Resume.

As you guys know, I've hit a wall when it comes to the old profession.  So, today, while my glorious angels were writing a creative essay (we have to do one in every class, every grading period) about what they would do if they lost one of their senses (we're studying the neurological system), I was trying to make a resume.  Here's what I got:

Obviously edited to deter crazy internet weirdos.

Poetry?  I can write it.  Short stories?  Done.  Essays?  No problem, fool.  Resumes?  Not so much.

Does having terrible eBay sales count as a skill?

So now, some eBay news:

...

I don't have any.  This past week has been "buy stuff and then don't pay and don't respond to communication" week.  I've dealt with this twice.  My auctions are doing well.  I sold a lot of 5 of Tyler's Old Navy polos he won't wear for a whopping $12.82 and I have these up for auction right now:

Probably paid a total of $4.00 for all four pieces.  They're each a little over a yard.  The Looney Tunes have a bid at $9.99 with five watchers and Garfield has one bid of $7.99 with five watchers, too so maybe I'll get a little from those.  I always buy character fabric and last weekend, our Goodwill had all of these, which made me happy.  It may not go for much, but I know it's a sure thing and I'll take that any time.

Goals part 546

Hey, here's a good goal:  sell something!  Weekends always suck, but I will wake up every Saturday morning thinking "I feel some good sales today!" and I will always be wrong.

February is slightly better than January, but March better start getting it's act together because I've finally settled on a goal.

Tybee Island, GA was mine and Tyler's first vacation together.  It is small, relaxed and slighty quirky.  You should go!  But not while I'm there because I like it uncrowded.  We loved it so much we went back the next year and got married there.  Look, here we are:

Anyway, we also went the following year when I was just barely pregant with Addy Mae.  Which really wasn't that relaxing because our New-To-Us Subaru decided to crap out on us the minute we got there and our dads had to tow the Jeep down so we could enjoy our vacation (our dads are awesome). 

Last year, I was so pumped to take our little baby to "our beach", but having a baby takes a lot of money! (Who knew, amiright?)  So, we didn't get to go.  Which was really heartbreaking since Tybee means so much to us.

We plan to go this year, but I really hate when vacations put a financial struggle on you.  I mean, if you have to watch every penny you spend, then what's the bloody point?  That's no vacation, my friend.

So my goal is to get some vague amount of money together.  At least enough to stay a couple of extra days if we wanted to, or to spend a night somewhere swank in Savannah.  We'll probably go in early June to avoid the major hotness.  I'll have to crunch some numbers and get back with the total I would want to have.

Hopefully I don't have to refund any of those glass things I mailed last week, because that would suck.

No. More. Glass.

I finally sold these:

I picked these up probably as far back as August at an estate sale thinking, "oh this will be so easy to sell!"  And there they sat.  I tried lower prices, higher prices, and then I eventually said "I have 9 of these.  Buy one as a replacement or whatever."  After I listed them as replacements, someone messaged me wondering how much for all of them?  I said $45.00 and $10.00 shipping and she bought them.  Well, she was in Texas, so shipping was $18.00 and the amount of packing materials I had to buy (I ran out of peantus and had to resort to getting more at Target for $6.00!!) was about $10 total, so I made about $20.00 on these and it took an hour of cussing and shaking my fist at the packing Gods to get them in the stupid box.

Not worth it.

Do you know what?  I'm done with glass stuff.  I just finshed packing my frames (the buyer actually paid, horray!) and those were a pain, too.  After the stuff I have up sells, I am going to try very hard to not buy large glass things again.  Fenton figurines?  Fine.  Mugs?  Ok.  NINE BLOODY FIRE KING BOWLS? Never again.

Unless the profit margin is gigantic, it's just not worth it.  Maybe it's just me, but other than the frames, I haven't ever sold one large glass piece that's made the stress of packing it and hoping it gets there OK worth it. 

Shirts and books are much easier.

Rant over.

Apathy

If there's one thing I'm excellent at, it's being apathetic.  That's how I've been towards eBay recently.  This week's been slow, but last week was OK.  My frames went for $102.50.  Yay!  But the buyer hasn't paid.  Boo.

So we'll see how that goes.  I hope everyone's week is going better than mine.  I would like to try to get to one of our smaller thrifts tomorrow after work, so if I do, I'll post some pics of my finds!

Dude, frames!

Ok, collective eBay blogging community.  We have been missing out on something that is probably right under our noses!  Frames!  Tyler's mom gave me a box full of old frames this weekend and look at these completeds! Over $100 for "shabby chic" frames and vintage frames.  Next time you go a-thrifting or yard saleing, buy some frames!  It doesn't matter if they're beat up or missing the backs and glass.  If they are, paint them white, sand them a little and say they're shabby chic!

Here's my collection:

I've got them listed as "art deco" and "ornate".  They've been up since about 8 last night and I've already got watchers and one bid of $15.00 (I started them where most of the higher priced ones start).  I will be really shocked if they sell for under $40.00. 

I'll worry about shipping them later.

But seriously...frames.

Spend it all in one place.

So, we're still broke this week, but we've filed taxes and hopefully our return will help us get back on our feet.  Mom let me borrow $20.00 (I mean, what am I? 16?) so I went where I could get the most bang for my buck, the Salvation Army.

I filled my cart up with stuff and sifted through it at the end and wound up spending $19.15!  Whoo.  Here are the things I bought.  These are their stories.

So, when you first walk in to the SA, there's two big bins of plush and broken toys.  This guy was on the top.  I pounced on him.  He's by Steven Smith and he's a Grateful Dead Dancing Bear.  If you have a tag on them, they can go for about $64.00.  I've got him BIN for $45.00

There were 43 of these Pocket Classics in a shoe box and I wanted them.  When I first looked at them, the two right up front were Sherlock Holmes.  I have an unhealthy obsession with the Holmes and Watson duo and I knew they were meant for me.  But I was NOT going to pay .49 a piece and I was not going to split them up.  As I was browsing the men's suits, they announed that all children's books were now $0.10 a piece.  I ran back there and almost knocked a kid over. These were obviously a classroom set, but I have them up for $29.99 OBO...I kept the two Holmes books for myself.

I was browsing through the dresses and fell in love with this wool jumper.  It's just so fun and retro.  It's 100% wool by Herman Geist.  Completeds aren't that impressive for his sweaters and whatnot, but I've had some interest already at BIN for $29.99

So many people have been blogging about long denim skirts.  I have one of my mom's old ones up and have 3 watchers, but no bites yet.  But I saw this dress and saw that it's by my old pal Ralph Lauren, so I picked it up.  BIN $29.99

Ok, I am not sure about these jeans.  They say they are Levi's 505.  I have some questions on the authenticity, but everything I look up about them says they're real.  The red tab is blank, which is apparently OK.  My biggest problem is that there is no tag on the inside waist band.  There's a tag near the pocket that says Levi's and the size (a very skinny 29x30), but I'm still unsure.  I went ahead and listed them and in the listing, I included all the points that vouch for their authenticity.  BIN OBO for $39.99.

Check this guy out!  He's HUGE, 11" tall, ceramic and weighs a ton.  It's a piggy bank and an owl, so I had to get it.  Paid $3.99 up for BIN OBO $34.99.

My sales are still yucky, but hopefully my $19.15 pays off!

Do the work for me.

Ok, so here's the deal.  I bought this pink fringed vest from the GW last week.  Tyler thought I was crazy, but I told him "I bet I can get $50.00 for it!".  So I took pics, listed it, tried to be as *ahem* "whimsicle" as possible in the description and I've only had 13 hits on it.  Not that I expected it to sell immediately, but I thought it would definitely get more than that.  The pictures are not the best, but considering my camera, the backgrounds and light I have to work with, and my poor skills, it's all I got.

Click to see listing

I've kind of marketed it towards motorcycling ladies, since they tend to pay more for their stuff than someone who just wants "western" wear.  Am I turning people off with the motorcycle/western description?  Should I just pick one and go with it? 

It really is a cool vest and I know that I should be able to get this much out of it.  Suggestions, anyone?

Quick Howdy

Hey, how's it going?  I'm still sick.  I've been sick for approximately three months now and it'll get better for a couple of days and then it comes back.  At approximately 5:13 pm this afternoon I was attacked by a severe sore throat.  Tyler seems to be appreciative of my silence.

This week is still being annoyingly slow on the sales front.  Here's some of what I've gotten rid of so far:

I talked about these Jhane Barnes sweaters last week, I think.  I probably paid $15.00 total for six sweaters and I've only sold two so far for about $70.00 total, which is a pretty sweet profit margin.  I have watchers on my others.

This pillow was $.50 at a local thrift store.  Sold this morning for $24.99 and free shipping.

This is a sweet pair of shoes.  Nine West "Haldir" boot, looked brand new at the GW.  Paid $4.50, sold for $39.99.  I will only buy Nine West shoes if they look brand new.

I've also sold a few books here and there.  Nothing Earth-shattering, but there ya go.  Hope your sales are going well!

Now I'm going to go chug some NyQuil and go to bed.

Returns.

Well, I haven't had any sales to speak of since Friday and I've got two returns on the way, totalling about $60.00 worth of merchandise. One is a skirt that I said was new, because it is, but the buyer very nicely told me she thought it looked worn. Well, I bought it new and I've never worn it, so I don't know what one qualifies as "worn", but whatever.

Another return are those stupid red SAS shoes I've had forever. The woman who bought them thought they might fit her wider foot, but they didn't. So I've got those beautiful things coming back to me. Whoo.

On the bright side, neither of these are hostile returns, so that's something to be thankful for. Hope your week is going better than mine!

Oh, wait...one more thing.

Also, looking for some advice. I have two pairs of Allen Edmond's shoes and a few other things up that I need to take new pictures for. I was going to do this tonight, but Addy is constipated and most of the evening was spent using a 5mL syringe to get prune juice in her (I am not kidding and it was a ridiculous experience). They have had 1 or 2 watchers for over two months, so I'm beginning to think the person(s) have forgotten they're even watching the items and they're not getting much in the way of views.

Here's my question: when I take the new pictures, should I just end the listing and do a "sell similar"? Or should I just stick new pictures in there and let it ride? My head says "end it and sell similar", but I just wanted to ask if anyone thinks this will help. Thanks!

140!

I did it! I did it with stuff I had bought but never listed (whoops), some of our clothes we've never worn and some of Tyler's music DVDs, along with a couple DVD sets. I also relisted a few things that never sold in November and I just never bothered to relist them.

What's more, I still have a few other things I could list but I almost killed Seller's Sourcebook earlier and I don't feel like fooling with it anymore. Huzzah!

Protect ya neck.

Since I'm broke, I was going to go through my parent's LP and tape collection today. My local thrift stores have no shortage of LPs, either, so I've always meant to take a gander at completeds. From clicking through pages of them, I take from it that unless it's a sealed Beatles or Zeppelin, or unless it's "first press" of some obscure 80's punk band with a crazy cover, you better check it out on an eBay app before you buy it.

But cassettes are what blew my mind. Look at this. And this. And this. Don't forget to click here.

I mean, let's be honest here, if you were glancing through tapes at a yard sale or thrift store (and do we very often? No.), would you pick up one from some obscure rapper from the early '90's? Or an old Wu Tang tape? Heck no. But now you know!

I'm pretty sure my parents don't have any unknown rapper demo tapes. And all of my old ones are likely to be Ace of Base singles, not Eminem. Dang!

Hmph. And a Personal Challenge!

Well, no sales today, but Friday is never good to me. You would think that since Friday is pay day to a lot of people it wouldn't be so slow, but apparently people don't rush on to eBay once they cash those checks. Go figure.

So, here's installment #326 of "why I need to quit my job":

Me: *giving an EXCELLENT presentation on viruses and related disease with lots of cool, gross pictures* - I'm serious, I got mad PowerPoint skillz.
Student: *does not raise hand* "I need to go to the bathroom!"
Me: "You need to raise your hand when I'm speaking and you can go to the bathroom after the lesson."
Student: *string of mumbled complaints and eyerolling*
Another student: "Chill, dude."
Student: "This class is f___ing boring."
Me: "Leave."

Aaaand...scene.

How was your day?

Anyway, we're flat bloody broke this week. Our heating bill was off the chain and we're left with a whole bunch of nothin this weekend. So, there will be no thrifting for me. My challenge to myself is this - I have about 130 things listed. I want to get up to 140 by Monday or Tuesday. I need to do this for free. This means I will be scouring through rubbermaids, ransacking my parent's house and digging through closets to see what I can come up with gratis. I will be posting pics of my found treasures as I list! Wheee for bein po'.

One Week??

Good Lord, where have I been? An overview of the past six days:

Baby sick, baby sicker, baby still sick, mommy sick, mommy REALLY sick (on baby's birthday), mommy and baby feeling better.

It's funny because for the past few weeks I've been obsessing about eBay and this week, I could really care less. It's one of those times when packing stuff to ship out is just a pain instead of money in the bank. Granted, I'm not snubbing my nose at the money in the bank...I'm just being a bum.

My sales have been normal for me this past week. Today was especially good, even though I only sold 3 things, they were for a total of about $100.00. It was from some Asics track cleats, some Nine West shoes and a new, in package California Raisins shower curtain from 1988.

So, I think I have a new BOLO that I've never seen mentioned on anyone's blog before. First, some background info. I've been curious about "Cosby" sweaters for a while, because my thrift stores have no short supply of ugly men's sweaters. So on Saturday I searched for "Cosby Sweaters". The brand I came up with was Coogi, which is apparently what he wore on the show. I mean, check out those completeds!

I went to Goodwill on Sunday with that in mind, but figuring I wouldn't find any. I didn't. But what I did find was a brand of equally tacky sweaters by Jhane Barnes. Now, completeds won't look very promising, but my experience with it so far as been really good. I bought two, thinking "we'll see". I listed the two and one sold within 12 hours. Well, there around 4 others there and they were the 1/2 off color, so I sent Tyler back for the rest. They are all listed and several have watchers.

I mean...check this out. Listed as $37.99 + Free shipping

This is the one that's already sold for $39.99 + free shipping

Just listed this last night for $37.99 + free shipping. Lots of interest. I believe my listing says something tragic like "makes me think of a proud male peacock showing off his feathers" (GAG)

I haven't listed this yet because this is the only decent picture I can get of it. It's a mock turtleneck and this picture makes me think of one of those 3D puzzle posters where you have to cross your eyes to see the picture.

There's a couple more that I've got to put up, too.

So, that's what I've been up to. I still have a sore throat (which I can't figure out if it's from being sick or yelling at 7th graders all day), but I was puking and really sore all over, so at least that's over with. Hope you guys have had a great week!