Excuses.

All of them excellent.

So last weekend, the yard sale-ing was completely amazing, thanks to some great estate sales. My sales were totally awesome on Sunday (about $200!) and where was I? Puking my guts out. Tyler and I had some sort of Zombie flu that lasted a day. His parents took the baby while we laid on the couch watching Auction Hunters and waiting for death. My email kept dinging and I kept thinking of all the bloody work I'd have ahead of me once I recovered. I didn't get all the purchases out of the house until Wednesday. It's really hard to make up a lost day.

This week I didn't pay much attention to eBay. I had meetings, baby had doctor's appointments (just a check up with her dermatologist and pediatrician) and I was burnt out from all the shipping. When I checked my traffic yesterday, I'd had like NO visitors this week. I had a couple good auctions going but really zero storefront views and the other views were probably in the single digits. On eBay underground's proboards, they call this the black hole. I feel this is very accurate.

Tyler and I have a wager going. Our Christmas club account pays out on Tuesday, so we were going to go to Pigeon Forge and do some outlet shopping next weekend. I want to stay at the indoor waterpark Friday night (the baby's an Aquarius and seriously loves water) but Tyler's more for just making it a day trip and letting a set of grandparents watch Addy. If I make $150 by Tuesday, we can go. Now that I'm looking at my traffic, I'm not sure if it'll happen, but I have another 20% off sale going, so we'll see if that can generate some sales...it sure didn't yesterday!

Now here's some pictures of the cool stuff I got last weekend (it's so cool, no one's bought most of it yet! wheee)

I have this BIN for $29.99, I think, with another one that's pink with white design. Gooseberry is supposedly popular right now, but I'm not convinced.

Tyler's been wanting a set of these to resell for awhile now. It's Fire King lustre ware and I cannot find any completeds on a huge set like this. There's nine of them and they're gorgeous. Something my crappy photography skills cannot convey.

This had a bid on it the second I put it up. It's LPS teeniest tiniest stuff. Hopefully the bids keep coming!

These are sportsman insulated mugs by Flambeau. The only completeds are for one or two of the mugs, not a whole set like this. Two of them sell for about $20.00, so we'll see what happens at BIN OBO $59.99

Yeah, I was too lazy to link to completeds. So what? I also realized that most of my pics are on my other computer which is at school. If you want to see what else I have, look at my store!

Hollaaaa

Look at what I got on my eBay page today! This morning it was just the power seller, but later this afternoon I saw the Top-rated seller badge, too! I now live in fear of it being taken away. When you look at your status, They have the maximum count of "item not as described" stuff you can have and the max for me is 3. I've had 1 for awhile now. I think it's from one person who left positive feedback for an item but then messaged me and told me she wasn't happy with it. Now I have 2! What?? One person left feedback on some Merrell's I sold a few weeks ago and said "different than in the picture but great none the less". HOW?? How is something different than in the picture!? It's a picture of the actual item! I bet it's them. If I lose my Power Seller badge, I'll be pretty devastated.

I sold about $100 worth of stuff yesterday. Wednesday for some reason is one of my busiest days in the "store", so I always do a Wednesday price markdown of 10-20%. It seems to usually work out for me.

Also, someone's watching my Mary Englebreit pins! It doesn't necessarily mean they'll sell (I mean I've had 10 watchers before and nary an offer or bid or anything), but seeing that someone's watching it does some crazy psychological stuff that makes me feel hopeful.

WTF eBay.

Look at today! Look at today compared to other days! What is that? How does this happen? I have 91 things listed. Lots of different types, name brands, etc. TONS of watchers. I honestly think this is a huge conspiracy. I don't know what kind, but thinking it makes me feel better.

Yard Sale Tales: 10/15/2011 edition.

You know what really chaps my rear? When people advertise for a yard sale and make it sound AWESOME and then you get there and there's no yard sale! I got up this morning and went to an apparent yard sale in a super nice community on the other side of town and I was so pumped because this neighborhood is gorgeous and there was no yard sale. It's so disappointing. I wanted to go to their door and ring the bell and tell them they owed me money for the gas I used driving out there.

Then I got this stuff at other places:

The Stitch doll is from a community yard sale at some condos. Apparently "community" means two condos at opposite ends of the place, both with about two tables worth of stuff. I also got the framed Mary Englebreit (more about that in a sec) "picture" on the far right at the same place. Paid $1.50. Stitch does ok, depending on what you have.

The Josef Seibels and Bob the Builder sheet set were from the GW. We stopped at a yard sale where I got the Snoopy root beer mug and it was close to GW and the baby was asleep so I ran in really quick. Paid $8.00

The Snoopy root beer mug got me really excited, but the completeds have dashed my hopes for huge profits. Oh, well. At least I just paid $.50.

I did a happy dance when I found the Revere Ware tea kettle at an estate sale. It was one of those where they think everything they own is awesome and want exorbitant amounts for it, but somehow this beauty was just priced at $5.00, which leaves me lots of room for profit.

I got the books when I was still smarting from the pretend yard sale. It was freezing so I didn't pick through this lady's stuff like I should have, but she said that they're having a bigger moving sale in a couple of weeks, so it's ok. They're all in really great shape.

Ok, so the Mary Englebreit "picture" is actually a framed pin set. I really can't find much about this. I can find listings for the lithograph print of the pin in the middle, which is Ann Estelle serving tea to her Mickey and Minnie rag dolls, but I can't find anything for this item in particular. Since Disney pins tend to go for crazy prices, and this print has a certificate of authenticity on the back, I listed it for $112.75 (don't ask me why that number), OBO, just for giggles to see if anyone would bite. What a great profit that would be, eh?

Waiting for the ball to drop.

I'm having another sale in my store this weekend. Have already gotten rid of an 18" Alf for $27.99 and some furry baby boots (by Arizona) so far tonight. My inventory is decidedly down and I'm having a tough time finding more, but that's not stopping me from wanting to get rid of anything I can. I've done well the past two weeks (way better than at the end of September). So, selling's not my problem right now: it's finding stuff to sell.

Yard sales last weekend were mediocre. I did find a Cuddle U pillow, like a Boppy that was brand new for $5.00, sold it for $19.99 a few hours later. So if you see those, be sure to pick them up!

I'm having some luck with shoes. My closest GW has gotten very nice shoes lately, so I've been buying those up. They haven't gotten much else in, though!

Since I've been shipping so much out lately, I'm getting lots of feedback, which is good, because I hate sending stuff out that I know is awesome and not getting credit for it. I'm anxiously waiting for someone to hate what I've sent them, or for it to not get there, or for something else bad to happen. Every time I see I have new feedback or a new message, I get really nervous and am afraid it's something awful. It hasn't been yet, but if my statistics class I passed only because the professor felt sorry for me taught me anything, it's that the more stuff I send out, the greater the chance for an unhappy customer. Ah, well, I guess I'll just bide my time.

We're yard-saleing tomorrow. Well, I'm going out early while it's still cold and then I'll swing back by to get Tyler and baby once it warms up a bit. I've only got four on my list, but one's a huge estate sale, one's a community yard sale at some nicer condos and the other two are multi-family in nice neighborhoods. Hopefully I can find some good stuff!

Sale results so far

Wow. Who knew discounting stuff 20% could make such a big difference? I haven't sold tons, but I have made over $200 this week so far. Hopefully tomorrow brings more bargain hunters. I'm glad that things have picked up for the time being. I was getting very discouraged. Here's what's sold:

*Clark's mary janes - paid $4.50 sold for $23.99

*Merrell shoes - paid $4.50 sold for $13.00 (not a huge profit but they were in rough shape)

*Ralph Lauren hoodie - paid $10.00 at TJ Maxx in June, the auction didn't meet the reserve when I first listed it, so I just relisted and it sold for $25.00

*Some American Girl's dolls sewing stuff - paid $1.50 sold for a total of $20.00

*Single books - paid around $5.00 for all the ones that sold, sold them for a total of around $30.00

*Two of my four lots of romance books - paid $5.00 for all of them, sold for $30.00

*prAna vest I bought forever ago and never wore - Paid ? sold for $15.99

Other various things I can't remember right now. I'm happiest about the books. One of the romance lots has 39 books in it and getting those out of the house will make lots of room for all the VC Andrews books my mom bought at the book sale this week!

Being proactive! Sale! Buy things!

Today was a doozy as far as work was concerned. Sometimes I wonder why I get up in the morning and leave my precious baby just to get crapped on by 12 year olds. I mean, I know we can't live on Tyler's salary and my recently terrible eBay earnings by themselves, but on days like today I think maybe living with my parents wouldn't be too bad (and if you knew my mother, you'd be like "omg, she means business").

Don't get me wrong, a lot of my kids are precious and I would take them to raise, no problem. But it only takes one (or three or five) to make your day terrible. So, feeling the need to be successful at SOMETHING, I went through and did a markdown on all my Buy It Now items. So from now through Saturday, everything BIN in Pages Bookstore & More is 20% off. I had someone buy a vest I've been trying to unload for a while, but it had 3 watchers, so it might have sold today, anyway. I would be thrilled if a ton of stuff sold. My house is so packed right now, I really want to get rid of some stuff before I bring more stuff in.

One of our local libraries is having a book sale this weekend. It starts tomorrow but I have parent teacher conferences and can't go after work. My mom is going tomorrow and I've left her a list of books and the type of books I would like, but we'll see what she actually comes home with. I'll go Friday after school and probably hit it up Saturday in case they have any last day sales.

I'll let you know how the BIN sale goes. Fingers crossed!

Time

Before I start on my planned post, I want to address one of my least favorite things on eBay: when people leave you weird feedback. Like today, I got one on a Polo shirt I sold in excellent condition and I was even flexible with the person paying and their feedback? "Satisfied". That's it! Really? Or just the flat "thanks." or "satisfied with transaction." It makes me feel like they were somehow not happy with their purchase. I dunno. Maybe I'm too sensitive. But, "satisfied"? Boo.

So some people have asked me how I have the time to list like I do. My basic strategy is one of desperation and lack of space. Our dining room and office are currently packed to the gills and I want it gone. Sometimes, I think "I should just throw this crap out", but I list it instead.

I take pictures whenever I get a chance. Baby's naps, Tyler playing with baby, anytime I have a free minute, I lay down a blanket and try to take a decent picture or two. Then, I sit down and load all of the new pictures on my computer once baby's asleep. Bedtime is pretty regularly 6:30-7:00, so I list then. Let's say I have 5 things to list. I usually sit down at 7:30, upload pics, edit if necessary, do my listings (if it's clothes, I'll take quick measurements when I take the photos and write them down) and I'm done by 8:00.

I've tried Auctiva. I know this is the most basic of the listing sites, but the free month trial lured me in. I loved it at first, until after a couple weeks of using it, I realized my sales really hadn't changed and it was taking me 30 minutes to find a background I liked for each listing. To me, 30 minutes of time doing other things is more important than the few extra dollars it might have made me.

Luckily I have nothing to list tonight because my house is a total wreck. I'm watching Hoarders to inspire me to clean up.

Goal!

I actually reached a goal! 100 listings tonight, thanks to a good trip to GW with Tyler this afternoon. We got a lot of shoes, which was pretty much all the good stuff they had:

Clarks shoes, size 10; Born sandals size 10; Merrell shoes size 9.5 (rough shape, but hey, they're Merrells); A&F cords in size 0. We also found some Doc Martens! They're really scuffed, so I'm going to try to clean them up before I list them. I got a few hypnobirthing books, which is strange to me, but I figured someone might be crazy enough to consider it. And a J.Crew skirt for me. Spent $33.00.

So, 100 listings, and $16.00 in sales for the weekend. Hm.

Etsy?

As I was scrolling through my items for the 1,000th time today I realized a lot of my stuff is vintage house decor and kitchen ware. This is not necessarily what I set out to find, but lately it's been all I can find. So this made me think of Etsy. I am wondering if anyone out there sells on it. Not crafts, but vintage stuff. Do you think it's superior to eBay when it comes to selling these things? Please advise.