So I've been sick all week, but last night I started coughing really bad and this morning it was no better. I figured kids probably didn't want me hacking all over them, but I got ready anyway to see if I would feel better. By the time I got to school, I was certain I was dying. They got a sub for me and I came home.
Addy's with my mom and dad, so I took a nap, got some stuff ready to ship and I actually did a little around the house. A very little, but that's something, right?
I actually spent about two hours this morning just reading. I haven't just laid in bed reading during the day since I was pregnant with Addy last summer. It was pretty sweet. I'm working my way through A Feast For Crows, book four of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones on HBO). I love it. I love it so much, although not as much as The Hobbit. Granted, there's like 1,000 characters, but there are about 10 main ones and they're ridiculous. Some you want to hang out with and some you just want to hang. If you are a nerd, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't read these things.
The Hobbit is my most favorite book of all time. Don't get me wrong, I love LOTR, too. If we ever have a son, I want to name him Samwise but Tyler is pretty set against it. I guess all this thinking about a bookstore has got me wanting to talk books. I also love Terry Pratchett and Christopher Moore. Nonfiction wise, David Sedaris is the funniest man alive. Those are about it for my favorites. I read lots of random stuff too, but I usually pick an author and stick with them.
I actually sold a used book last night! It's my first fiction sale that wasn't a lot, so that was an exciting $3.99. It was "The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz. I read it right after I had Addy and it's an amazing book. It's one I think every human should read so I thought I'd offer it to someone else. It's also very emotionally heavy, and a one-time read.
Ok, also this was weird: I had those dang Monopoly curtains up from like three or four weeks ago and I've been playing around with the pricing. The lowest I had them listed was for $58.99. They had 8 watchers last week, but no takers! Frustrating! So, I put them up for 30 days at $70.00 OBO. I had a message this morning that someone sent me an offer for...$70.00? I accepted it, of course, but it's kind of confusing. Did they mean to actually send me an offer? Did they make a mistake? Weird, right? Hopefully they pay up soon and I can get these out of my house!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Ugh. Books. And sales!
So, since we want to open a consignment bookstore at some point in the near future, Tyler and I have decided to throw ourselves pretty heavily into selling books on eBay and Amazon. I'm in charge of eBay and he's in charge of Amazon. We're having a hard time figuring Amazon out. I mean, penny books? How do you make money selling books for a penny?? Also Kickstarter didn't accept my proposal. I didn't think they would, but man it would've been nice!
We met a girl today who sold us a box of books that were left over from her yard sale (saw the ad on Craigslist). We paid $10.00 for about 30 books. In it, there were 11 YA books, Christian devotional type books, some cook books, etc. Now, most articles you'll read on selling books on eBay say to focus on nonfiction books, like photography, biography, sports books, cook books, etc. On the flip side of that, they'll also tell you to stick with a genre you know and like. I love YA (young adult) books. I strongly believe in getting teens to read and making it interesting for them. Even though I'm a science teacher, kids have often told me I have more books on my classroom bookshelf than some of their English teachers!
So I was very excited to see a collection of The Clique books in the box. They don't sell like crazy, but there enough to make a lot, so I did it. I'm doing this one as an auction. We'll see. They look brand new!
I also put up a lot of devotionals (along with a Purpose Driven Life...I don't think I've ever seen a book flood the market like that one has). And I put up a Chinese food diet cookbook. I've got a fair amount of books up. According to the statistics*, 33% of the books you post will sell in the first month and 15% will sell after that. The rest will just languish, I guess until you can get them out of your house.
I've made good sales this week:
*Coach purse, paid $10.00 after THREE RELISTINGS, sold it for $70.00
*LPS random pets, paid $10.00 for a big lot, sold some of that lot for a total of $40.00 so far.
*Kid's polo clothes, paid about $3.00 for what I sold (sweater vest, button up, dress), sold for $32.00 total.
*Apologetics Study Bible that we've never used, paid ?, sold for $25.99
*Revere Ware 8 qt stock pot, paid $7.00, sold for $29.99. As I was packing this, I realized that it's in worse shape than I thought. I would be really surprised if the person I sent it to didn't want a refund.
So my profits this week were respectable, although considering the two prior weeks of crap sales, I was due for some profit. We'll see how these books do!
*I could not tell you where I read this. I saw it this weekend. Those are real numbers someone smart has come up with.
We met a girl today who sold us a box of books that were left over from her yard sale (saw the ad on Craigslist). We paid $10.00 for about 30 books. In it, there were 11 YA books, Christian devotional type books, some cook books, etc. Now, most articles you'll read on selling books on eBay say to focus on nonfiction books, like photography, biography, sports books, cook books, etc. On the flip side of that, they'll also tell you to stick with a genre you know and like. I love YA (young adult) books. I strongly believe in getting teens to read and making it interesting for them. Even though I'm a science teacher, kids have often told me I have more books on my classroom bookshelf than some of their English teachers!
So I was very excited to see a collection of The Clique books in the box. They don't sell like crazy, but there enough to make a lot, so I did it. I'm doing this one as an auction. We'll see. They look brand new!
I also put up a lot of devotionals (along with a Purpose Driven Life...I don't think I've ever seen a book flood the market like that one has). And I put up a Chinese food diet cookbook. I've got a fair amount of books up. According to the statistics*, 33% of the books you post will sell in the first month and 15% will sell after that. The rest will just languish, I guess until you can get them out of your house.
I've made good sales this week:
*Coach purse, paid $10.00 after THREE RELISTINGS, sold it for $70.00
*LPS random pets, paid $10.00 for a big lot, sold some of that lot for a total of $40.00 so far.
*Kid's polo clothes, paid about $3.00 for what I sold (sweater vest, button up, dress), sold for $32.00 total.
*Apologetics Study Bible that we've never used, paid ?, sold for $25.99
*Revere Ware 8 qt stock pot, paid $7.00, sold for $29.99. As I was packing this, I realized that it's in worse shape than I thought. I would be really surprised if the person I sent it to didn't want a refund.
So my profits this week were respectable, although considering the two prior weeks of crap sales, I was due for some profit. We'll see how these books do!
*I could not tell you where I read this. I saw it this weekend. Those are real numbers someone smart has come up with.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Pages
That's the name of our hypothetical used bookstore. Simple, yet I think it definitely screams "bookstore". I just submitted a proposal to an awesome site called Kickstarter. It's mostly a place for people who are doing artsy type projects and they don't allow you to fund business expenses, but I explained that our fund would be for collecting books to get started, so we'll see.
A lot of people I've talked to are behind this idea. Which makes me feel good. We can't seem to get a hold of any companies who have businesses for rent downtown, but it's been race weekend in Bristol, so I guess they're busy. The biggest/scariest unknown right now is rent cost. We want it to be downtown so there's lots of walk-through traffic. Downtown Bristol is easy for people to get to and there are a lot of cool small businesses going in. Our ideal spot is next door to a really popular bakery that's been there for a little over a year, but the store that's next to it has been empty for years and doesn't have a sign in the window for who to call about rent/lease information.
Basically, our store would be a consignment bookstore. Mostly used books, but Bristol's got a lot of history, so I figured we could offer new books that talk about our area. We have several festivals throughout the year, the biggest one being Rhythm and Roots, so we would get out of towners with money to burn.
There are a lot of library sales coming up, too. Most of them are about two hours away, but we figure if they have a lot of books for the right price, we better go and see what we can get. We'll still sell them on eBay and Amazon for now, since we figure the soonest we'd be able to hang a shingle would be next fall. We've been reading a very cool blog called The Bookshop Blog, which has a lot of do's and don'ts and handy tips.
Fingers crossed!
A lot of people I've talked to are behind this idea. Which makes me feel good. We can't seem to get a hold of any companies who have businesses for rent downtown, but it's been race weekend in Bristol, so I guess they're busy. The biggest/scariest unknown right now is rent cost. We want it to be downtown so there's lots of walk-through traffic. Downtown Bristol is easy for people to get to and there are a lot of cool small businesses going in. Our ideal spot is next door to a really popular bakery that's been there for a little over a year, but the store that's next to it has been empty for years and doesn't have a sign in the window for who to call about rent/lease information.
Basically, our store would be a consignment bookstore. Mostly used books, but Bristol's got a lot of history, so I figured we could offer new books that talk about our area. We have several festivals throughout the year, the biggest one being Rhythm and Roots, so we would get out of towners with money to burn.
There are a lot of library sales coming up, too. Most of them are about two hours away, but we figure if they have a lot of books for the right price, we better go and see what we can get. We'll still sell them on eBay and Amazon for now, since we figure the soonest we'd be able to hang a shingle would be next fall. We've been reading a very cool blog called The Bookshop Blog, which has a lot of do's and don'ts and handy tips.
Fingers crossed!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Yard Sale Tales: 8/27/11 edition.
So baby's been sick. Like for real sick. Worse than a couple weekends ago...although I think this is actually a continuation of that sickness. Daycare called Tyler on Thursday telling him that we needed to come get her, so he left work at 1 and stayed home with her. When I got home, we took her to the doctor's office. No ear infection, thank goodness, but a pretty crummy sinus infection that's left her and us sleepless. She stayed with my parents on Friday and has slowly been improving.
Tyler said there was no way he was going to get up early and go yard-saleing and Addy had me up at 5:30 anyway, so I figured if she was napping when 7 rolled around, I would try to go to a couple near the house while her and Tyler snoozed. Luckily she decided to pass out a little after 7, so I went to a big 6 family yard sale that had a lot of stuff at fairly high prices. But it was GOOD stuff.
Clothes, mainly. Brand name clothes, most looked like they'd hardly been worn and I scored two things with tags still on! I'm burnt out on trying to hock toys and household wares, so this was just what I needed. I wanted books, too, but they wanted WAY too much on books. I got there really early and saw a girl haul out a huge box of kid's books. I then watched her pull out a pen and price tags and write $2.00 on every tag. These were golden books and paperback kid's books! I couldn't believe she was going to put $2.00 on every single one! There was no way I was going to haggle with these people where the books were concerned, it was getting busy and I just didn't have the energy.
Boy's Adidas tech shirt. I figure it'll be appealing to the little football players
Men's XXL Polo pony shirt. I've just realized the picture makes it looked stained, but it's not, those are just shadows. I might actually have to iron this.
Adidas Climalite polo, size L
Another one with tags!
One family had a whole lot of athletic shoes. These looked to be in good shape and they only wanted $2.00 for them. It's basketball season, so I thought someone would want them. They're a size 13 1/2!
Boy's reversible Remington hunting jacket. I thought this was pretty great and it looks brand new! Not many completeds for this, but I put it up as BIN for $29.99.
Total spent at that yard sale: $27.00
Tyler said there was no way he was going to get up early and go yard-saleing and Addy had me up at 5:30 anyway, so I figured if she was napping when 7 rolled around, I would try to go to a couple near the house while her and Tyler snoozed. Luckily she decided to pass out a little after 7, so I went to a big 6 family yard sale that had a lot of stuff at fairly high prices. But it was GOOD stuff.
Clothes, mainly. Brand name clothes, most looked like they'd hardly been worn and I scored two things with tags still on! I'm burnt out on trying to hock toys and household wares, so this was just what I needed. I wanted books, too, but they wanted WAY too much on books. I got there really early and saw a girl haul out a huge box of kid's books. I then watched her pull out a pen and price tags and write $2.00 on every tag. These were golden books and paperback kid's books! I couldn't believe she was going to put $2.00 on every single one! There was no way I was going to haggle with these people where the books were concerned, it was getting busy and I just didn't have the energy.
Boy's Adidas tech shirt. I figure it'll be appealing to the little football players
Men's XXL Polo pony shirt. I've just realized the picture makes it looked stained, but it's not, those are just shadows. I might actually have to iron this.
Adidas Climalite polo, size L
Another one with tags!
One family had a whole lot of athletic shoes. These looked to be in good shape and they only wanted $2.00 for them. It's basketball season, so I thought someone would want them. They're a size 13 1/2!
Boy's reversible Remington hunting jacket. I thought this was pretty great and it looks brand new! Not many completeds for this, but I put it up as BIN for $29.99.
Total spent at that yard sale: $27.00
I also bought a few things at a charity yard sale for the Crisis Center. Some hot rollers, a first edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and a really old crochet pattern book, all for $7.00...which I thought was high, but I figured it's for charity, so whatever.
Sales this week haven't been very exciting. One of my Revere Ware pots I bought a couple of weekends ago sold for $29.99 and a lot of Dora books and tapes sold for $9.99. That's been it for the week! Yuck.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The eBay doldrums and a business idea!
School is really taking it's toll on me energy-wise. I am, however, trying to list two new things every night. Tonight I listed a set of three Baby Gap boy's pieces. They're very cute and don't look like they've really ever been worn. I also listed a few Amelia Bedelia early reader books that look new, as well.
My LPS carrier sold the night after I listed it, so that's something. It went for my BIN price of $21.99 so I made my money back on the whole LPS lot I bought and then some, which is good. I have a ton of watchers, but currently no bids and no offers on anything. My Left Behind set I got at GW last week went for $12 something. But that's been it for sales this week. I'm basically in the hole right now, which sucks.
I can't figure out why the past couple of weeks have been so slow. Has anyone else experienced this? I wonder if it's because a lot of schools are starting back and it's kind of crazy?
Tyler and I have been playing with the idea of a consignment bookstore. The closest one to our town is 30 minutes away and people make the drive to it, so we're thinking if there was one actually in town, it could do well. There are a lot of empty stores in our downtown and they're working on resurrecting the downtown, so there are incentives to get new businesses in. There's also several festivals that go on throughout the year, so there would be opportunity to get out of town business, too. I would love to do it and I have some fellow teachers who think it's a great idea and one English teacher who's really interested in the idea. Tyler and I are going to start looking at selling on Amazon to see if that could be sufficient supplemental income for the bookstore. I'll update on this as things develop!
My LPS carrier sold the night after I listed it, so that's something. It went for my BIN price of $21.99 so I made my money back on the whole LPS lot I bought and then some, which is good. I have a ton of watchers, but currently no bids and no offers on anything. My Left Behind set I got at GW last week went for $12 something. But that's been it for sales this week. I'm basically in the hole right now, which sucks.
I can't figure out why the past couple of weeks have been so slow. Has anyone else experienced this? I wonder if it's because a lot of schools are starting back and it's kind of crazy?
Tyler and I have been playing with the idea of a consignment bookstore. The closest one to our town is 30 minutes away and people make the drive to it, so we're thinking if there was one actually in town, it could do well. There are a lot of empty stores in our downtown and they're working on resurrecting the downtown, so there are incentives to get new businesses in. There's also several festivals that go on throughout the year, so there would be opportunity to get out of town business, too. I would love to do it and I have some fellow teachers who think it's a great idea and one English teacher who's really interested in the idea. Tyler and I are going to start looking at selling on Amazon to see if that could be sufficient supplemental income for the bookstore. I'll update on this as things develop!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Yard sale tales: 8/20/2011 edition.
There were lots of yard sales around my neck of the woods today. I should say lots of clothes sales. Not many toys to be had, although I did manage to get my hands on about 40 LPS pets and a carrier.
I notice that some people are wary of selling clothes. This is strange to me because clothes are so easy! They're fairly easy to sell and so easy to store. Our office is overrun with toys and books, but all you have to do with clothes is hang them up and close the closet door!
Here are some guidelines:
1. If it has a Polo pony on it and is in any kind of presentable condition: buy it.
2. If it's Abercrombie and Fitch: buy it.
3. If it's North Face: buy it.
4. If it's a big name brand in a plus or ludicrously small size: buy it.
5. If it's a sporty material (polyester golf shirts, running clothes((nike, underarmor)), etc): buy
it.
Easy, right?
Here's some of the stuff I got today:
The boy's stuff is size 8-10 S and the girl's dress is a 5T (sorry I was too lazy to rotate the pic).
I also got some other boy's Polos (faded, but in otherwise good shape), some button-up polos and some boy's Gap sweaters. I also bought a Lacoste polo, but I later noticed a stain near the collar and a small hole in the sleeve, so I don't really know what to do about it. Tyler will probably inherit it.
I'm also going to try to split up Littlest Pet Shop stuff for the first time. I've got a few "rare" items that came in a carrying case I bought today, so we'll see what happens with these:
Some of these cases sell for A LOT. This one is in like new condition, so I posted it by itself.
For a minute I got really excited and thought this little guy was a dachshund, but he's just a beagle. Oh well.
Not many of these guys to be found on eBay. I put it as BIN for $14.97. We'll see.
The fox and the hound. Cute, right? If these had been popular when I was little, I know I would've been crazy about this stuff!
I've got lots more LPS to post, but most of the others are going to go in lots. I'll try to get more pics of my clothes purchases up tomorrow.
Not much other eBay news to report. This has been my slowest sales week EVER (true) and Paypal is still holding my payments. So, yuck to all that. Maybe this week will be better! Hope you all had a good yard sale Saturday too!
I notice that some people are wary of selling clothes. This is strange to me because clothes are so easy! They're fairly easy to sell and so easy to store. Our office is overrun with toys and books, but all you have to do with clothes is hang them up and close the closet door!
Here are some guidelines:
1. If it has a Polo pony on it and is in any kind of presentable condition: buy it.
2. If it's Abercrombie and Fitch: buy it.
3. If it's North Face: buy it.
4. If it's a big name brand in a plus or ludicrously small size: buy it.
5. If it's a sporty material (polyester golf shirts, running clothes((nike, underarmor)), etc): buy
it.
Easy, right?
Here's some of the stuff I got today:
The boy's stuff is size 8-10 S and the girl's dress is a 5T (sorry I was too lazy to rotate the pic).
I also got some other boy's Polos (faded, but in otherwise good shape), some button-up polos and some boy's Gap sweaters. I also bought a Lacoste polo, but I later noticed a stain near the collar and a small hole in the sleeve, so I don't really know what to do about it. Tyler will probably inherit it.
I'm also going to try to split up Littlest Pet Shop stuff for the first time. I've got a few "rare" items that came in a carrying case I bought today, so we'll see what happens with these:
Some of these cases sell for A LOT. This one is in like new condition, so I posted it by itself.
For a minute I got really excited and thought this little guy was a dachshund, but he's just a beagle. Oh well.
Not many of these guys to be found on eBay. I put it as BIN for $14.97. We'll see.
The fox and the hound. Cute, right? If these had been popular when I was little, I know I would've been crazy about this stuff!
I've got lots more LPS to post, but most of the others are going to go in lots. I'll try to get more pics of my clothes purchases up tomorrow.
Not much other eBay news to report. This has been my slowest sales week EVER (true) and Paypal is still holding my payments. So, yuck to all that. Maybe this week will be better! Hope you all had a good yard sale Saturday too!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tired
I am so worn out. School started back today and I haven't stood for that long in three months. I also haven't talked that much in a while, either. I have swollen ankles and a sore throat. Good times.
"Luckily" not much has been going eBay wise the past couple of days to keep me busy. The Pyrex I bought at the estate sale this weekend sold for $19.99 so technically I should have doubled my money. Unfortunately, I did not weigh the stuff first and grossly underestimated my shipping. I wound up making $2.00 on them.
My Gevalia Melitta coffeemaker just sold for $32.50. A co-worker gave it to me a few years ago and I found it while I was cleaning out one of my cabinets at school. It's even missing a piece! Crazy.
I have three unpaid items that sold this weekend. I am not amused.
Paypal is still holding my payments and I pretty much had a breakdown over it last night. It really sucks to be selling stuff and not seeing it show up in my account. It's like I'm doing all of this work for nothing.
Sorry for a whiny post. I try to be upbeat as much as possible, but you all know it's hard sometimes!
"Luckily" not much has been going eBay wise the past couple of days to keep me busy. The Pyrex I bought at the estate sale this weekend sold for $19.99 so technically I should have doubled my money. Unfortunately, I did not weigh the stuff first and grossly underestimated my shipping. I wound up making $2.00 on them.
My Gevalia Melitta coffeemaker just sold for $32.50. A co-worker gave it to me a few years ago and I found it while I was cleaning out one of my cabinets at school. It's even missing a piece! Crazy.
I have three unpaid items that sold this weekend. I am not amused.
Paypal is still holding my payments and I pretty much had a breakdown over it last night. It really sucks to be selling stuff and not seeing it show up in my account. It's like I'm doing all of this work for nothing.
Sorry for a whiny post. I try to be upbeat as much as possible, but you all know it's hard sometimes!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Goodwill Hunting.
Do you get it? Aren't I terribly clever? Anyway.
I'm a little overwhelmed as of right now. Baby's been sickly this weekend (thanks daycare) and I have 5 things to ship. I'm realizing that once school starts in earnest this Wednesday, there's going to have to be a lot of time management going on where listing and shipping is concerned. I guess I'll have to figure it out as I go.
Anyway, my parents watched the baby while Tyler and I GW'ed it up yesterday and Tyler found some Fire King ramekins and I found some super stuff:
We have two Goodwills in our town and they're as different as night and day. One has a great selection of books and no toys (unless you want to dig through a big canvas bin) and one has great toys, but their kids books are pushed way back on a shelf, making it hard to look through them. I found books 2-13 of the Left Behind Kids series at the first one. I was so mad they didn't have #1 I thought I was going to kick someone. Then, we went to the second one and as we were driving, I was like "haha wouldn't it be cool if they had book #1?" AND THEY DID. I was so excited! These are all in really great shape. I don't think 2-13 had ever even been opened.
I already had the Wiggles guitar and the video. I was waiting to get a lot of stuff because the guitars don't really go for much on their own. I found the rodeo dance mat wadded up in a corner at the second GW and it works great (it. is. so. annoying.) I've only found one on eBay and they're asking $40.00 for just the mat! I started all of this as BIN OBO for $35.97.
These, however are possibly the coolest things I have ever found since we've been doing this:
They are huge lined Monopoly drapes. They've never been opened and they're awesome. The copyright on the curtains say 1986, so I assume that's when they were made. I showed them to Tyler and said I wasn't sure, but he told me we'd only be in it $6.00 (they were $2.97 a piece), so I should get them. Well, I put them in the cart, and we had our backs turned looking at other stuff and Tyler turned around to see a lady getting them out of our cart! I don't think she knew the cart belonged to someone, but it actually made me feel good to know someone else wanted them. If she wants them, maybe a buyer on eBay will, too! Since there are no previous listings for them, I listed them BIN OBO for $71.00. Hey, why not, right? Yard sale mommy recently did a post on "interesting" buys and I think this is definitely one!
Also check out Saturday's finds!
I'm a little overwhelmed as of right now. Baby's been sickly this weekend (thanks daycare) and I have 5 things to ship. I'm realizing that once school starts in earnest this Wednesday, there's going to have to be a lot of time management going on where listing and shipping is concerned. I guess I'll have to figure it out as I go.
Anyway, my parents watched the baby while Tyler and I GW'ed it up yesterday and Tyler found some Fire King ramekins and I found some super stuff:
We have two Goodwills in our town and they're as different as night and day. One has a great selection of books and no toys (unless you want to dig through a big canvas bin) and one has great toys, but their kids books are pushed way back on a shelf, making it hard to look through them. I found books 2-13 of the Left Behind Kids series at the first one. I was so mad they didn't have #1 I thought I was going to kick someone. Then, we went to the second one and as we were driving, I was like "haha wouldn't it be cool if they had book #1?" AND THEY DID. I was so excited! These are all in really great shape. I don't think 2-13 had ever even been opened.
I already had the Wiggles guitar and the video. I was waiting to get a lot of stuff because the guitars don't really go for much on their own. I found the rodeo dance mat wadded up in a corner at the second GW and it works great (it. is. so. annoying.) I've only found one on eBay and they're asking $40.00 for just the mat! I started all of this as BIN OBO for $35.97.
These, however are possibly the coolest things I have ever found since we've been doing this:
They are huge lined Monopoly drapes. They've never been opened and they're awesome. The copyright on the curtains say 1986, so I assume that's when they were made. I showed them to Tyler and said I wasn't sure, but he told me we'd only be in it $6.00 (they were $2.97 a piece), so I should get them. Well, I put them in the cart, and we had our backs turned looking at other stuff and Tyler turned around to see a lady getting them out of our cart! I don't think she knew the cart belonged to someone, but it actually made me feel good to know someone else wanted them. If she wants them, maybe a buyer on eBay will, too! Since there are no previous listings for them, I listed them BIN OBO for $71.00. Hey, why not, right? Yard sale mommy recently did a post on "interesting" buys and I think this is definitely one!
Also check out Saturday's finds!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Weekend sales: 8/14/11 edition
Last night was pretty good. My Coach purse didn't sell! I had offers on it, but I had the thing set to automatically decline anything under $80.00 and they were all in the $70's. I've got it BIN for $78.00 now.
Classic Winnie the Pooh mobile: paid $3.00, sold for $31.00 (totally awesome)
Magic Tree House books and research guides: paid $2.00, sold for $7.49
My treasured Sesame Street Dictionaries: paid $5.00, sold for $22.99
My much bemoaned used home school kits: paid $10.00/each, sold for $15.99 each.
I have four things ending tonight so I'll update when they sell! The baby's feeling better today (she's napping it out), so mom's going to watch her while we grocery/Goodwill shop.
SUNDAY NIGHT SALES:
Bumbo seat: paid $5.00, sold for $20.50 to someone in New Zealand!? They paid almost $40.00 for shipping.
A pair of Addy's LL Bean PJ's that she's never worn and is too big for: sold for $6.99
A & F jeans: paid $3.00, sold for $15.50
That's it for now. I was a dummy and started a lot of a couple golf shirts in the middle of the afternoon last week, so it ends today at like, 4:00. Which is terrible. But I paid $9.00 for both of the at the GW and they're already at $15.50, so at least I'll make a profit.
Classic Winnie the Pooh mobile: paid $3.00, sold for $31.00 (totally awesome)
Magic Tree House books and research guides: paid $2.00, sold for $7.49
My treasured Sesame Street Dictionaries: paid $5.00, sold for $22.99
My much bemoaned used home school kits: paid $10.00/each, sold for $15.99 each.
I have four things ending tonight so I'll update when they sell! The baby's feeling better today (she's napping it out), so mom's going to watch her while we grocery/Goodwill shop.
SUNDAY NIGHT SALES:
Bumbo seat: paid $5.00, sold for $20.50 to someone in New Zealand!? They paid almost $40.00 for shipping.
A pair of Addy's LL Bean PJ's that she's never worn and is too big for: sold for $6.99
A & F jeans: paid $3.00, sold for $15.50
That's it for now. I was a dummy and started a lot of a couple golf shirts in the middle of the afternoon last week, so it ends today at like, 4:00. Which is terrible. But I paid $9.00 for both of the at the GW and they're already at $15.50, so at least I'll make a profit.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Yard sale tales: 8/13/11 edition
Three days into daycare and baby is sick. She's better this evening, but last night and this morning she was very snotty. Neither set of grandparents could take her, so we thought we'd go to a yard sale close by and see how she did. She loves to look around and see different people and things, so she did awesome. We decided to press our luck and went to a few more. She did super, but was pretty worn out by the end of it.
Our first stop was in a subdivision with lots of older homes and families. The ad in the newspaper hyped it up to be considerably more than what it actually was, but we found some good stuff:
I bought this Hooked on Phonics game after I saw that it had never been used. All the game cards are still in the wrapping, and if you take out this top part, there's videos underneath with game instructions. The selling price for these vary. I did spend $20.00 on it, though.
I really liked this Tommy Jeans puffer vest. It's in great condition and only set me back $3.00. It's also my size, so if it doesn't sell, I have a cool vest.
Gevalia coffeemakers sell great! I have one smaller one up right now that's missing the cone lid and it's probably got more watchers than any other item I've listed this summer!
Our first stop was in a subdivision with lots of older homes and families. The ad in the newspaper hyped it up to be considerably more than what it actually was, but we found some good stuff:
I bought this Hooked on Phonics game after I saw that it had never been used. All the game cards are still in the wrapping, and if you take out this top part, there's videos underneath with game instructions. The selling price for these vary. I did spend $20.00 on it, though.
I really liked this Tommy Jeans puffer vest. It's in great condition and only set me back $3.00. It's also my size, so if it doesn't sell, I have a cool vest.
I also bought a few big and tall men's Polo pony shirts. One's been washed quite a bit, but we'll see.
The next one we stopped at on just driving by. Tyler bought some vintage little people and I found this Gevalia coffeemaker.
The next one we stopped at on just driving by. Tyler bought some vintage little people and I found this Gevalia coffeemaker.
Gevalia coffeemakers sell great! I have one smaller one up right now that's missing the cone lid and it's probably got more watchers than any other item I've listed this summer!
Then we went to an estate sale. We'd never been to one before, and going through what I assume to be dead people's stuff kind of skeezes me out. But I did find some Revere Ware and some vintage Pyrex dishes.
I bought three Revere Ware things, this larger saucepan, a smaller one and a big 8 quart stew pot. Thanks to eBay Underground, I know they seem to do well, depending on what you've got. This one pictured is in fantastic condition and the smaller one is not so great. I was thinking of listing them as a lot, but I think I can do better if I list this one separate since it's in such nice condition.
We spent about $63.00 this morning, but I think we found some great stuff! Hope you had a good yard sale morning, too!
I bought three Revere Ware things, this larger saucepan, a smaller one and a big 8 quart stew pot. Thanks to eBay Underground, I know they seem to do well, depending on what you've got. This one pictured is in fantastic condition and the smaller one is not so great. I was thinking of listing them as a lot, but I think I can do better if I list this one separate since it's in such nice condition.
We spent about $63.00 this morning, but I think we found some great stuff! Hope you had a good yard sale morning, too!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Yard sale tales & what I sold
So today was a work day, but I did get out early and go to one yard sale that was close to the high school, where we had to meet. Not much...well, they did have a ton of indian dolls. If I knew anything about indian dolls, I probably would have been in heaven, but I don't. I had $20 in my pocket, though and was looking for a yard sale fix, so I kept digging around.
I have no clue why, but I kept being drawn those these babies:
I'm no baker, but these things have lots of cool designs and I'm pretty sure I could list them as "vintage bundt pans" with a clear conscience. Depending on what you have, they do pretty well.
Then, hidden under a collection of Dolly Parton cassettes was this:
So of course, I'm thinking, people love Elvis! Whoo!
I get home and find that this box set with stamps is not in high demand. I also discovered, to my great annoyance that I always type "stampes". I don't know why. I spent $20.00 for everything.
Anywho, I had a few things close yesterday and today, so here's how it went:
- Babblin Boo - paid: $.50 sold for $19.99 to someone in Brazil
- Littlest pet shop lot/Noah's Ark LP - paid: $4.00 total sold for $20.00 to someone in Argentina (Do you see a trend? Ship international!)
- Felting wool - paid: ? sold for $11.99
- Felting starter kit - paid: ? sold for $7.99
- Felting book - paid: ? sold for $5.99
- (I put question marks because Tyler bought it all a year ago and we don't know how much it cost)
- Thomas the Train Tracks and Trestles game - It's only missing a base for one of the game pieces! C'mon people! Paid: $1.97
- Vtech Tote & Go laptop - It was a $.25 purchase, but it takes up a fair amount of storage space.
- My terrible used home school stuff from last week's consignment sale - RAWR. They both actually had a lot of watchers. That's $20.00 I have tied up in those dumb things.
- Some Barney videos I bought three weeks ago at a thrift shop - I have toyed around with every pricing and shipping strategy I can think of. I paid $3.68 for six videos and they all work great...I just don't know how to sell them!
Paypal rant part deux.
So, I was checking out paypal again today and I saw something crazy. Two days ago, I had a ton of stuff to ship. I printed all of the labels out one right after the other. While looking at paypal today, some of the items were marked as shipped, and some were not marked shipped.
These were all printed at the exact same time and mailed at the same time. Then, when I click the drop down box to mark them as shipped, it wants me to put all the shipping information in and print another label!
Again. Whut.
So I sent them a passive aggressive email and we'll just have to see what kind of answer I get.
I will actually put up happy eBay stuff later tonight once my auctions end.
These were all printed at the exact same time and mailed at the same time. Then, when I click the drop down box to mark them as shipped, it wants me to put all the shipping information in and print another label!
Again. Whut.
So I sent them a passive aggressive email and we'll just have to see what kind of answer I get.
I will actually put up happy eBay stuff later tonight once my auctions end.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Paypal rant.
I am so not amused. I went to check Paypal a couple of days ago and saw that all my payments would now be "pending". When I clicked on the FAQs, it said that when there is a "spike in your selling activity" then they'll start holding your payments to make sure you have enough money to cover any refunds.
Whut.
I don't know if this is because I've been transferring my balance (never my entire balance, though) over every week into Addy's account or what, but I'm pretty irritated about it. They'll release enough money to cover the shipping, but that's it. They'll also sometimes release the money 3 days after the item was delivered.
Why does it matter? Paypal is tied to my checking account. If I have to issue a refund, then they have a funding source for it. Why hold all of my money for up to TWENTY DAYS?
I've had this Paypal for years. And I've gone years without using it, but why penalize me when I actually start selling stuff? Isn't that what Paypal is all about? They say they'll review the account after 35 days. If they still hold my payments after that, I don't know what I'll do. This is money for Addy's daycare. Money I need SOON. I can't tell the daycare director, "oh can you wait on her fees until that payment for the Gevalia coffeemaker comes through? Thanks."
I'm ticked, folks.
Whut.
I don't know if this is because I've been transferring my balance (never my entire balance, though) over every week into Addy's account or what, but I'm pretty irritated about it. They'll release enough money to cover the shipping, but that's it. They'll also sometimes release the money 3 days after the item was delivered.
Why does it matter? Paypal is tied to my checking account. If I have to issue a refund, then they have a funding source for it. Why hold all of my money for up to TWENTY DAYS?
I've had this Paypal for years. And I've gone years without using it, but why penalize me when I actually start selling stuff? Isn't that what Paypal is all about? They say they'll review the account after 35 days. If they still hold my payments after that, I don't know what I'll do. This is money for Addy's daycare. Money I need SOON. I can't tell the daycare director, "oh can you wait on her fees until that payment for the Gevalia coffeemaker comes through? Thanks."
I'm ticked, folks.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
First-Time Buyers and Non-Payers.
My husband just left to take my amazing Adelaide to daycare for the first time. It's not the first day of school, but I have convocation for the new school year today and a work day, so I thought it best to start her while I have the freedom to go get her if I have a total breakdown. To keep from bursting into tears (again), I thought I'd use this time to write a post.
First-time buyers are a tricky creature. Since I started eBaying again, I've had to open 7 cases, and five of them have been against someone with 0 feedback. Only one out of those five actually paid for the item after the case was opened. To counter that, I've had some wonderful first time buyers who have paid immediately. I have considered blocking people with 0 feedback from bidding or buying an item, but those few who have been great with paying have made me reconsider.
I have a lot of Littlest Pet Shop animals up right now and someone bid on them last night (yay). I woke up this morning to find a message from them asking if they'd won. Well, there's still two and a half days left. I told them this, and also told them keep an eye on the auction to make sure they don't get outbid and went into great detail explaning how you look at what you've bid on. I have a feeling that if they win, payment's going to be a hassle. But, we were all newbies to eBay once and I know I made some huge mistakes when I first started, so I'm going to keep letting first timers bid on my stuff.
Regardless of who has won, I've had a lot of non-payment lately. Not only that, but they don't pay and then they don't bother to respond to my messages. I wonder how other people deal with it, but here's what I do:
First-time buyers are a tricky creature. Since I started eBaying again, I've had to open 7 cases, and five of them have been against someone with 0 feedback. Only one out of those five actually paid for the item after the case was opened. To counter that, I've had some wonderful first time buyers who have paid immediately. I have considered blocking people with 0 feedback from bidding or buying an item, but those few who have been great with paying have made me reconsider.
I have a lot of Littlest Pet Shop animals up right now and someone bid on them last night (yay). I woke up this morning to find a message from them asking if they'd won. Well, there's still two and a half days left. I told them this, and also told them keep an eye on the auction to make sure they don't get outbid and went into great detail explaning how you look at what you've bid on. I have a feeling that if they win, payment's going to be a hassle. But, we were all newbies to eBay once and I know I made some huge mistakes when I first started, so I'm going to keep letting first timers bid on my stuff.
Regardless of who has won, I've had a lot of non-payment lately. Not only that, but they don't pay and then they don't bother to respond to my messages. I wonder how other people deal with it, but here's what I do:
- In my auctions, I always state that payment is due one day after auction end. My BIN requires immediate payment.
- I always send an invoice to them.
- If two days have passed, I will send another invoice and ask them to contact me if there's any problems regarding the payment.
- If three days have passed, I will message them personally and ask them nicely to either pay or contact me.
- After five days, I open a case. Then have four days to pay before I can mark the item "unpaid".
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Sell this right 'chere.
I was "picking" at my parent's house last week and found this phone I had in my room when I lived there:
It's a phone made to look like an old rotary phone. Of course, I put it on eBay immediately and it just sold today for BIN $22.99. I actually probably could've squeezed a few more dollars out of it, but I'm very happy with the sale.
My felting stuff is doing well (even though no one's bid on the actual wool, lots of people are watching it) and the little Pooh mobile I found at the yard sale this past weekend is doing really well.
The surprising thing is, while there are watchers on Babblin' Boo, no one's bid yet (I started her at $19.99) and no one's made me an offer on the real Coach purse I found. I did BIN for $100 with an OBO. There's several watchers...we'll see if they try to haggle or not.
It's a phone made to look like an old rotary phone. Of course, I put it on eBay immediately and it just sold today for BIN $22.99. I actually probably could've squeezed a few more dollars out of it, but I'm very happy with the sale.
My felting stuff is doing well (even though no one's bid on the actual wool, lots of people are watching it) and the little Pooh mobile I found at the yard sale this past weekend is doing really well.
The surprising thing is, while there are watchers on Babblin' Boo, no one's bid yet (I started her at $19.99) and no one's made me an offer on the real Coach purse I found. I did BIN for $100 with an OBO. There's several watchers...we'll see if they try to haggle or not.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Get this out of my house already!
So, here's what some of my stuff sold for this week:
The good:
Sell this!!
The not so good:
I do have good stuff up this week, so we'll have to see what happens.
The good:
- Two maternity outifts - $18.00. Not too bad for mainly lesser brands.
- North face - $35.00. Again, not too bad for a very worn jacket!
- Naturalizer heels - $34.99 and free shipping.
- Magic Tree House books (17) - Paid about .10/book and sold for $18.00.
- Junie B. Jones books (13) - $12.49
- Dora Story Time Theater book and cartridge - $7.50. I bought the whole Story Time Theater Projector and these books for $1.00 at a yard sale! No one wants the projector.
- Nemo Story Time Theater book and cartridge - $22.50! Can you believe it?? I was really excited.
Sell this!!
The not so good:
- Two sterling silver charms I found at an antique market. Tyler and I both had $20.00 to spend and I shelled out $15.00 for a little prince and a carriage. After one relist, they sold for $9.99. So, yuck.
- A Harajuku Lovers tote bag - Bought at Ross for $12.99. Sold for $12.99. Again, yuck.
I do have good stuff up this week, so we'll have to see what happens.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Slowwww daaayyy...
Holy cow. I sure am feeling the hurt of the summer slump. I have watchers on about 90% of everything I have listed. How many bids?
I think my biggest problem is that I take all of this too personally. I get a little offended when people don't seem to want the SUPER AWESOME GREAT EUC NWT WHATEVER stuff I have up. I mean I totaled up my profit from last week and it was $144. That is certainly something to be happy about! Especially considering only about half of my stuff sold and I took a loss on some dumb charms I bought at an antique market. All of this money is going into Adelaide's daycare account. I made a huge mistake when she was born and signed her up for my health insurance without looking at Tyler's rates, too. Let me just say, my insurance each month went from $19.00 to $426.00! One thing that kills me is, it's a fixed rate. I'm paying the same amount for health insurance for one child that Michelle Duggar would for her crew.
Needless to say, until open enrollment for Tyler's health insurance opens in January, this extra income is going to help us send Addy to a great daycare and not feel the financial hurt so bad. So, any profit is certainly welcome!
Tyler's doing great with the stuff he found in his dad's garage. I think he just sold an old (but working) Atari system and games for $51.00!
We'll have to see how the rest of my week goes (is it bad I kind of want to beat Tyler in sales?).
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Yard sale tales: 8/6/11 edition
Today was an excellent day for yard sales in my neck of the woods! The first one we went to was out in the county and it was super! The prices were good and the merchandise was top notch! Not a lot of clothes, but I think we did pretty well.
Oh, is that an authentic Coach bag in the upper right? Yes, yes it is. No it is not. I am dumb and realized this while trying to find the style online. At least it only set me back $.50. I'll pay that to learn something! Also got Bob the Builder talking doll, some Bob videos, Thomas DVD, Dora videos, some Dora stuff still in packaging, Backpack with stuff inside (he supposedly talks but the batteries are dead and they're watch batteries, so I guess I'll have to get some) and a Classic Pooh mobile that plays music. I also found some red Birks in my size for $.50. I was pumped. The books are Addy's. There are some Golden Books and some Richard Scarry books. I love his stuff.
Total damage: $10.50
Here's an adorable Adelaide laughing at mommy standing on a chair to take the pic.
Yard sale #2 was in an upscale neighborhood and they didn't have much, but here's what I got:
The Bumbo seat is for Tyler's parents to use when Addy's visiting, the Care Bear costume is in gorgeous shape and oh, my! Another Coach purse? Yes! (This one's real) I tried to haggle with this woman, but she wasn't having it, so I paid the $10.00 she was asking. It looks like she never even used it. Total damage: $20.00. The baby was asleep when we got there, so Tyler stayed in the car while I shopped, then we switched places. He didn't find anything interesting.
Yard sale #3:
Did you ever go to a yard sale and buy stuff and then have no clue why you bought it? I guess I was still hurting from those consignment homeschool books because I bought these workbooks for $.50 a piece. When we got back in the car, I was like...what was I thinking? They are unused, though. I made sure of that.
Total damage: $2.50
I can't wait to list some of this stuff! Hope you had a great yard sale day, too!
Oh, is that an authentic Coach bag in the upper right? Total damage: $10.50
Here's an adorable Adelaide laughing at mommy standing on a chair to take the pic.Yard sale #2 was in an upscale neighborhood and they didn't have much, but here's what I got:
The Bumbo seat is for Tyler's parents to use when Addy's visiting, the Care Bear costume is in gorgeous shape and oh, my! Another Coach purse? Yes! (This one's real) I tried to haggle with this woman, but she wasn't having it, so I paid the $10.00 she was asking. It looks like she never even used it. Total damage: $20.00. The baby was asleep when we got there, so Tyler stayed in the car while I shopped, then we switched places. He didn't find anything interesting.Yard sale #3:
Did you ever go to a yard sale and buy stuff and then have no clue why you bought it? I guess I was still hurting from those consignment homeschool books because I bought these workbooks for $.50 a piece. When we got back in the car, I was like...what was I thinking? They are unused, though. I made sure of that.Total damage: $2.50
I can't wait to list some of this stuff! Hope you had a great yard sale day, too!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Yard sale tales
So I decided to yard sale with baby this morning. We went across town to the first one and I found some solid stuff: a lot of Littlest Pet Shop pets ($2.00), Wiggles guitar ($1.00), Pokemon stuff (I really have no clue on those, $1.00) and some Babysitter's Club books ($1.25 worth).
Then we headed to our second one (baby's getting a little iffy) and I picked up a VTech laptop ($.25). The lady there tried pretty hard to sell me a grody unicorn costume. How do you gracefully bow out of those situations? I said "I think my baby's pooped" and ran to the car.
Baby hadn't pooped, but she was mad, so I pleaded my case to my mom and she was happy to watch her. I headed to one just across the street from my parent's house, nothing. Went to another one, nothing. Went to ANOTHER one, nothing. THEN...
I had passed a sign for a rummage sale at a small church on my way to the third nothing yard sale and decided I would go to it on the way back. Was I glad I did! For I found a Babblin Boo! Thanks to Yard Sale Mommy, I knew I had to snatch her up! But wait, where's her doll?
"Where's her doll?" I asked a man who looked suspiciously like Tommy Chong.
"I dunno, a rich family donated her and other stuff to us. It could be anywhere." said Tommy Chong.
There were a ton of boxes and tables and junk and I dug through it for about 30 minutes and happened to find a very broke Little People Noah's Ark. The Ark was broken, but there was lots of stuff inside, so I got it ($2.00). I cannot find the Mikey doll that goes with Boo so I go to pay for my stuff and they tell me Boo is $.50. Hurray!
Then I went back to the consignment sale and bought two more red cowgirl Gymboree costumes ($9.00)
So today's damage was $17.00. Not too shabby!
The fairy costume and the pink cowgirl costume were from the consignment sale yesterday. The pink one has already sold for $24.99 + $6.00 shipping! Huzzah!
Obviously I didn't find that iPad in the corner at a yard sale, but wouldn't that be sweet??
COSTUME TIP: I had a stroke of genius and decided to list the cowgirl costumes as OOC, which is Outfit Of Choice. If you are an avid watcher of Toddlers and Tiaras, you know that girls can wear anything they want in Outfit of choice. You also know pageant moms will pay a lot for stuff. I thought this would cater to them. SO, if you have a flashy, flouncy costume, tack that extra OOC on the end and see if you get any more takers.
Also, check out Saturday's stuff!
Then we headed to our second one (baby's getting a little iffy) and I picked up a VTech laptop ($.25). The lady there tried pretty hard to sell me a grody unicorn costume. How do you gracefully bow out of those situations? I said "I think my baby's pooped" and ran to the car.
Baby hadn't pooped, but she was mad, so I pleaded my case to my mom and she was happy to watch her. I headed to one just across the street from my parent's house, nothing. Went to another one, nothing. Went to ANOTHER one, nothing. THEN...
I had passed a sign for a rummage sale at a small church on my way to the third nothing yard sale and decided I would go to it on the way back. Was I glad I did! For I found a Babblin Boo! Thanks to Yard Sale Mommy, I knew I had to snatch her up! But wait, where's her doll?
"Where's her doll?" I asked a man who looked suspiciously like Tommy Chong.
"I dunno, a rich family donated her and other stuff to us. It could be anywhere." said Tommy Chong.
There were a ton of boxes and tables and junk and I dug through it for about 30 minutes and happened to find a very broke Little People Noah's Ark. The Ark was broken, but there was lots of stuff inside, so I got it ($2.00). I cannot find the Mikey doll that goes with Boo so I go to pay for my stuff and they tell me Boo is $.50. Hurray!
Then I went back to the consignment sale and bought two more red cowgirl Gymboree costumes ($9.00)
So today's damage was $17.00. Not too shabby!
The fairy costume and the pink cowgirl costume were from the consignment sale yesterday. The pink one has already sold for $24.99 + $6.00 shipping! Huzzah!
Obviously I didn't find that iPad in the corner at a yard sale, but wouldn't that be sweet??
COSTUME TIP: I had a stroke of genius and decided to list the cowgirl costumes as OOC, which is Outfit Of Choice. If you are an avid watcher of Toddlers and Tiaras, you know that girls can wear anything they want in Outfit of choice. You also know pageant moms will pay a lot for stuff. I thought this would cater to them. SO, if you have a flashy, flouncy costume, tack that extra OOC on the end and see if you get any more takers.
Also, check out Saturday's stuff!
Dang.
Well, I was super pumped to go to the consignment sale yesterday and was extra pumped when I saw whole boxes of Lifepac homeschool books. I was so excited, in fact, that I never bothered to open the boxes and look at the conditions of the books. Two kits (4th grade math and science) and $20.00 later, I pull them out at home and am completely heartbroken. Almost all of the workbooks have been written in. My reaction was pretty dramatic.
WHY DIDN'T I LOOK IN THEM?? Ugh.
They were complete, and the teacher's books were in good shape, so I just put each one up separate for BIN $14.95. Maybe I'll at least make my money back and a little extra. On top of that, my auctions are doing less than stellar, so I'm pretty bummed.
The sale was pretty much a bust all around. No toys to speak of, and the clothes were priced pretty high. We got Addy some cute Gymboree and Ralph Lauren stuff (most of it still had tags), a Carter's outfit and the cutest Old Navy sweater that Tyler said looked like an "old lady" sweater, but I loved it.
There were, however, costumes. I'll post pics later, but there were lots of Gymboree costumes with tags still on. We got Addy a Strawberry Fairy costume and bought a larger one to sell, and got a cute pink cowgirl costume by Gymboree to sell. I dunno when to sell them, though, but we only paid $6.00 each, and right now they seem to be going for around $19.99 and I would be happy with that.
I'm going to yard sales this morning (I'm obviously not in a rush) and if those turn out to be fruitless, then I'll probably go back for more costumes.
WHY DIDN'T I LOOK IN THEM?? Ugh.
They were complete, and the teacher's books were in good shape, so I just put each one up separate for BIN $14.95. Maybe I'll at least make my money back and a little extra. On top of that, my auctions are doing less than stellar, so I'm pretty bummed.
The sale was pretty much a bust all around. No toys to speak of, and the clothes were priced pretty high. We got Addy some cute Gymboree and Ralph Lauren stuff (most of it still had tags), a Carter's outfit and the cutest Old Navy sweater that Tyler said looked like an "old lady" sweater, but I loved it.
There were, however, costumes. I'll post pics later, but there were lots of Gymboree costumes with tags still on. We got Addy a Strawberry Fairy costume and bought a larger one to sell, and got a cute pink cowgirl costume by Gymboree to sell. I dunno when to sell them, though, but we only paid $6.00 each, and right now they seem to be going for around $19.99 and I would be happy with that.
I'm going to yard sales this morning (I'm obviously not in a rush) and if those turn out to be fruitless, then I'll probably go back for more costumes.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Consignment sale!
So I'm going to a consignment sale tonight to shop as a new mom. Tyler's coming too...he's a new parent, after all! My parents are going to come watch the baby sleep (the new mom shopping's at 7). It's called Tummy to Teen and it seems pretty promising! I have short list of things I want to get Addy for fall/winter: long sleeved onesies, pants, socks, some sleep 'n plays, but I'm also hoping to score some other stuff. Here's my wish-list:
1) Name brand teen clothing.
2) Toys, toys, toys
3) Costumes (maybe one for Addy)
4) Maternity clothes. I've put mine up recently and they've been selling very well, even the lesser brands (like Two Hearts Maternity from Sears).
5) Baby accessories; Bumbo seats, etc.
6) I've been to consignment sales where there are purses, etc. I'm obviously going to keep an eye for anything Vera, she's pretty big here in Bristol.
I'll post pics tonight! Whee!
1) Name brand teen clothing.
2) Toys, toys, toys
3) Costumes (maybe one for Addy)
4) Maternity clothes. I've put mine up recently and they've been selling very well, even the lesser brands (like Two Hearts Maternity from Sears).
5) Baby accessories; Bumbo seats, etc.
6) I've been to consignment sales where there are purses, etc. I'm obviously going to keep an eye for anything Vera, she's pretty big here in Bristol.
I'll post pics tonight! Whee!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Touche, eBay. Plus crafts!
So yesterday I was whining about how slow it was on eBay. I wake up this morning to find that someone had offered me $20.00 on one of my mom's Susan Bristol sweaters and someone had bought the Naturalizer shoes that, until then, had not even ONE person look at them! They sold for $34.99 and I'm trilled. My mom had them for a long time and they were size 9.5 so neither of us could wear them (we're a size 10...I know...freaks). So I was terribly excited. My Playmobil Dragon Rock set also sold to a lady in Germany for $15.99. I paid $5.00 for it, and really I should have just held on to it until closer to Christmas, but you know...I'm still learning.
I had also been waiting on people to pay for 8 things, and they all decided to pay today! I had a meeting at school, so I couldn't pack stuff up until this afternoon, but then the mailman came early (he's usually not here till around 5) so I could only give him two things. Oh, well.
I was looking around the office yesterday for some stuff to sell to give Auctiva a try and came across some felting material Tyler bought last year when he was feeling particularly crafty. We had two bags of wool, a felting kit and a cute book of patterns. I split them up and posted them and I've got a few watchers on each thing. If you've got any felting material lying around (who doesn't, amiright?), put it up there and see what happens! This weekend, I'm going to tackle my mom's tubs of cross stitch stuff and see if there are any unopened ones in there. They sell pretty well! Obviously don't expect to get rich off of them, but you know...money's money.
Here's my felting stuff:
I had also been waiting on people to pay for 8 things, and they all decided to pay today! I had a meeting at school, so I couldn't pack stuff up until this afternoon, but then the mailman came early (he's usually not here till around 5) so I could only give him two things. Oh, well.
I was looking around the office yesterday for some stuff to sell to give Auctiva a try and came across some felting material Tyler bought last year when he was feeling particularly crafty. We had two bags of wool, a felting kit and a cute book of patterns. I split them up and posted them and I've got a few watchers on each thing. If you've got any felting material lying around (who doesn't, amiright?), put it up there and see what happens! This weekend, I'm going to tackle my mom's tubs of cross stitch stuff and see if there are any unopened ones in there. They sell pretty well! Obviously don't expect to get rich off of them, but you know...money's money.
Here's my felting stuff:
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The eBay Blues
Is it just me and the garbage awesome stuff I'm trying to sell, or has it been a painfully slow couple of weeks on eBay?
I mean, some of my stuff is selling, but there's nothing more disheartening than when you go to All Selling on eBay and see:
Ouch.
Lots of my stuff is Buy It Now and there's a couple of watchers...wait, while we're on the topic...I cannot stand having watchers in BIN stuff. JUST BUY IT. BUY MY STUFF. It's awesome.
Buy it.
Please?
Anyway, since I have nothing exciting to report, I will show you my super awesome bookkeeping skills.
Take that Excel. I hate Excel and I won't use it unless I have to (which is almost never). All the stuff that doesn't have an "$ spent" is stuff that I've either dug out of closets, or my mom has given me to sell.
Hope your auctions are going better than mine!
I mean, some of my stuff is selling, but there's nothing more disheartening than when you go to All Selling on eBay and see:
Ouch.Lots of my stuff is Buy It Now and there's a couple of watchers...wait, while we're on the topic...I cannot stand having watchers in BIN stuff. JUST BUY IT. BUY MY STUFF. It's awesome.
Buy it.
Please?
Anyway, since I have nothing exciting to report, I will show you my super awesome bookkeeping skills.
Take that Excel. I hate Excel and I won't use it unless I have to (which is almost never). All the stuff that doesn't have an "$ spent" is stuff that I've either dug out of closets, or my mom has given me to sell.Hope your auctions are going better than mine!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Books!
One of Yard Sale Mommy's insider secrets posts today was about books. How timely! My lots of Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones books aren't doing stellar. I'm bummed that I don't really have a "complete set" of anything...or do I??
Today I went to the Salvation Army for "fun". My salvation army is not actually fun. It's sad and there was a guy in there cursing up a storm because they were asking too much for a TV. I had Adelaide in her new stroller and she was mad about it (it's a sweet stroller, though). I searched around and found a couple of things. I get up to the cash register and remember they don't take debit cards. They do take personal checks, so I got mine out. The cashier then tells me that they don't take any checks with numbers under 1,000. Mine was 384. Really? So she puts my stuff aside for me and Adelaide's totally fed up and everyone's giving me dirty looks. I felt like a moron leaving the Salvation Army with a fancy new stroller but not being able to pay for $5.00 worth of merchandise.
By this time, Addy's past due for a nap, so I called mom and asked if she'd watch her while I went to the ATM and back to the store. While at my parent's house, I looked up the two things I was going to buy. An "ask me more Eeyore" and an old Barbie vanity playset/carrying case. Eeyore was a no-go (last sold for .99) and I couldn't find the carrying case. I probably would have gone back to get it, but the door on it was broken, so I just forgot about that stuff.
SO, I go to the Goodwill, where I find these beauties:
They are so super ridiculously cute! If Adelaide could read or would be reading in the very near future, you would have to pry these out of my cold, dead hands. However, since Tyler cleaned out his parent's garage, her bookshelves are currently packed with Wonderful World of Disney books. I can't wait to put these up! One set sold for $19.99 recently, but I think mine are in much better condition. These are 30 years old and they look great!
I am kind of torn on them though. They're so cute!
Today I went to the Salvation Army for "fun". My salvation army is not actually fun. It's sad and there was a guy in there cursing up a storm because they were asking too much for a TV. I had Adelaide in her new stroller and she was mad about it (it's a sweet stroller, though). I searched around and found a couple of things. I get up to the cash register and remember they don't take debit cards. They do take personal checks, so I got mine out. The cashier then tells me that they don't take any checks with numbers under 1,000. Mine was 384. Really? So she puts my stuff aside for me and Adelaide's totally fed up and everyone's giving me dirty looks. I felt like a moron leaving the Salvation Army with a fancy new stroller but not being able to pay for $5.00 worth of merchandise.
By this time, Addy's past due for a nap, so I called mom and asked if she'd watch her while I went to the ATM and back to the store. While at my parent's house, I looked up the two things I was going to buy. An "ask me more Eeyore" and an old Barbie vanity playset/carrying case. Eeyore was a no-go (last sold for .99) and I couldn't find the carrying case. I probably would have gone back to get it, but the door on it was broken, so I just forgot about that stuff.
SO, I go to the Goodwill, where I find these beauties:
They are so super ridiculously cute! If Adelaide could read or would be reading in the very near future, you would have to pry these out of my cold, dead hands. However, since Tyler cleaned out his parent's garage, her bookshelves are currently packed with Wonderful World of Disney books. I can't wait to put these up! One set sold for $19.99 recently, but I think mine are in much better condition. These are 30 years old and they look great! I am kind of torn on them though. They're so cute!
Urgh, shipping. Also, jackets!
So, there's obviously a huge learning curve with this eBaying stuff, you know? One thing I'm still awful at is estimating shipping costs. I hope to remedy that with the nifty scale we just bought off eBay, but even then, I still mess up.
Tyler and I bought a bunch of Little People stuff at a consignment sale a few weeks ago. I tried to put them up in sets with the Ramps Around Garage and Sweet Sounds house, but there were no lookers (plus I chickened out on trying to ship the HUGE garage). So I just threw up a huge 52 piece lot of Little People and put shipping for $10.00. It sold, but only for $25.50 + shipping and shipping these little things cost me $13.22, so it ate into my bottom line, which stinks.
Also, trying to ship 52 LP, their cars and accessories is a GIGANTIC pain in the heiny. I don't recommend it unless you want them out of your house.
BUT, if you want something easy to ship that WILL sell (I almost guarantee it), search high and low (even in your own closet) for an old North Face Denali jacket. These have been out for years, but they still retail high. The do not, unfortunately wash up well, so you may be able to find some of these at Goodwill or yard sales if you live somewhere fancy. Really, any North Face product will do really well on eBay. My Denali's seen better days, so I put it up after seeing this. I noted the stains that are on it, and it's already at $27.00 with 14 watchers. It's got a couple more days to go so I'm excited to see how much it sells for.
Obviously, right now is THE time to sell jackets and coats, and if they're Patagonia, North Face, Mountain Hardware, Marmot, etc, then all the better.
Tyler and I bought a bunch of Little People stuff at a consignment sale a few weeks ago. I tried to put them up in sets with the Ramps Around Garage and Sweet Sounds house, but there were no lookers (plus I chickened out on trying to ship the HUGE garage). So I just threw up a huge 52 piece lot of Little People and put shipping for $10.00. It sold, but only for $25.50 + shipping and shipping these little things cost me $13.22, so it ate into my bottom line, which stinks.
Also, trying to ship 52 LP, their cars and accessories is a GIGANTIC pain in the heiny. I don't recommend it unless you want them out of your house.
BUT, if you want something easy to ship that WILL sell (I almost guarantee it), search high and low (even in your own closet) for an old North Face Denali jacket. These have been out for years, but they still retail high. The do not, unfortunately wash up well, so you may be able to find some of these at Goodwill or yard sales if you live somewhere fancy. Really, any North Face product will do really well on eBay. My Denali's seen better days, so I put it up after seeing this. I noted the stains that are on it, and it's already at $27.00 with 14 watchers. It's got a couple more days to go so I'm excited to see how much it sells for.
Obviously, right now is THE time to sell jackets and coats, and if they're Patagonia, North Face, Mountain Hardware, Marmot, etc, then all the better.
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