also had a bunch of Sue Grafton novels – but, since they were free, I didn’t want to seem greedy.)

 And, it is a small world.  Because I just sold the above games via a CL ad to someone I went to high school with!  A year or two ago one of my mommy friends from my son’s playgroup posted an ad for a jogging stroller and one of the other mommies in the same playgroup answered it.  It was kind of odd and kind of funny.  We all laughed about it.  But it is weird when it happens to you.  (And just to add up the random facts: we live in a town of about 150,000 people, around 4 hours away from where we grew up.  She now lives about a mile away from me.  And we actually just got our kiddos together for a play date for the first time ever last month.)  Love the random.  Anyway, I had bought a bunch of these games when I was able to get them inexpensively a year or two ago.  She was happy to buy them and will use them with some kids she works with.  Win/win.

Yard Sale Finds, July 29-30, 2011

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Week two of documenting my yard sale finds – and as my friend 
who went yard sale-ing with me said: It was blogtastic!

Friday’s finds:

Found at the very first yard sale: Buzz Lightyear suitcase for $5.00 
(used by my oldest this weekend for a trip to grandma and grandpa’s house)

Around $5 worth of clothes for a quarter each.
On the left are for my oldest son, on the right are to consign at an upcoming sale.

Birthday supplies.  I’ve started picking up napkins, plates, signs etc., when I can find them brand new, in unopened packages for a quarter each.  I also picked up the train cake pans for $1.

Costumes! $2 each.  Unfortunately, I seem to have already lost the fireman’s hat.  I remember setting the outfit down when I dug my money out, and I am guessing I must have left the hat behind.  And I have no idea where the yard sale was, so I can’t go back for it.  Bummer.

Boy’s Keen sandals:  $10.  They looked brand new.  I picked these up because I have a friend who told me she has been looking on Craigslist for this exact item.  (The sale was even in her neighborhood!)  She is out of the country right now, so I went ahead and picked them up.  If she no longer needs them I figure I can sell them for at least as much as I paid for them.

Puzzle was 50 cents.  Game was $1, and looked brand new. 

Misc toys my son picked out, mostly a quarter each.  50 cents total for all the sand toys.

Veggie Tales toys.  $2 total.  I can’t find a piano on eBay (open or closed listings) so I may put it up and see how it does.

Dinosaurs that roar. $1 each.

We’ve been wanting a new book shelf (or DVD shelf) for my son.  And, I couldn’t pass up the cute pre-schooler-sized bench.  $20 total for both.

The highlight of my son’s morning:  Bullseye.  I found it at the bottom of a tub of stuffed animals when considering some “loveys”.  It was brand new and still had its tags on it from Disneyland.  I thought about trying to sell it, but of course my son was in love.  He’s worth the quarter.  🙂
My husband occasionally asks me when I return from yard sale-ing, “What did you buy me?” The answer is almost always nothing.  So when I saw these huge hulk gloves, I thought they would make a great joke-gift for him.  50 cents.

Free!  Goodies from a free box.  Tracks for my son’s hot wheels tracks, and a magnetic Dora car.


My friend found a few things too.  Curtains for $3.  She has been thinking about sewing her own – so she was pretty excited to find these to save herself the time, money and effort.

She also got a scrapbook for $4 (that she already has specific plans for), a workout VHS that was the only one in a series she was missing, a soap dish that matches some decor she already has, and (what I was most excited by) a really nice canvas bag she was given for free when she was buying these items at a yard sale and asked if they had anything she could put it in. 

Saturday’s sneak out:

We spent the weekend with my husband’s family.  When I went out to run an errand on Saturday afternoon I couldn’t help but stop by a couple yard sales on my way home. (Spent a whopping $2.75.)

Five books, ten cents each.  Board game, a quarter. 

Set of 8 Captain Underpants books and Clifford: $2 total. I think I am going to try and sell the books with a fixed price on eBay and see if there are any takers.  (It will be my first shot with a fixed price.  Testing the waters.)

This evening I was out running an errand and decided to stop into a Goodwill that’s about a mile away from my house.  First time I have been in there in years.  Total bust.  Maybe because it was a Sunday evening?  It was so disorganized.  I didn’t find anything that was even tempting.

Linking up with Yard Sale Mommy!

Yard Sale Finds, July 22-23, 2011

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My brother’s family is on their way back to Japan, my parents are headed back down the coast, my husband and the 3-year-old are at the theater watching Cars 2, and the baby is sleeping.  So what am I doing?  Starting a yard sale blog, of course!
If I haven’t told you about my new obsession with the blog Yard Sale Mommy – well, consider yourself informed.  And forewarned.  I am completely addicted.
This was kind of an odd yard sale-ing weekend for me, because we had six extra people staying with us, and I did not want to miss out on any opportunities to spend time with family I rarely get to see.  But, if everyone is still in bed at 8 a.m., I’m heading out to some yard sales!
Friday’s finds:
I love that my kids are still young enough that I can buy them Christmas presents at yard sales and they neither know nor care.  The book in the top left corner was a favorite library check-out for my older son when it first came out, so I was thrilled to find it for a quarter.  I will be tucking it away to put in a Christmas stocking for my youngest.  The movies and gloves I found at the next yard sale.  I’ve been slowly adding to our Disney Classics DVD collection, when I can find them for $1/each.  And yes, I bought (slightly, barely, gently) used gloves.  Kind of an ick factor, but I have been putting off buying new gloves, and they are the exact same style as my favorites (that now have holes in the fingertips), and they were $1 compared to $15 at the store.  Felt like I couldn’t pass them up.
Clothes!  I found a few things in a free box at the first yard sale (cute camo pants with a hole in the knee, a couple cute shirts with stains that I will try to get out).  If they never get worn, oh well, they were free.  And at a different sale $5.50 worth of clothes (a quarter each), most of which I am hoping to sell at an upcoming consignment sale.
I paid $5 total for everything in this picture – much more than I normally would have, but it was a fundraiser for a church.  Nothing was priced, and they just ask that we “be generous because it is all for the youth group.”  My son LOVES the Little Engine book (we’ve gotten it from the library a couple times).  My husband loves all things Rudolph, and this book lights up, so I figured I couldn’t pass it up.  Didn’t notice until I got home that the Thomas bag has someone’s name written on the outside – bummer, but oh well.
And my steal of the day!  $2 for the entire box of Thomas goodies.  The lady who sold it to me had no idea what it was worth.  Haven’t even cracked it open to see what all is inside.  Waiting to do so until my oldest son isn’t around because I think I am probably going to turn around and sell it.
Saturday’s steals:
(This time my mom snuck out of the house with me, while everyone was still asleep.)
$2.25 for the tote, which seemed kind of pricey to me, but I can always use more storage.  The toys are for my son; a quarter each.
$3 for everything in this picture.  The books on the left are pop-up and play music!  And all of the pop-ups were in excellent condition.  Dinosaur books and some Mr. Potato Head magnets.  All for my son.
Thomas, Thomas, Thomas!!  So glad my oldest was not with me at this sale.  Got all of these Thomas brand wooden track/accessories for $20.  Will be hiding them away for his birthday and Christmas.  (Looked them up online last night, and new all seven pieces would cost at least $200.)
And, at the same yard sale I got this jogging stroller for $20.  Have been wanting one for ages, and this was a price I couldn’t pass up.
Free boxes!  For upcoming shipping.  I found and rescued these from my own recycling bin (my brother’s family did lots-o-shopping while they were here visiting from Japan).
Can’t wait ‘til next weekend!