Mom's Paycheck

Disney Fund Update

2012-02-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

Wow! Janaury was a great month on Ebay for me. By far the best month I've ever had. Sales were steady, getting at least one sale a day most days. My best selling items were toys. It always amazes me what some parents will pay for used toys.
I kicked off the fund with a $375 deposit. My goal is to deposit $363 monthly to have 4k by November 1st. This month I was able to bring the fund up to $900. With all of my sales this month, I paid my Ebay fees, for all my inventory (aka Goodwill trips) and put $100 towards some work done around our house.

How was your month? Are you working towards any goals this year?

Goodwill Finds

2012-01-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I made a quick trip to the Goodwill outlet. A quick trip means getting there about 30 minutes before rotation, staying through rotation and getting out of there before they rotate again (otherwise I'll want to stay). Our store rotates about every 2 hours. On this trip I spent $10.39.

I was able to get a good variety of items. Some for Ebay and other items to sell locally. I've really been trying to boost my local sales even for items I would usually list on Ebay. Some of the items I got from this trip include children's books, Build a Bear clothing, Anthropologie dress, Talbots pants, Creative Memories items, Little Einstein characters, Columbia sandals, Fur Real cat, computer game, Hallmark ornaments, Scooby Doo backpack, Thomas engine, and some small "Chuck" cars. There are a few more odds and end I didn't mention, but overall these are the major items.

Do you find anything good this weekend?

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl Her Library Adventures Hey Mom What's for Dinner

Lost Sock Basket

2012-01-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

I'm not a very organized person. I'm slowly trying to make changes to help the clutter and choas in our home. I recently downloaded a free book on Amazon called Organized Simplicity. I probably won't read it, but the product description was very motivating. It read:

Simplicity isn't about what you give up. It's about what you gain. When you remove the things that don't matter to you, you are free to focus on only the things that are meaningful to you.

In come the buckets and containers. The above baskets I got a few weeks ago. I wish they were pretty girly colors, but they will serve their purpose for now. I have placed one on each of my daughter's dressers for lost socks. After mating socks, the leftovers will go in the appropriate girl's basket with the hopes that it's mate will show up. You can buy these types of baskets cheap from the $1 store, but I'm to cheap for even that. So, I keep picking them up at the GW Outlet and I plan on snagging them up at garage sales. Next goal is to get our pantry stocked with them.

Selling Beyond Ebay

2012-01-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

As much as I love selling on Ebay, I also enjoy finding local networks to sell items through. In the past, I've mostly used Craigslist as a means for cash, but now I'm trying to extend my network. My latest big adventure is doing consignment sales. I'm working my way up to be like Janessa over at Savvy Saver Secrets. Check out her post here and I'm sure it will get your wheels turning. I was very pleased with my test run last fall and have already registered for a sale here in March.

I've also used local Yahoo groups to unload items. I've used this avenue the least, but have gotten sales when I have listed this in the groups. I have found 2 local groups, but have gotten sales mostly from one group.

More recently, I've started exploring Facebook resell groups. I'm currently part of 3 groups, but have only posted in one. I have 2 possible sales this week worth $60 total, so I'm looking forward to exploring this opportunity more.

When I resell face to face I rarely let anyone come to my home. Usually the only exception I make is if it's a big item I can't easily fit in my van. I have a meeting spot right off the interstate that's about 5 minutes from my house, and allows buyers easy access on and off the interstate. I do usually have my kids with me, but I meet during the day, in a busy parking lot, and I turn off my vehicle, step outside of the van, and lock the door. I've never felt threatened or unsafe doing this.

What are your other selling venues? Do you prefer those over Ebay, if so why?

Goodwill Finds

2012-01-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

I did a quick run to the Goodwill Outlet last week and got the items pictured. The pickings were slim, but I did manage to spend around $4.50 on these items. The majority of the items will go for the consignment sale I'm doing in the spring rather than Ebay. Some of the items I got were a Groovy Girl bed, Leap Frog Airplane Letter set, adult shirt, a small stash of Polly Pocket clothing, books for various collections, puzzle, hat and glove set, toddler boy shirt, bib, Thomas the Train snack cup, Playskool car, and a scrapbooking carrying bag and a few small misc. kid toys. The sweet thing is, I've already grossed $45 off this trip.

Hoping to have better luck on a few trips I have planned for this week. If I remember, I'll snap

pictures and share.

Linked up @ Apron Thrift Girl Penny Worth Project, Her Library Finds, Cherished Treasures,

Disney Fund Update

2012-01-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the week I was able to make another deposit into the Disney fund. When I started at the beginning of the month, I planned on making deposits once or twice a month. However, my sales have been a little better then I anticipated for January.

I deposited $200, which brings my fund to $575. My monthly goal is $363, so at this rate I should have both January and February taken care of. But, we all know how Ebay works and next month I could be struggling to meet it.

Weekly Update

2012-01-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

Last week was a productive week for me in the Ebay world. My goal for the last month or two was to get my store up to 100 listings. I hovered around 70 for the longest time. With sales and listings falling off, I just couldn't get to that magical number. So, one day I decided to start doing 10 a day until I reached 100. Now that I'm there, my goal is just 5 a day Monday through Friday.

I also passed my sales goal of $200 with over $277 in sales. I had sales every day, many of the items were selling within a day of listing. This week has started off really slow, but trying to list even when I don't have that Your Item Sold!! message showing up my inbox.

How are your sales? How is listing going?

My Ebay Spreadsheet

2012-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

Today I'm going to share the spreadsheet that I use to track my ebay items. My husband created this for me last year when I was just doing auctions, so there are a few columns I rarely use now that I have a store.

Column A (Name): This is where I put the description of the item I'm selling.
Column C (Listed @): When I did auctions, I liked knowing what I started the listing at so that I could compare what it eventually sold for. This is a column I probably will delete in the future.
Column D (Sold For): Final selling price goes here.
Column E (Paid): What I paid for the item
Column F (Profit before fees): This column calculates the selling price minus cost (Column D minus column E)
Column G&H (Weight): Most of my items come from the Goodwill outlet, which is based on weight. In order to find the correct cost, I enter the weight and it auto calculates into column E. If I get an item elsewhere, I manually enter it into column E.
Column I (Insertation Fee): What it cost me to list the item.
Column J & K (Ebay and Paypal Fees) Right now, I don't have those auto calculating, but my plans are to have both auto-calculate so that I don't have to manually enter them.
Column L (Shipping Paid): What it cost me to ship the item.
Column M (Shipping Received): I enter in what the buyer paid in shipping. For the past few months I've been doing free shipping, so this is almost always 0.
Column N (Final Profit): What I made after paying high fees to Ebay and Paypal.

Feel free to ask any questions about this spreadsheet. Also, I would love to hear how you track your ebay transactions. Is it similar to this or completely different?

Disney Fund Kick-Off

2012-01-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years!

With the start of 2012 I am kicking off our Disney Fund. We are planning our trip for mid November this year. That gives me 11 months to ~~scheme~~ sell to reach my goal of saving $4k for our trip, which is about $363 a month. Our trip will include 2 adults and 3 children. I like to stay at the nicer resorts and we plan on doing the meal plan.

In 2010 we took a trip to Disney World. We saved for it over a 2 year period. Most of it came from my reselling and we saved up over $4k. We had a small chunk left over. I'd rather save up extra, than not have the trip completely covered.

To kick off our fund I transferred part of my sales from December into a savings account. Our kick off amount is:

$375

Update

2011-12-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

I hope your family has had a blessed holiday season. December found itself to be a very busy month, which is why I haven't posted much. Right now I'm enjoying the time with family as January is a crazy month in our house. Here's a quick update on the Ebay front. My sales have been great, even the the week of Christmas which I expected to be slow was a strong week for me.

Next week my goal is to start posting again. As of right now, I just want to enjoy the week. I've been working on some new ideas to add some new content to this blog.

Thanks to anyone who has written me with kind words. It motivates me to keep this blog going.

Have a great New Year!

Tights

2011-12-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

If your a mom of girls, you know how important tights are. On church days, tights are a staple in our house. We usually wear them from October through April. Recently I was looking to update out stash, so I headed over to Ebay to see what I could find. I was very surprised how much used tights were selling for. I often find tights in the Goodwill bin and usually can get them at garage sales around .25. In the past, I have passed up sizes that weren't ours, but I think it's time to start a new collection.

I decided to test out a few pairs to see how they do. I listed a pair of Baby Gap tights and a pair of Gymboree tights. One was a pair I had picked up from the Goodwill outlet, the other was a pair that I was going to just giveaway to someone. I listed both pair last month during one of the free or penny promotions and they both sold with multiple bids. I had free shipping on both items, so my profit was a little less, but I still cleared between $2.50 and $3.00 a pair.

There are alot of resellers that wouldn't mess with such a low money maker. No, they aren't going to make you rich, but they are a cheap buy and seemed to be a easy turn around. My plan is to lots with 3 or 4 pair and hopefully resell them for around $15.

Would you bother selling an item with a small return?

Goodwill Finds

2011-11-27T18:07:00.000-08:00

What's Black Friday without a little thrifting at Goodwill? Overall, it was an okay trip. Most of my finds will be used for the spring consignment sale, but I did find a few Ebay finds. On this trip I spent $6.50

For Ebay I got Nike running shirt and a women's mini skirt, & Clifford book (for collection), Gymboree Sweater Dress, Scrabble Tiles, Gymboree bloomers, Thomas the Train replacement parts.

For Consignment Sale I got 6 new pairs of Circo shorts, boys Children's Place Shoes, infant onesies, Ralph Lauren skort, puzzle, 4th of July outfit, and 2 long sleeve shirts for fall sale.

To keep I got a Kitchen Aid Mixer cover, shorts and shirt for my oldest, Gymboree Christmas nightgown and puzzle for my youngest, wrap shirt for me, and a Christmas book for our Christmas basket collection.

This was an okay trip. I would love to find more items for Ebay, however I'm happy to find items for the consignment sale. Registration opens up in a little over a month and I'm anxious to start prepping for it.

Goodwill Finds

2011-11-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the week, I made a trip to the Goodwill outlet. On this trip I spent $7.00 and I was extremely happy with what I got.

For Ebay I got 3 Lands Ends swimsuits, Baby Gap Pjs, Tights, Leap Pad touch books and cartridges, Starbucks mug, Victoria Secret bra, a new kids backpack and a Brio Train building.

For Consignment sale stock I got 2 girl shirts, 2 pairs of boys shorts, Ralph Lauren and Childrens Place. 4 boy shirts, 3 are Childrens Place, 1 Gymboree. Childrens Place girls pull over jacket/windbreaker, Leap frog toys, and Tonka and Playskool trucks/cars and 3 puzzles.

I also got a Lands End dress to keep for one of my girls and a Lands End coat that I think I may sale on Craigslist instead of Ebay. Still debating.

Obviously, I love shopping at the Goodwill Outlet because of the prices, but also because I usually only have to sell 1 item to pay for everything from a trip. Last week I shopped at a different thrift store. I picked up 3 shirts, a Vsmile Motion console with 6 games, and a Playmobil set. I spent $10. I have listed everything but the Vsmile items when I got home. I sold 1 shirt for $13.99 plus shipping (international) and it paid for my whole trip. Do you find it easy to recoup the cost of your thrifting trips?

Goodwill Finds

2011-11-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went shopping and I managed to take a quick picture before I moved everything to its proper location. On this trip I spent $4.14 including tax. Most of the items are for the kid consignment sale I will be participating in this spring.

I bought 2 dresses, that I would have kept had they been one size bigger. One was a Maggie and Zoe, the other brand was from a line at Kohls. I also got 4 shirts. There was a Nautica and Gymboree shirt, but I can't remember the other 2. 2 pairs of denim shorts. I kept one pair for my girls, the other pair may make their way back into our stash, but for now they are in sale pile. A Groovy Girl doll, Little Tikes Chunky People, dollhouse Popcorn Machine, an Old Navy tank top for me and a Vera Bradley purse. Overall, I'm very happpy with my stash for the price I paid.

Swag Bucks

2011-11-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

With Christmas approaching I wanted to bring up Swag Bucks again. It's been a while since I've posted anything about reward sites. I've found lately that I don't have as much time to focus on them as I did in the past. However, Swag Bucks doesn't require extra work.

What is Swag Bucks? Swagbucks is a search engine that awards you in the form of Swagbucks (points that can be traded in for prizes.) You can chose from a variety of prizes including gift cards. You get Swagbucks for joining and can win different amounts throughout the day just by searching like you normally do. They also have Swagcodes out throughout the week that can be worth 5 – 30 Swagbucks.

On every computer in my house I have the SwagBucks toolbar downloaded. I simple search every website I plan on visiting. Even if it is something as simple as facebook, I search instead of entering the URL. I always cash my points in for $5 Amazon Giftcards. You can order 2 a day (there used to be a limit of 5 a month, not sure if that still stands) and it takes 10-15 days for the giftcards to show up in your account. For me, the giftcards are the best value and I use them to help fund our Christmas. Last month I ordered this dollhouse for our youngest and it was free using giftcards. I'm considering buying our girls another Dsi for Christmas and I have enough giftcards left to make that free as well. You can sign up HERE, which is a referral link.

Book Lots

2011-11-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Last year, I had the thought of selling books pop up in my mind, but it's one of those niches that I dabbled in, but never fully embraced. All that is starting to change for me.

About 2 months ago while shopping at the GW outlet, I started coming across a few youth sci-fi books. I started pulling them out of the bin until I had close to 40. Doing a quick search on my phone, I figured it wouldn't be a big loss if they didn't do well. I listed them in my store and they sold within 2 weeks for my BIN price. Since then I've started collection of books that I seem to come across often. Once I get around 10, I list them. However, I have listed smaller lots of readers and still had good luck with them. I have yet to list a lot of books that don't sell within the first few weeks of listing.

Most of my books come from the GW outlet which is already a decent discounted rate. Recently, while shopping at a new thrift store I found a large set of youth chaper books. I contemplated whether I was going to ask if they would give me a deal since I was buying so many books. The store is ran by a homeless shelter, so the money obviously goes towards a good cause. As I was gathering my books up, a lady came into the store and asked the clerk where the other guy was. She then asked him if he was going to cut her some deals like the other gentlemen does. That was music to my ears. I gathered my pile of books up and walked up to the front. I said, I heard you like to give deals and I want all these books. He added them up, my total was $12, he offered them to me for $7. I came home, listed them and they sold in a little over a week and I cleared $100 after my investment, fees, and shipping cost. The moral of this story is not to be afraid or hesitant to ask for deals when buying in bulk.

What is your experience with selling books?

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-11-08T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well, another week has gone by with no postings. I hope to do better this week, but no promises. Last week I did no thrift shopping and barely any listings. However, it ended up being a decent sales week. I had $250 in sales, which is a great week for me. Already this week has started off good (we'll see if it continues) and I've made half of that in 2 sales.

Last week I had someone comment on what my profit is on my sales. I've started working on updating my spreadsheet so that I can give some examples of what I usually clear after cost and fees. Because I shop at the Goodwill Outlet for most of my inventory, my initial cost are usually pretty cheap. I now offer free shipping on everything, so if you add that to the crazy Ebay and Paypal fees, I still give a good chunk away. If any of you have any other questions or suggestions for post, I would love to hear them. I had one person ask me about calculating my shipping cost, which I plan to finish up that post soon. I would not call myself an expert on Ebay, but I love sharing what I've learned and know because so many other people have extended the same courtesy to me.

I'm also feeling out the idea of having a co-blogger or reoccuring guest on this blog. If you have any interest in this, please feel free to drop me an email, which can be found in the upper right hand corner.

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-11-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a week since I last posted. I started some posts, but never got around to fully finishing them to publish. Let's see if this week will be better.

For the past few weeks, my thrifting has been minimal. I have been getting out, but it's usually during preschool time. I only have about a hour and a half which isn't very long for the Goodwill Outlet. I did rediscover a very small thrift store 2 weeks ago. When I first rediscovered it, I had the kids with me, so it was hard to shop. However, the first day I noticed they had a great collection of kids books, so I went back last week. I scored 60 books to resell and only spent $7.00. They had more that I would like to go back and buy as well.

Last week, was a better week then the one before. I had sales almost everyday which came up to around $145. I've been using all the net income to help pay off some debt we have. We've also did a few nights at Great Wolf Lodge and the hubs and I spent a weekend in Chicago in August and September. I love trips and it's nice to fund them without hitting our savings. In January I will start saving for our Disney trip that will be in the fall. I saved up $4k for our trip last year, however I did it over 2 years loosely selling. This time I plan on saving up around the same amount, but will only have about 10 months. If anyone is interested in following me on this goal, I would be more then happy to share it on the blog.

This week I'm focusing on listing as much as possible. Even though I haven't thrifted much, I still have a nice amount of inventory that I can list. My goal is to hit 100 listings as soon as I can. Ideally, I would like to have this done in the next week. Right now, I'm around 70, but I have alot of listings ending in the next week.

How has your week been?

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-10-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Last week seemed like another slow week on Ebay for me. I only had 3 sales, but it did total $75, so I'm not going to complain and try to be thankful for what I was able to unload. I think sometimes it's easy to read other blogs and forums and see what awesome sales everyone else is having. But, then I have to remember that Ebay is a ~~addiction~~ hobby for me. Everyone has their own situations and goals, which don't match or meet mine. Most days I have all 3 kids home, so I don't have chunks of time to take pictures, write up descriptions and list. When they go to bed, I usually just plop in a chair and zone out. Ideally, since I'm paying for the store now I would like to sell $100 a week. It's not alot, but I'm happy with it, so that's what matters. And..I surely can't beat myself up over it. Most of my friends that stay at home don't make any extra money on the side, so even if I only make $50 that's not to shabby.

This week I'm hoping to focus a little more on listing. I was battling whatever you want to call my sickness last week and it's still lingering. I started new meds yesterday and today they have me dragging. In case you missed it, its 1 cent auction day on Ebay. I'm going to try and work on listing throughout the day, but today we are having an all family nap and I guarantee I'll be the first one asleep.

How was your week?

Happy News

2011-10-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

This week has been full of lows. Here in Indiana, it has been cold and wet for the last few days. I've been dealing with what I think is a chest cold. And, at the beginning of the week I had to deal with a not so fun buyer who I hope has moved on. I also haven't had the motivation to list any new items.

However, today things look a little brighter. My Ebay account is now Top Seller and Power Seller rated. It's not something I've worked hard at to achieve. I knew I was close, but since Ebay is a very part time (more of 1/4 time) hobby for me I hadn't put alot of extra effort into achieving it. So, on this day.. I will be happy, proud, and brag to a few friends because next month is might be gone and I'm okay with that.

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-10-18T05:34:00.000-07:00

After 2 decent weeks, I hit a slump last week. I sold a shirt last Wednesday for 8.99. By the end of the week I was convinced that it would be my only sale for the week. However, on Friday and Saturday I had 2 sales that brought my total up to a little over $60. Not a big week, but one I'm satisfied with.

The store is still going well. The end of October is my second month of doing this trial. I've been averaging between 40 and 50 listings weekly, with over 60 currently listed. Over time I hope to get my sales higher, but that will come as I list more items. I have no plans of closing my store anytime soon and really like the Fixed pricing over auction style.

Last week I started using Turbo Lister. I've never used it and I'm still trying to get the hang of it. If anyone has any tips or pointers, I would love to hear them.

Goodwill Finds

2011-10-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week I made a trip to Goodwill. I bought everything in this picture and spent a little less then $10. Overall, it was a decent trip, but most of the items I won't list until I have other items to list with them. I got 2 pairs of shoes. A pair of Lands End shoes that I probably will wait to sell in the spring and a pair of Children's Place shoes that my daughter is enjoying. I got a small stack of summer clothes for the spring consignment sale.

Lately there has been a ton of VHS movies in the bins. I got a good start to a collection of Mary Kate and Ashley video's and a few other kid movies for lots I'm building. I took an outfit off a Build A Bear that was in the bin. It included a cute polo style shirt, jean shorts, and a pair of high top sneakers. There was a older style Dave Ramsey kit, which included cassette tapes. I will be loaning out the tapes before listing that set. I got a set of Hallmark Ornaments, as well as some Polly Pocket items and Thomas the Train tracks. A few items I picked up for around the house includes the letter B, the containers that the movies are in, some clothes for my girls.

Linking up Her Library Adventures, What's For Dinner, Thrift Share Monday, Coastal Charm, A Diamond in the Stuff

Should I Have Bought It

2011-10-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned yesterday that I participated in a kid sale this past weekend. One of the benefits of setting up a booth is you can shop everyone's items the night before. I did buy several things to resell, but I also passed up a few items that I'm wondering if I should have scooped up.

I saw this Old Navy Pirate Costume that was 6-12 months. It was in excellent condition and looked like it was barely worn. They had it priced at $3.00 and I considered asking if they would take $2.00 before they shut down, but I never made it back to the booth. HERE are the completes.

I was also eyeing a lot of Littlest Pet Shop plush. I already have one in my collection, but thought about adding these. They were priced at .50 a piece. HERE are the completes. I don't think that was a loss.

My friend was selling this Build a Bear Clarice reindeer. She only had him marked at .50, but I told myself I needed to stay away from Build a Bear plush and only stick to the clothing. At the end of the sale, she offered to give him to me, but I passed it up. HERE are the completes.

Lastly, I wasn't going to buy this, but another friend was selling a very nice Graco Swing for $30. On the swing was 2 of the Mix and Move toys that I hope I have talked them into selling on Ebay. The toys are a hot seller and they could sell them between $20 and $25 HERE are the completes. They had both a zebra and a giraffe. If I was selling this item, I would list it at $24.99 with free shipping.

What I did buy was some squeaky shoes for .50, a Gymboree coat (it's gray with hearts) for $5.00. I still haven't decided if I keeping the coat or listing it. Wilton character cake pans for .25 a piece, and some Vsmile games. I was happy to find a few items to flip. It helped salvage the low sales.

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-10-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Last week seemed a little slower in sales then the week before. I ended up having 7 sales for the week totalling $155. I didn't get rich, but I'm certainly fine with that amount. I tried to list daily, but only did that Monday through Thursday. I participated in a Kids sale where you rent a booth and sell your own items. Traffic was definitely down from the time I did it before, but I did manage to earn a small amount of money.

This week I hope to focus on listing, listing, listing. I also need to work on organizing my storage area. It's starting to get cooler and I store my items in our shed. It's going to be to cold for me to have to stand out there and go through my bags of junk. So, my goal is to get out and buy more totes. Since I don't have a ton of inventory, my goal right now is divide everything up by type. I'll divide the clothing up by men, women, and children. I also plan on having separate totes for toys, books, and items to be listed. How do you organize your items?

Goodwill Finds

2011-10-10T06:06:00.000-07:00

I made it to Goodwill once last week and the finds weren't all that great. I don't have a long time to rummage while my daughter is in preschool, but I try to make the most of it. On this trip, I spent $4 and I most of it were clothes. I picked up 2 mens shirts, a ugly Christmas shirt to resell during the holiday's (my first attempt at this market), a Littlest Pet Shop plush with carrier, Fisher Price Easy Link Keys, brand new Dragon Tales T-shirt, 2 dresses for the spring consignment sale, a Bob the Builder DVD, a plush penguin, a nightgown and pair of jeans for 2 of my girls, sports bra and a storage basket. With the stuff I'm reselling I hope to have around a $75 return on it. With Ebay you never know what will sell, but I think I have some good resellers.

I have 2 more thrify find trips to share this week, so be sure to come back later in the week to check them out. I'm doing better about remembering to take pictures of my loot.

Linking up to Coupon Tipster, Her Library Adventures, What's For Dinner, Thrift Share Monday

Storage Solutions

2011-10-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

In the last 6 months I've started selling more then I ever thought I would on Ebay. Along with that comes the need to storage space. In the past I bought items to list right away. I never considered buying ahead (except costumes), so I never had a need to store more then a few items. Now, that has changed. I still buy the majority of my items with the intention on listing them immediately, but I also buy to sell in a different season and I also have started making collections to list as lots later.

Right now I have 2 big shelves in our shed to use. I can store up to 11 totes on my shelves, but I have 2 clothing racks that I store for yard sales and I also have trash bags of items for future cosignment sales. My husband and I watched the video clip HERE on how to build the storage shelf pictured above out of PVC piping. This is on our list to build if/when the time comes for more storage space.

Goodwill Finds

2011-10-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

I've been swinging by the Goodwill Outlet once or twice a week, but I always forget to snap pictures of my finds. Usually I try to take my items to the shed and put away, so my house doesn't look like an episode of hoarders. Other times, my kids are trying to get their hands on my items, so I try to put them away quickly before they claim them as their own.

Last week, I was going through the bins when I found a baggie of Little Einstein characters. Included in the bag were 3 of the characters in the picture above and a little plastic toy rocket ship. Thanks to the Yard Sale Mommy, I've learned to keep and eye out for Little Einstein characters. A while back I read on her blog about the Little Einstein Pat Pat Rocket. Since, then I've sold a rocket for enough profit to make me happy.

Recently, I collected more items from this line. I have yet to decide how to list them, so for now they will just sit in my "collections" bin. I've gotten my hands on another rocket that works great, but is missing the lid. HERE is the completes for the rocket, most have characters with them. I also came across the Transform and Go toy that has Leo. The Transform and Go toy isn't as popular as the Pat Pat rocket, but there is a little money to be made. However, if you pair that T&G with the PP rocket, look at its potential HERE. So, now I need to decide if I should wait for a better rocket to come along, list the toys separately, or ditch them and just list the characters. HERE is a listing for the characters. I think anyone would be happy with this listing.

Have you sold these items? How have you listed them? Auction style seems to go well, but there were also some low selling ones. I definitely would want to do BIN and wait it out.

Linking to Coupon Tipster, What's for Dinner, Her Library Adventures Thrift Share Monday

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-10-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

What a great week for me on Ebay. I worked hard at trying to list a few items everyday up until Friday. My daughter had her 8th birthday this weekend, so that took over once Friday hit. I sold $210 worth of listings this week. The majority of my listings had free shipping and 3 of them sold less then 24 hours after I listed. This week my goal is to continue listing as much as possible. Starting tomorrow I've challenged myself to list at least 10 items a day Monday through Friday.

This week also offically marked the first month of my store. I've sold almost $570 in the last month. All of my listings were Buy It Now, with the exception of 7 sales that was from the free 150 auctions they offered mid month. I'm very pleased with my first month and looking forward to having a even better second one.

Creative Memories Cupholder

2011-09-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

I love to scrapbook, but the last year or so I've been off the radar. I try to keep up with items that come out, but I mostly just know the older items. When it comes to Creative Memories that can really help when you come across retired items at garage sales or thrift stores.

A few months ago, while hanging out at the GW outlet, I came across a Creative Memories cupholder. The offical name of the cupholder is a SideKick. This contraption not only holds your cup, but also has a attachment that will hold a small bag to put all your scraps in. When I found this cupholder at the GW I threw it in my cart and carried it around with me. Even after looking it up I debated on whether I wanted to buy it. It was missing the screw for the bag attachment and I wasn't sure how much that would effect it's resell. I then decided (like the rest of the junk I have around here) that I could at least make my money back. I listed it the next week, this was back in my auction days with the free BIN. I don't remember what I listed it at initially, I'm assuming $9.99 or $14.99, but it sold at my BIN price of $19.99 within 2 days. HERE is a list of completed auctions to see what they are going for.

If I came across this item again, I would probably list it for $29.99 with free shipping. If I get lucky and it's brand new, I would list it even higher based on this listing. That's not the first time I've seen them that high.

Weekly Wrap-Up and Store Update

2011-09-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

I finally feel like Ebay may be picking up again. Last week I had about $160 in sales, which was great compared to the $60 something I had the week before. Most of the items I sold was clothing, but I did have a few toys as well.

This week sales have been good so far. This week I've had sales every day since Sunday and sold around $100 worth. I recently started marking my items higher and doing free shipping. I plan on doing this method as long as the sales keep rolling in. As of right now, I'm still very happy with the store. I miss doing auctions and probably will do that occasionally, but I like knowing what I'll be getting for an item if it sells. My goals for this week is to get my store up to 75 items. I had that amount almost listed last week, but almost half of those were auctions from the free listing promo, that ended last week. So, if your trying to list more and want to challenge/motivate each other, feel free to email me.

What I Would Have Bought!

2011-09-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today I stopped by a church sale. It's one I've been to in the past and I usually don't find much. The church was on my way home, so I figured even if I didn't find anything I didn't go out of my way.

They had items set up inside and outside. Toys, books, shoes, and bags were all outside. I quickly scanned the toys and shoes and made my way inside. Today was the last day, so they were having a $2.00 bag sale. I walked through the clothes, household, and games and still didn't find anything. My 3 year old, who doesn't care for strange places or people was asking if we could leave. On the way out, I stopped and did a quick look at the books they had. I saw a decent collection of books from the "The Cat Who.." series. Never sold them, so I did a quick look up to see what lots went for. HERE is what I found in completed auctions. I figured for $2.00 there were approx 15 to 20 books, I could possibly sell them between $20 and $25. I then picked up a few to examine them and noticed they were wet. It rained here last night and apparantly they left all the books outside. Really? Why would you leave books out when there is rain in the forecast? So, it was a loss for me and anyone else who might have enjoyed one of the other books they offered.

LeapFrog Click Start

2011-09-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Recently, I started collecting LeapFrog Click Start games. I'm not sure how this system works, but I started coming across these games and the system a while back. I kept passing them up and then one day actually looked them up. I haven't come across it as much since deciding I wanted to collect them, but I do have a few games in my collection piles. You can see a list of completed auctions for lots HERE. When I list, I'll probably do it Buy It Now. They seem to go well on auction, but it can also be one of those items that go cheaper then you want.

When I buy games for resell, I usually do not test them. Most of the time, I do not have the system to test them with. Only once have I had someone message me to tell me the game didn't work. I had them return it and I refunded their money. So, don't let the lack of a system prevent you from picking kid geared games up. They can be a great money maker.

Dave Ramsey

2011-09-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Dave Ramsey, the personal financial rescuer has been a great reseller for me. People buy his items to save money, I buy it to make money. I've been fortunate in the past to come the Financial Peace kit, the envelope systems and CD sets. In the past, when I've listed I did all my listings auction style and they have ended with a good profit for me. I once sold a Financial Peace kit for more then what they sold it for if you bought. HERE is completed auction for Dave Ramsey items. HERE is the kit I sold, HERE is the Cd set I sold, and HERE is the envelope system I sold.

Week Wrap-Up

2011-09-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

It was a crazy week around our house. Hence, the missing posts last week. Our new homeschooling routine, or lack of, still has me jumping. Homeschooling 2 and entertaining a 3rd, keeps me busy, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

I now have my hands on a temporary replacement camera. I spent yesterday afternoon prepping listings and worked on listing last night. Last week, sales were still rather slow and I only made about $70.00. I averaged about a sale a day, but most of them came all over a 2 day period. I did start the week (yesterday) off with a $45 sale, so that was nice.

The consignment sale that I did went very well. Considering I only had about 4-6 weeks to prep for it, I'm extremely pleased with my sales. I only brought home around 10 items, which I should be able to unload at another sale I'm doing in a few weeks. I've already started gathering items for the spring and hope to have 10x what I took this time.

I did alot of thrifting last week. I hit Goodwill up 5 times. My corners are busting at the seems, so I need to list and move it to the shed. I got HUGE lots of Polly Pocket, Littlest Pet Shop, and Fisher Price Loving Family. I also got winter items from places like Land's End snow boots, winter coats, and snow suits are all in a pile waiting to be listed. I was able to collect a few VHS movie lots and kid book lots. The last few weeks, kid books lots have been a decent seller for me.

How was your week?

Broken Camera

2011-09-13T05:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after reading a few inspiring post, I decided I wanted to try and get at least 20 items listed in my Ebay store. I started pulling things out in between homeschooling and getting them ready to take pictures. My plan was to knock out at least 10 listings during naptime. I wrote up a few description, snapped a few pics, and sat down to start round 1 of uploading everything on to Ebay. Then I noticed the USB cord end that connects to my camera was sitting in it crooked. I got it to straighten up, but when I tried to connect my camera to the computer it wouldn't work.

You see, I had laid my camera on our kitchen counter stools. When I went to grab it, it was laying between the stools almost on the floor. My oldest daughter had unintentionally knocked it off. Had she seen it there, she would have moved it, but she didn't even know it was on the stool or that it had fallen off. I have a bad habit of leaving my camera all over the place. A habit that was created because I have kids who never bother items that they know doesn't belong to them. Apparantly, I need to start being more careful where I leave it.

So, now I must send it off for repair. I have a DSLR, so its not something I can just run out and replace. I'm planning on calling my inlaws and borrowing their camera. I've had suggestions of just using my phone camera. Has anyone else done this and how is the quality of the pics. I have a smartphone and I've taken some nice pics with it, I'm just not sure how well it would work for doing Ebay pictures.

Consignment Sale Test

2011-09-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Recently, after reading a great post about reselling at kids consigment sales, I signed up to particpate for one that is happening in my area. My area actually have 4 or 5 of these that happen around the same time twice a year, so I have good selection to choose from. If you don't know what a kid consignment sale is, I'll break it down for you.

Basically, you gather up your items that you wish to sell. Some of the sales can be extremely picky about brand names. Most sales happen in the fall and spring, so clothing items must be geared towards the upcoming season. You can also do toys, books, equipment, just about anything related to kids. The sale I'm participating in has you enter your information into an online database, which creates tags, that you print and safety pin to your clothing item. You select categories, size, and then have a small space to type information about the item. After you print, you then adhere it to the item with either a safety pin or with tape.

I did my drop-off this morning. I was actually in the first drop off spot and I think I'll continue doing that. It was nice to get in and out. They look over your items and they will reject items. I only had a few things sent back and most of it was because I had it packaged wrong (didn't have blankets/sheets in a bag) I only had about a month to collect items for this sale, so I didn't have near as much as I hoped, but I think I had enough for my first run. I took a little over 100 items (I think), which had a value of a little over $300. I paid a $15 fee and then I get 60% of the sales. You can volunteer to earn more, but I wasn't interested in doing that this time around. As a consignor, I get to preshop before the sale opens to the public, so I"m hoping to score some good Ebay stuff this week.

After dropping my items off, I swung by the local Goodwill. I've already found a few items to put in my spring collection, as it's never to early to start collecting. If you have a spouse, this is a great project to work on together. My husband and I sat down together and hung items and attached the tags. So, I guess I'll share some of my loot with him.

Groovy Girls

2011-09-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

Apparantly I've been passing up an item that potential could be a good reseller. My girls were given a few Groovy Girl dolls by my mom. Other then that, I had no idea who made them or how much they retailed for. After a quick search I found that they are made by the Manhattan Toy company. They are well known (at least in our house) for quality toys. The Groovy Girl dolls retail for $20 on their website and they offer many accessories for these dolls. Everytime I see these dolls, I kept thinking I need to start collecting. I passed up 3 of these dolls this week alone (ugg). Finally, last night I picked up 2, did a quick search, and figured I can make a little bit of money off of them. After coming home and searching completed auctions, I found that these things resell pretty well. I also did a search for lots to see what maybe I could expect (or hope for) and this is what I found. My goal will be to get 10 dolls and maybe some accessories. Right now, I have 3 dolls in my collection pile.

Have you sold these? If so, has your turn around be profitable or just okay?

American Girl Animals

2011-09-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

Most of us know that American Girl stuff is hot. It's also expensive, so I've tried my best not to introduce my girls to it. Providing AG items for 3 girls, would cause us to take out a second mortgage, so for now they are stuck playing with Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop.

A month or two ago I was shopping at my local GW outlet and they just rolled out fresh bins. I was rummaging through as fast as I can when I came across this small carrier with something in it. I threw it in my cart to check out later. When I finally got around to sorting through my cart I was surprised to find the carrier had American Girl dogs and cat. I've never heard or seen these animals. I did a quick look up on my phone and found that they can turn around decent enough. So, I bought them. When I got home I discovered they smelled like smoke and they were in okay condition. I try not buy things that have a smoke smell, I don't like it and I don't like the idea of selling something that stinks. But, after a week or so, I finally listed them and they sold 5 minutes after I did the listing, giving me a $20+ profit. The person left feedback and was extremely happy with them and so was I. I probably could have gotten a little more out of them, but I was happy to unload them and to do it so quickly. Over the weekend I found a larger American Girl pet. I'm hoping to get it listed soon with a quick turn around as well.

Ebay Store Week 1

2011-09-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

It's been offically a week since I've opened my Ebay store. I've been busy listing as much as possible, but I have had auctions ending and sales happening, so I feel like everytime I build up my listings, alot of them fall off.

For me, I still feel like Ebay is slow. Sales are starting to pick up, but I just wish they would pick up faster. I sold 6 items this week of which 5 of them were Buy It Now listings. I made almost $115, so I made a decent profit. Right now I'm averaging between 25 and 30 items listed everyday, but hoping to double my listings this week and have at least 50 items listed by the end of the week.

One of the items I listed this week was a children's winter coat. I listed this as a test to see how a winter coat would do this early in the season. I have a nice small stockpile of coats that I collected this summer. My coat sold in 3 days, so I plan on trying to list a few more this week and hope for another fast turnaround.

How were your sales this week? Do you feel like there is a still a slump or are your sales picking up?

My Take on Store Fees

2011-08-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've had a few people ask me about the fees for the Ebay store and how they compare to not having one. My Ebay situation may not be the same as yours, but hopefully my reasoning will give you more insight if you are interested in looking into the store route.

First, I checked out the Fee Illustrator. I played around with this at many different angles. I plugged in about what I'm averaging in listings currently (which is around 50 to 75 a month)and what I hope to in the future. I also played around with selling prices, more auctions versus BIN and vice versa. In the end I almost always came out ahead on the store. Usually, they were only off by a few dollars, but as I start to list more, I'll see more cost savings. My Ebay fees usually are between $40 and $80 a month.

Since opening my store late Sunday night I've had a few sales. I have many watchers on my items. I'm hoping as fall settles in sales will really start picking up. By the end of October I will decide to keep it open or close it. My strartgey is to list daily to build up my store even if its only 1 or 2 items a day. Yesterday, they had 1 cent auctions that store owners could particpate in. I loved that I not only got 1 cent auctions, but also with the store you get up to 12 pictures in your listings. Having the chance to put so many pictures in at no additional cost is very nice.

Please feel free to keep asking questions. I can't tell you what will work for you, but I can tell you my experience and maybe that will help. You can also email me a momspaycheck1@yahoo.com

I opened a Ebay store

2011-08-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks I've been debating on whether I should open a Ebay store. Over the summer, with the free Buy It Now option available, I started using that for many of my auctions. I'm starting to enjoy that option more then traditional auctions. I will continue to do auctions as well, but mostly will focus on the BIN for the next few months.

The worst part of opening the store was picking a name. But, I finally came up with one and opened my store late last night. Since then, I've started listing items in between homeschooling and during naptime. Today I had 2 BIN which just about covered all the fees I've had this month as well as the cost of the store for the next month. My goal is to have 200 items in my store by the end of September, which is big for me because on a good week I'm usually running between 15 to 20 auctions.

So, if you have a store or had one in the past, any helpful advice would be much appreciated!

Garage Sale Finds

2011-08-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

I think for the most part garage sales are done around here. They are still popping up, but I'm not motivated to drive all over the place for scattered sales. Instead, I always have the wonderful GW to provide me with goodies. Last weekend I went and spent a few hours digging. I didn't find a ton, but did get some good items. I spent less then $5.50 and this is what I got.

Mickey Mouse and Dumbo Disney Costume (my mom paid for one)
Build A Bear Clothing
LeapFrog My First LeapPad Books and Cartridges
Skipbo Game (for my girls)
Minnie Mouse Shoes (for my girls)
Janie and Jack Boys Clothes
American Girl Bitty Baby Clothes
Weebles
Game Boy Advance Games
Geo Trax Track
Fisher Price Loving Family person
Name Brand clothing for consignment sale (Gap & Gymboree)
Hangers for consigment sale

There is only a few of these items that I will list in the near future. The rest I will pack away for lots that I'm working on building up. I'm happy with this round of items I found, just need to find more things to list now and not later.

Oak Meadow

2011-08-20T02:29:00.000-07:00

A few months or so ago, I was shopping at my local Goodwill. They usually have a big selection of books, but I usually don't find anything, but every now and then I strike gold. On this particular Saturday I was rummaging through the books waiting for rotation. Flipping through the books, I picked up a large spiral bound book that said 1st grade syllabus. I almost threw the book back down, but the word syllabus caught my eye. Usually when I think of the word syllabus, I go back to my college days. To see a first grade book that said it, just seemed a little weird to me. I assumed it was probably for a daycare or private school setup. I flipped through the book and immediately saw the word homeschool in it. As a homeschooling mom, I think I've heard of most homeschooling curriculum, but never have I heard of this one.

I did a quick look up on my phone. It took a few searches, but I finally found what I was looking for. My initial generic search of Oak Meadows turned up something like THIS. But, after I got more specific and typed in syllabus, I was a happy camper. HERE is a list of completed auctions for a syllabus. Had I held out and waited till late July/early August, I think I could have gotten more, but I was very pleased with my book that sold for $75.00 book.

Garage Sale Finds

2011-08-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a pretty decent weekend as far as yard sale finds go. I did have to drag all 3 kids with me. My oldest loves to go to garage sales, but my other 2 could care less. I try to always remember the movie player when they come along. I took about $45 out with me this weekend and came back with out $9.

My biggest purchase was from a friend selling this Sit and Stand stroller for $30. I'm hoping to sell this for around $75. Overall, its in good shape and she still had the infant attachment bar, which I think is a good seller.

I also bought this LeapFrog Musical table from my friend. She was selling it for $2.00. I'll probably list it on Craigslist to start out with for $15, if not I'll just put it for the same amount in the consignment sale. Either way, I'll get profit, its just a matter of how much. This version does English and Spanish.

I bought all this stuff at various sales. I bought the polka dotted Wallababy Sling and a pair of Janie and Jack jeans for $3.50 total from a sale. I listed the sling for $30 and already ~~have someone inquiring about it~~ sold it. All the clothing was .25 a piece. Except for the brown sweater, everything is Gymboree & Gap. The little snack bowls were .10 a piece from a church sale. I'm keeping one and then will put the rest in a consignment sale I'm participating in next month.

Overall, I had a great weekend getting out. I did get some great deals at Goodwill which I hope to share later in the week.

Linking up to Yard Sale Mommy, My Life on Taffy Pull, Her Library Adventures, The Penny Worthy Project, Thrift Share Tuesday

Build A Bear

2011-08-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Build A Bear..the bear that keeps on costing. Thankfully, my girls haven't fallen to hard for the Build A Bear craze. Anytime we hit the store up, all they want is accessories for them, that they can play with, who cares about the bear. I recently startred collecting BAB because I know there are people out there who LOVE them. I can get clothing extremely cheap at my favorite thrift store, but I know they are easy to come by at garage sales as well. HERE is a list of completed auctions. Check out these lots HERE, HERE and HERE.

Goodwill Outlet-Keeping it Real Version

2011-08-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote and told you about the facts of the Goodwill outlet. Today, I'll share with you the keeping it real version about shopping there.

People can be rude.
People stink.
Kids get on my nerves.
You might get a ~~hot~~ date.

I have met some really nice people in the GW. But, there is always someone who has to ruin a good time. At the Goodwill I shop at, there is a group of people that are there ALL the time. I think they take shifts gathering items. The rules are don't get in the bin while they are being placed, do they listen..NO. There has been more then once when I've been eyeballing something, they'll come up and when the GW employee isn't looking they'll snatch it out of the bin. If your not aggressive enough, they'll try to push their way in front of you if something catches their eye. I've learned to be aggressive right back.

There are alot of people at the outlet that have bad body odor. It's sometimes bad enough that I'm checking myself to make sure it's not me. I've decided they use this as a tactic to keep people away from the good stuff. Be prepared to smell funky people.

As I said in my last post, kids have no business at the outlet. First off, the place is dirty. I often see kids digging through the bins trying to get toys out. It's not uncommon to find broken glass in a bin and its very easy to get cut. I used to be nice to kids that were digging in the bins. If they were reaching for something I would help them or if they were in my way I would walk around them. Not anymore. I have money and I came to buy. If the kids are in my way, I just reach around, over, or through. If they have something in their hands, I just snatch it (just kidding). But, it is annoying to see unsupervised kids OR when parents let their young ones gum a toy that's been in the bin-yuck!

Lastly, be prepared to get a date. I'm not sure how often this happens to other people, but I can't count on one hand how many times someone has try to pick me up at the Goodwill. Usually, they'll make some comment about my looks, which I politely thank them for and tell them that my husband feels the same way. Usually they leave me alone at that point, but I have had someone ask me if I cheat on him.

Overall, the Goodwill is a good time. I think the more times you go there, the more comfortable you get with that place. There are some regular people that I see and we often have decent conversations while shopping. I absolutely love this store and I'm so glad that I gave it a second chance and went back after my initial visit. It's a junkers paradise!

Goodwill Outlet-The Facts

2011-08-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

(photo source)

I've had some questions and comments about the Goodwill Outlet, so I thought I would give my readers the lowdown on how the Goodwill Outlets work. You can search HERE to see if you have any in your area.

When they first opened a outlet in my area I was excited about checking it out. I was not reselling at the time, just a avid garage sale goer who loved a deal. My mom and I went one afternoon and it was confusing, overwhelming and crazy. We stayed about 10 minutes, left and I didn't go back for about a year and a half.

If you've never been to an outlet they might be confusing at first. Everything is thrown into rolling bins. I always associate shopping there to be similar to trash digging. It's definitely not for everyone. Gloves are recommended because you never know what you'll find laying in a bin. It's not surprising to find broken glass, something wet, or something else you don't want to accidentally touch. Pricing is based on the pound. Ours is .49 a pound for glass, .99 for shoes, and .69 for everything else. On the first Saturday of the month pricing goes to .29 for glass, .79 for shoes, and .49 for everything else.

Going to the outlet is not a in and out shopping experience. At our store they rotate the bins every 2 hours. When I go, I usually spend a minimum of 2 hours in there. It may only seem like you've been there 20 minutes, but its easy for an hour to fly by. Our store has 8 rows of 8 bins each and 2 rows of 4 bins each.

During rotation people line up along the edges where they push the bins in. You are not allowed to pull anything out of the bins until they have them in place. At our store, if you are seen grabbing something out, they'll call you out. When your all done shopping, head to the cash register. All stores I have been to have 2 scales. A large scale that you can roll your whole cart on or a smaller on that you can set your items on. The majority of the time, I just use the small scale and stack my items on there. You bag your own items, sometimes I do it right at the cash register, but they also have a 2 small areas that you can bag your items at. I highly recommend you leave your kids at home.

Tomorrow, I'll give you the keeping it real version of shopping at the Goodwill outlet.

Thrift Store Finds

2011-08-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

These are some items I thrifted last Wednesday from my favorite GoodWill outlet. Sorry, the picture is not the best, but I don't have the patience to stage a bunch of items unless its for an auction. I spent $3.00 on everything shown here. I have a full SuperWomen girls costume. This will probably end up as auction, as my girls want princess/girly dress up stuff. I discovered some American Girl animals. Never knew these exsisted, but seems to be a good resell market for them. I got 3 animals and a carrying case. I also got 5 Playskool Pal cars. Those are headed towards a consignment sale. I kept coming across these in the past and never picked them up, but going to try and sale them that route. Not much in the way of sales on Ebay. Found 2 sets of LeapFrog Leappad books with cartridges. It's hard to find complete sets of these in the GW bin. They get tossed all over, but these are going in my collection pile. Would like to collect at least 10 of these before I list. Lastly, I got 2 Thomas the Train Aquarium train pieces and some Thomas Take Along Track.

I also picked up a few puzzles for the kids and 2 small dolls that I don't know much about. Will research them eventually.

Linking up to Yard Sale Mommy, Her Library Adventures, Cherished Treasures,Southern Hospitality

Medela Breastpumps

2011-08-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

In the past, I haven't sold very much in the breastpump department, but there's a huge market for these items. Thankfully, I have served my time to this line of work and I'm fully retired. But, for the rest of those that are joining the force, they only want the best.

Medela is well known for their breastfeeding equipment. They have quality products out on the market, but they are pricey. With my second child, I bought a Medela Pump in Style backpack breastpump. My little greedy eater wanted nothing to do with a bottle, so it was hardly used. The story with number 3 isn't much different, so my pump made a better doorstop then a milk maker.

I personally think things sell better with the boxes. Even if its more used then the next item, people love to see boxes. I sold my pump locally on Craigslist a few years ago. I was just getting addicted to reselling and sold it in the box with all the extras stuff I could find laying around. The pump was originally $320. I paid $30 with insurance and I sold it for $150. I see breastpumps often at garage sales, but in the past it hasn't been a market I've dabbled in.

Recently I was helping a friend price her pump to sell on Ebay. Checking out the prices, these things go very well on Ebay. I personally would probably do a BIN, as some do occasionally go cheap, but overall there could be a good profit. HERE are the completed auctions. HERE, HERE, and HERE were a few higher priced ones that were used items.

Garage Sale Finds Part 2

2011-08-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

I had such great luck finding items for my oldest daughter at the free sale, that I was excited to get out and find some things to resell. I hit up the first community sale on my list that my sister told me about. I had found a pair of Keens at this community earlier in the summer for .50 that I sold for $31.00, so I was hoping to score at least one good item like that. When I got to the neighborhood, there was no sign of a community sale happening. In fact, I only saw 2 garage sale signs and the first one wasn't set up, so I decided to move on. I had trouble finding the second neighborhood. I left my GPS at home and was to lazy to look it up, so I headed to the 3rd neighborhood that was near my house.

I got there around 8:50 and people were just starting to drag stuff out. I stopped at 2 sales and it wasn't worth the extra gas it took to restart my car. At this point I was annoyed and over it, so decided I would drive over to the Goodwill Outlet. It opened at 9, I told my hubbie I would be home between 10 and 10:30, so he could go work. That gave me a solid hour to dig. After an hour of hunting I walked away spending less then $5.00.

The coat on the bottom is a Hannah Andersson coat. It's in excellent condition and would fit my oldest perfectly, but I scored her a really nice Columbia coat this summer, so I'll probably resell this in the fall. I also got 2 Wii games, Transformers DVD Season set, Sharks Tale DVD, Leapster case and game, Mark Anthony cds, Thomas Track, Graco Toys, Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Letters, Leap Frog Fridge Barn, Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Sun (already have letters to fit) Nintendo Game Boy Advance Case (already have a system to sell), Thomas Pj's and some Capri's for my oldest. Finding all this stuff for less then $5, made up for all the horrible sales that weren't happening.

Craigslist Playhouse Sale

2011-08-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

Not sure if everyone else agrees, but I think its harder to sell items on Craigslist in the summer, then winter. This summer I have hardly listed anything. A few weeks ago I listed this playhouse. The story behind me selling this playhouse motivated me to get top dollar. We got this playhouse 3 or 4 years ago from my ex-neighbors. They decided to let their house go and said we could have any of their play items in the back yard. The house was already sun faded and needed a good washing. We cleaned it up and my girls have enjoyed it every since. Our backyard is wooded, so we get a ton of bugs and spiders and my girls just weren't playing in that much.

A month ago, I finally got around to taking pictures of it. My husband said he didn't think I would get that much out of it. A family friend came over who dabbles in reselling and I was telling him I was going to sell it for $50 because I didn't want to clean it up. He told me I would be lucky to get $5.00. Don't ever tell me I can't sell something. Last week we bought a new playhouse for the girls. This motivated me to finally get the playhouse listed on Craigslist and 4 days later I got a email of someone who had a friend that wanted to buy it. They came the next day and bought it. Now, I probably really should have put this on the driveway and sprayed it out. They had to take it apart to take it with them and there were spiders running for their life. Needless to say, the girl that bought it was super happy about this house. Now, the best part of this story was that I sold it for $75.00. Of course, everyone was surprised that someone would pay this much, my husband, my family and the friend.

One thing I have learned about selling on Craigslist is to always start high. I usually settle on a price and then add a little extra to it, just to see if it will sell. It only takes 1 buyer!

Garage Sale Finds Part 1

2011-08-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

I was very excited at the chance of getting out for a few hours on Saturday morning. I must have been really looking forward to it because I woke up at 5:30am and couldn't go back to sleep. Had I known what a horrible yard sale weekend it was going to be, I would have went back to bed and laid there.

I had decided the night before I would hit up an advertised church clothing sale and 2-3 community sales. I went to the church sale first, arrived about 10 minutes before starting. I sat in my car until I saw someone else pull up and get out. I was very excited to see all the clothes they had. I found the girls section and immediately start browsing and making a stack. The pastor came up and introduced himself and said everything here is free and they would not take donations. I have a love/hate relationship with these types of sales. I think they are great for the community, especially for individuals that need them. On the other hand, my husband and I have been very blessed. God has provided for us our whole marriage and to this point we have never struggled. In a way I feel like I'm taking from someone else. But, I reminded myself that I didn't come to this sale expecting not to pay.

I kept browsing. They had a nice selection of items that would fit my oldest daughter. I got my bag full and headed over to look at the shoes. They had a big area filled with shoes. I found a few pair that would have been great to resell, but I only selected 1 pair that would fit my middle daughter. On my way out, I picked out a pair of jeans for me. I've been needing to change sizes, but to lazy to go out and buy new jeans, so this was a great chance for me to try a different size out.

I did see alot of items that would have been great to resell. But, I took only what I could truly use for my girls. The picture above shows what I selected. Some of my favorite items was a red plaid Ralph Lauren dress for my middle daughter and a Gap winter coat for my oldest daughter. I know this picture isn't the best, but it was take it then or it never would get taken.

Have you ever encountered one of these sales? If so, how do you feel about them? Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Saturday garage sale adventure.

Linked up to Yard Sale Mommy

Mary Kate and Ashley Video

2011-07-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Two summers ago, my lovely mother picked up a few Adventures of Mary Kate and Ashley videos. When it comes to movies, my girls are very censored in what they are allowed to watch and hear. I wasn't sure how these movies would work for us, but they were great. As an adult, I had to grit my teeth as my daughters watched them over and over and over. So, our collection of these movies started to grow.

At the beginning of this summer I picked up 10 of these movies for $2.00. Most of the movies were still brand new in the original shrink wrap. We weeded out the doubles and one that I didn't like. That left me with an auction of 4 movies. I believe I listed them at 9.99 with a BIN price of $12.99. Within 2 days my BIN pricing option was used.

Mary Kate and Ashely also put out a series called Your Invited. There are only a select few of these that we watch, as some of them are geared towards the tween age. They also have a collection of independent movies. Searching the completed auction does not show these movies as promosing. But, I will pick these up everytime and list them. I wouldn't start them as a low auction, but instead make the starting bid and the BIN price close. I think that offers you the most potential to sell them quickly and at a profit.

Smartphone Ebay App

2011-07-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

Last fall I decided that I was ready to upgrade to a smartphone to help me with my ebay findings. Up until that point I was calling my husband to look up items on Ebay. I was tired of calling him and he was tired of me calling, so it made sense.

My phone is a Android based phone. I only have 2 Ebay apps on my phone; Ebay's app and Pocket Auction. The Ebay app is nice to use when I'm out and want to check on my auctions. But, I rarely use it for searching auctions anymore. Instead, I use Pocket Auction. You can search current auctions listed, and you can also see completed auctions. The app has a few other functions, but I haven't messed with them. Having the ability to see the completed auctions has prevented me from buying items that probably wouldn't have sold. I've also found many cases where I looked up items on a fluke and have done very well with them.

What Ebay apps do you use on your phone? I would be interested in hearing about both Android and Iphone apps.

Webkinz-No Codes

2011-07-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

Around here, we LOVE Webkinz. In case you don't know what Webkinz are. You can purchase a stuffed animal at the store. I know Hallmark, Cracker Barrel, and Walgreens all sell them. There are many more places that sell them as well. Attached to each animal is a unique code. You can go to the Webkinz website and register your animal. There are all sorts of things you can do on the site (I just play the games) that are fun, but you have to care for you pet as well.

All summer long I keep seeing the stuffed animals at garage sales and at the Goodwill. Now, I"m anti stuffed animals, but especially used ones. But, apparently there is a decent market for them. HERE is a list of completed auctions. HERE and HERE were some decent money makers.

Health and Beauty Part 2

2011-07-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

Health and Beauty products can potentially sell well on Ebay. Here are a few items that I would consider reselling if I can come across them cheap. If you are a couponer, you can easily buy many of these products cheap. If you are not, I often come across garage sales where couponers are selling off their stock. It would be a good opportunity to bargain and round up a few lots. These are items that most people use daily.

Toothpaste: HERE
Toothbrush : HERE
Deodorant: HERE
Men's Replacement Razor Blades: HERE
Pantene Shampoo: HERE

This list could go on and on. Makeup, OTC medicine, baby care products are just a few more that have potential. Have you sold any health and beauty items? If so, what has sold well for you?

Menu Plan 7/25-7/31

2011-07-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

As much as I love reselling, family comes first. One way that I balance my family life and thrifting/reselling is menu planning. I love menu planning! I also LOVE trying new recipes and there is nothing better then sitting down at the dinner table with my husband and girls to a delicious meal. I like to thrift 1 to 2 evenings a week after my husband gets home from work. We also have dinner together before I head out, but if I don't have a plan, it throws our evening off and makes it harder for me to get out.

Here is my menu plan for the week. Most of these are new recipes from a new food blog I came across.

Monday- Slow Cooker Mexican Pork
Tuesday-Creamy Baked Ziti
Wednesday-Chicken and Noodles
Thursday-Potato Soup
Friday-Crescent Chicken
Saturday- Chili
Sunday-Creamy Chicken Soup

Linking up at Org Junkie MPM

Health and Beauty Products Part 1

2011-07-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

I have had great luck selling health and beauty products on Ebay. Everything I have listed in the past have created a nice profit for me. Items I have bought and sold have been purchased from the store, garage sales and thrift stores. The first thing I ever sold H&B was these blood pressure pills shown HERE. I bought some doing a coupon deal and then they sat in my closet for about a year. On a fluke, I looked them up and was amazed how well they sold. I also found some at a garage sale and did a trade with a couponing friend who had a stash of them. In lots of 2 & 3 they always sold for $40 or higher. A few other items I have sold can be found HERE, HERE and HERE. The make up I bought still in the package at a garage sale for .10. That is not my listing, but mine also sold for over $30.

Looking for other things health and beauty to sell. Stay tune for part 2 of this post for more ideas.

Crazy Summer Life

2011-07-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

These last and next few weeks around my house are crazy busy. My middle daughter turned 5 last week, so I was in full blown party planning mode. We had a nice party this weekend for her. Because of that and my husband work schedule, I've done zero thrifting till the day after her party, which I got some awesome stuff to post about later.

This weekend I'm having my first (and probably last) garage sale of the season. Usually a friend and I have one a few times during the summer months, but it just has not worked out for either one of us. Thanks to another friend who lives in a great location, I plan on utilizing her drive way this weekend. For the last few weeks I've been decluttering, boxing, and throwing stuff in my shed in anticipation. I hope to have a good post aboout what I made next week.

As if all this craziness wasn't enough, we start school in a few weeks. We are one of those homeschooling families, but I cheat. I do a program where my kids go to school 2 days a week and I homeschool 3. This year, I will homeschooling 2 kids. I'm excited, but I know the first few weeks (and months) will be busy trying to develop our routine.

Hopefully, I can keep to posting 3 to 4 times a week over the next month.

How I Ship First Class

2011-07-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

I love shipping first class. I personally hate paying shipping and first class keeps packages cheap. A few months ago, I changed the way I ship first class. I first read about using these envelopes on A Niche to Find by Handkerchief Gal. Before then, I always used padded envelopes which can get to be quiet expensive. Now I ship almost everything in the kraft envelopes shown below. I buy a box of 150 count 10x13 envelopes at my Sam's Club for less then $10.00.

I simple put my item in a clean plastic grocery bag, close the flap using the clasp and put one strip of tape over the flap that extends about an inch around the front. I've shipped toys, clothing, books and whatever else non fragile item that will fit. I've never had anyone complain about the packaging. When I'm creating a listing on Ebay, I almost always use the calculated shipping for pricing. Unless an item is very light, I put the weight in as the maximum 13 oz. Usually that makes shipping for the buyer 3.41. I am able to ship an item and usually have enough leftover to cover my paypal fees as well. If an item is going to be 10oz or higher I use a flat shipping cost of $3.95.

No Thrift Weekend & More Tomy

2011-07-08T05:17:00.000-07:00

It's Friday and I have no plans to thrift this weekend. I've already told my husband to tell me no when I mention wanting to head out. I have a nice stash here that needs to be listed. I've also decided to split my girls back up into seperate rooms, which means I'm losing my ebay room. So, I really need to focus on decluttering and not shopping. They've been doing great sharing the smallest room in our house, but I just feel like they need more space. Plus, it means I can move all of the toys from downstairs to their rooms.

Included in my stash of items to be listed it a big overflowing tub of Tomy stuff. Instead of listing one big lot, I've been breaking them down and sellling individual auctions. I've made around $28 off of .36 worth of merchandise, so its defintely been worth me breaking them up. Here are some examples of how I've been breaking them up. These are not my auctions, but ones that went even higher then what mine sold for. Check out HERE and HERE. With both of those items, I have multiple sets still waiting to be listed. I also plan on having my husband build something like THIS to see if it helps single tracks go higher. After a discussion with someone about these tracks, I plan on writing another post about how I break these lots up. If you find them out, its defintely worth picking them up. Especially the engines and cabooses.

Weekly Earnings

2011-07-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Now that summer is in full swing, my thrifting time is not happening all that much. My husband is super busy, so I only make weekend Goodwill trips on Saturday's and Sunday. However, this week was a pretty good week for me. I had decent auctions and a few good BIN, so I ended the week at $117.45. I have yet to enter some of my fees, but I should have cleared around $100.

My top seller last week was a set of Jarts. I learned about these off a blog a few years ago. I can't really remember the specifics of them, it was just one of the things I had in the back of my head. I came across a pair, listed them auction style with a BIN price and they sold in 5 hours. The buyer paid immediately and I shipped the following morning. Later that day, I got a notice from Ebay saying they had taken down my auction and that these are a recalled item. Apparently, they were recalled due to a safety issue. There were listings before I listed mine and I have seen listings since. These are a hot item, but unfortunately, you can't list them on Ebay. They are listed on Etsy, so you can see various listings there.

Weekly Earnings

2011-06-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I wasn't planning on earning anything. We got back from vacation Sunday and I started listing on Monday. To my surprise I had 3 BIN items sell and I earned $26.32 after fees. That's not alot, but it paid for all of my weekend thrifting which included personal items and resell items. I sold the book pictured below. I bought this about a month and a half ago and then it sat around. There were alot listed, so I wasn't expecting such a quick sell. But, it sold 5 hours after listing. I also sold some Mary Kate and Ashley video's, and a Geo Trax replacement controller.

Mr Potato Head

2011-06-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

I got the idea of selling Mr. Potato Head parts from my sister. She's been collecting them for her children and I figured there probably was a market for them thanks to Toy Story. I have been collecting them for a few weeks and once I get 100 pieces I will list them. HERE is a list of completed auctions. HERE and HERE are a few that did well.

Knex

2011-06-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I bought a small Kid Knex set for my oldest for Christmas. She has enjoyed playing with it, but it's the set had limited pieces. Recently, I discovered that my youngest enjoys them, so I've started collecting pieces. I always come by these pieces, but passed them up. I did a completed auction search to see what these go for. While, auctions are all over the places, I think big lots have the potenital to bring in decent returns. HERE is a list completed auctions. HERE, HERE and HERE (this one has high shipping for such light pieces. I bet it could have went higher had it been lower) are some auctions that ended well.

My Coke Rewards

2011-06-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

Our household does not drink much soda around here, so we rarely get Coke rewards. However, if you are a soda drinker and collect them here is a chance to earn some extra money off of them. HERE is a list of completed auctions for coke rewards.

House Beautiful

2011-06-25T03:00:00.001-07:00

Ever go to a garage sale with magazines and breeze right past them? Check out these lots of House Beautiful magazine that sold HERE and HERE. Have you sold used magazines? Which ones have sold well for you?

Pampers Gift to Grow Codes

2011-06-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote about Huggies Enjoy the Ride codes. Pampers also has a similar program where you can collect codes to redem for prizes. Looks like Huggies does a little better, but there are still alot of completed auctions for the Pampers points. You can check out the completed auctions HERE.

Huggies Enjoy the Ride Codes

2011-06-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Huggies has a reward program called Enjoy the Ride. You can find codes in packages of diapers and wipes. You can also find codes in varioius places online. While on vacation, a family memeber and fellow Ebayer gave me a envie full of points. She mentioned that she's never looked them up on Ebay, so I did almost immediately and was surprised how well they went. I'm not sure if I'll list these or add them to my account so I do have one with a bunch of points on there, but these codes are defintely listing worthy. HERE is a list of completed auctions. Check out these specific auctions HERE and HERE.

My First Non-Postive Feedback

2011-06-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

As a seller I always leave feedback after its left for me. I used to leave it as soon as payment was made, but then discovered I rarely got any feedback in return. I've also had a few problem customers that I'd rather not leave feedback for, so that was another reason I quit. Then there is this customer, that I'd rather not add a postive rating for because of the way the transaction was handled.

A few weeks ago I was checking my feedback. I try to stay up with leaving feedback as it come in. It's easier to leave 1 or 2 at a time, then 10 or 15. As I was checking my feedback I noticed that I had a netural. My first non postive feedback. I'm not upset that I received it, but the way the customer handled it. First, she waited 5 weeks to leave the feedback. Personally I think its a long time to wait to leave it if you are unhappy with an item and you have problems. She also NEVER contacted me. I would have been happy to give her at least a partial refund. I sent her a message apologizing, but never heard anything from her. She claimed that a hem was undone on a pair of capri. I'm not saying they weren't, but I check and recheck clothing before I sell it. I think a loose hem would be noticalble. But, it's very easy to miss defects. I've even sold items and second guess the way I wrote the description out. I think there is nothing worse then buying and item (clothing especially) and receiving it and not being happy with it. I'm not longer irritated at this person. I've moved on, I just wish people would communicate.

I've had a few other problems with selling. Thankfully, they all have turned out in my favor. Have you had any issues?

Hanna Andersson

2011-06-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

I'm back from vacation and eager to jump back into Ebay this week. I took about 3 weeks off and it was a nice break. Although I'll admit, I missed the fun of Ebay.

In the past I've listed and sold Hanna Andersson. It's a European company so be prepared to convert the sizing. I've sold a romper and a snowsuit in the past with a great profit. Both, of which I bought used, wore on my girls and then resold. For me, that makes profit even sweeter. HERE is a listing of some completed auctions. I just searched for girl items, so that you can get an idea of what the turn around is.

Ebay Vacation & Goals

2011-05-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

In a few weeks I'll be leaving for vacation. This was my planned last week of listings for ebay. I listed a few auctions on Tuesday, but decided that evening I was done listing till after we get back. I made sure my paypal account was stocked for my BIG bill this month (the biggest I've ever had). Last late September our family went on a big Disney vacation with my Ebay earnings. We are headed to Cape Cod in a few weeks for a vacation with my husband family which we have also paid for with my Ebay earnings. So what's next? When we come back my I will start my fund over. Most of it will start going towards paying debt off. We have a small amount that we would love to clear out in the next year. We are also planning another Disney vacation in the fall of 2012.

Since it will be a month till I start listing again here are a few goals I have over the next few weeks.

-Office clean out. Our office/Ebay room is the pits. I need to get it organized so that its usable as both and office, Ebay room and nap room.

-Stock. I do have some things to list the week I get back, but hoping to stock up on more items to sell over the next few weeks. My main focus will be on shoes, since those have been hot for me. I also hope to start building my inventory of non-clothing items. Clothing sells great, but it can also be hit or miss.

-Giveaway or Donate. I have a small pile of items that haven't sold or that I've bought and found defects on when I got home. I need to go through those items and decide what to do with them.

Sandals are HOT

2011-05-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

For the past week sandals have been a very hot seller for me. I've sold 3 pair in the last 24 hours from buyers using the BIN (Buy It Now) method. I also still have Clarks listed with bids, so that will be another pair selling this week. The brands that are selling well for me are Keen, Born, Teva, Dansko (thanks for the reader who plugged that brand), and Clarks. I've also sold some Born oxford/slip on type shoes in the past week as well. One was a BIN, other other was bidded out.

Are you selling shoes? What brands and types are selling well for you?

.05 Auctions Today Only

2011-05-24T04:56:00.000-07:00

Today 5/24, Ebay is having .05 auctions for any start price. If you are still using up your free listings for the month, then this will be effective after your free ones are gone.

Halter Dresses

2011-05-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

With my adventure in clothing sales, I've been picking up halter dresses as I find them and they have been a hot seller for me. I have not listed a huge amount, but every one I have listed has sold. American Eagle has been what I've been selling most, but other brands are selling as well.
Most of the sizes I have sold have been on the smaller sizes. They have ranged from 0-2, but I have sold a large size as well. I'm not overweight, but my frame doesn't accommodate a halter dress. Oh, how I would love to wear one, but I figure if I can't wear them, I can at least sell them. I also have had luck with spaghetti strap dresses as well. I've only sold those in smaller sizes.

Scrabble Tiles

2011-05-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

I was searching some other products when I came across an auction for Scrabble Tiles. They had a bid on them, so I did a quick search. I found a small amount of listings and the completed auction listing showed some past sales. I wouldn't say this is an item that will sell super quick, but I think I might collect some and try doing a BIN (Buy It Now) type listing. HERE, HERE and HERE are some past auctions.

Tea Collection

2011-05-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Tea is a brand of childrens clothing. I've been getting their catalog for a few years, but never have broke down and bought anything. Their clothes can be pricey, but they do run sales that make simple sets resonable. I first encountered them at a garage sale a few years ago. I got an adorable dress with matching bloomers set. I was to cheap to pay the $3.00 for it, but my mom loved the dress, so she bought it. I still have it and I've been debating on selling it.

I recently came across an article at the Goodwill I'm looking to list. Trying to figure out if its a dress or shirt, but I think I've decided its a dress, so hope to list it in the future. Check out this list of completed auctions HERE. Keep your eyes open at garage sales. The tags on the clothing usually just read Tea.

Thrifty Finds Part 2

2011-05-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

It's taken me all week, but I finally have the chance to get around to my last weekend scores just as the new weekend is here. I'm finding between my family life and all the listings I'm doing on Ebay, this blog has taken a back seat.

Last weekend, my friend and I stopped at this garage sale. It was later in the morning, but this lady still had a nice amount of clothing left. I was excited when I walked up because I say a Kelly's Kid catalogs out, but needless to say, there wasn't any of those brands. But, she had mostly Gymboree items, which are a hot seller. Even better, most items were priced at .50. I started weeding through what she had. Sets weren't together anymore and since it was the end of the day, alot of the items that were left had some spots or were showing some wear. By the time my friend and I got done, I rounded up $3.00 worth of items to resell. By this time, there was no other customers, so she offered us items for .25 a piece. Of course, we stuck around and shopped some more. I ended up buying 8 more items for $2.00.

The picture above is what I got. Most of the things I bought were Gymboree, but I did get Gap, Ralph Lauren and a new brand for me Kids by M.E. With everything I bought, I'm hoping to clear at least $50.00 profit from it. So, keep an eye out for those name brand kid items. Especially winter ones, buy now and list later.

Thrifty Finds Part 1

2011-05-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

What a great thrifting weekend I had. I started out with a friend late in the morning, but it paid off. Everyone was wheeling and dealing without much asking. After hitting up some yard sales for a few hours, I then headed over to Goodwill and spent a few hours in there. I scored some good finds in there as well.

The first sale we stopped at I hit big with Mary Kate and Ashley videos. My girls love these series and the ones they made when they were younger are an ~~annoying~~ sweet innocent video series. HERE is how they do on Ebay. I will be selling a few eventually, but most of them are staying with us. I got 10 videos for $2.00

Another sale we went to I was able to score some really nice Keds and a brand new Gymboree bathing suit. I offered .50 a piece for both items and the lady accepted it. Hoping to have a good turn around from those items.

One of my big finds of the morning was all the Mary Kay items shown in the picture. Not something I would usually shop for to resell, but that was one of the bargains of the morning. The lady offered the whole lot for $5.00. There is probably at least a couple hundred dollars retail worth of product. Come back tomorow to see some other deals I scored. What deals did you find?

Linked at Thrift Share Monday

Buy It Now

2011-05-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the inspiration from Mitzi over at A Niche to Find I started playing around with Buy It Now this week on Ebay. With the new changes, you get 50 free a month and I can say after 1 sale I am hooked. This week I listed some Graco toys that I paid .15 for. I've listed them in the past and they always sell. I started the auction price at 9.99 on Wednesday afternoon with a buy it now of 14.99 and they sold by Thursday morning.

Over the next few weeks I'm hoping to start listing more Buy It Now items. I love the potential of not waiting for 7 days for an auction to end. I personally would rather sell it slightly cheaper in order to turn it around faster. What is your experience with Buy It Now?

Thrifty Finds

2011-05-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

I've been a little slow about posting. We've been very busy around here and I haven't had time to sit down and post. What a great weekend for getting out. Despite the rain we had off and on, I headed out for a few trips and got some good stuff. I was able to get out for a few hours on Friday and Saturday to my favorite local Goodwill Outlet. I also took the kids out Saturday morning and hit up a few sales before the rain came in hard and my kids patience fizzled out.

Most of the items I bought at the Goodwill were clothing items and some Thomas tracks. My top find at Goodwill though was this Longaberger basket that is show in the picture. I only paid .63 I still can't believe I lucked into it. There were a few people standing right by it in front of the bin. They were busy looking at something else when I spotted the basket. I was hoping it would be what I thought it was, but doubted that it was just because a ton of other people had rummaged through the bin already and it was still sitting there. So, I causually reached over and grabbed it, held my breath and turned it over and there was the stamping. I was super happy.

I had 2 other top finds this weekend that I was happy with. The first was a Leapster, in a case with 4 games. They only had $5.00 on it. I love to bargain and almost asked if she would take less, but I sucked it up and paid for it. I'm letting my girls keep 3 of the games, but the rest I will sell off. I also got a pair of Keens for .50. These were marked $1.00 and certaintly worth it, but I did ask the lady if she would take .50 for them and she did. Very happy with my finds. How did you do?

Linked up at Thrift Share Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Flea Market Finds, MagPie Monday

Awana Vest

2011-05-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

This isn't a post about an item to resell. Although if you want to know what these sell for on Ebay you can check HERE. Defintely better to list these in the fall. Anyways, my kids do Awana's at our church. For those of you that don't know about it, I would describe it as a Vacation Bible School meets Boy/Girl Scouts. Kids memorize bible verses to receive pins and badges that they wear on this vest.

I have a list of things that I always keep of items our family could use. I never imagined I would come across this vest, but finally today I found it. These vest only cost us about $10.00 when we buy it from our church, but if I can find it cheaper, I'd like to. Today, was a success story that I didn't think would happen. The best part..it only set me back .11.

Happy Thrifting...

Graco Mix & Move Toys

2011-05-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

Graco has style of toys known as Mix and Move. I believe these were for older style swings, strollers and highchairs. Anytime I find these toys, I buy them. I usually can get between $5 and $10 per toy. I even have asked people at garage sales if they will sell them seperatly. Some of the toys will say Mix and Move, but I have come across some that don't.

When I did a search on Ebay, I couldn't find many auctions for these. Either they are becoming harder to find or people just are not listing them. I personally forgot about them until I recently came across 2 of them. HERE, HERE and HERE are a few completed auctions that I found.

Stockpiling for Fall & Winter Sales

2011-05-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Now is a fantastic time to start looking for winter items. I have always been a mom who shops for winter during the summer months, but now I keep a eye out for Ebay items. Right now I have a tote size stack in my closet ready to go to our storage barn to keep till fall.

One of the items I've been grabbing is winter coats. I look for brands such as Columbia, Gap, and Old Navy. Also, look for snowsuits. Complete sets are great, but even snow bottoms have sold well for me in the past. Winter boots, especially name brands such as Lands End, Columbia, Stride Rite are great. I've never really tried selling other brands, but I will probably give it a try this winter.

Another item to grab up is Halloween costumes. I start listing those in early September. I have had great success with those. I've even sold cheap Walmart ones and turned a decent profit. Children's Place and Old Navy are always popular as well.

Lastly, I know I've done a post on this, but homeschooling books. I always grab up Abeka items when I see them. I try to look for anything that is homeschool curriculum. Most of those items sell very well and I generally start listing those in July.

I know storage is probably a issue for most people. We recently got a storage barn, so I've claimed a corner. I also have a closet that I can store in. If those spaces aren't an option for you, think about under bed bags or totes. We have plastic containers that I keep playdoh and play food in. They slide perfectly under are bed and would probably hold a nice amount of shirts neatly folded. What about a relative or a friend with a bigger garage or storage barn? Perhaps, that would be a short term option.

What items do you pick up early? Do you have any good storage hints?

Thrifting Weekend

2011-05-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to get my first full garage sale hunting spree in. My hubbie had to work, so I ditched the kids with grandma and grandpa. I left my house about 7:15 and didn't get back home till around 5:30. We hit up 4 different communties. The sales were decent, but there was alot of driving in between houses. Some of my top items at garage sales were Robeez (I got 4 pair for $3.00) and some Janie and Jack items. Most were between .50 and $1.00. I also went to a church sale and got some Chico brand items to sell. They were at the end of the their sale, so everything was .25.

After the sale, we went to a new Goodwill outlet. If you have one of these in your area, you need to visit it. I spent $15.00, but I got a ton of clothing items to resell. I also picked up some Vintage Ray Ban sunglasses and a version of Windows XP to sell. I just need to figure out if this is still registered on someone else's computer.

Anyone else get good deals?

Listing Items

2011-04-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

Listing an item has to be the worst part of reselling. It's not that I mind doing it, its just the amount of time it takes to list. Since I recently started venturing into the world of clothing, listing has taken longer then previous items I've sold. About the time I started listing more clothes, I also changed the time that I list. I used to always be a night lister. I would start about 9 pm est and would work on it for about 2 hours.

Recently I switched to listing during the day. I usually put my kids down for naps between 1 and 2. After that I will take about an hour of their naptime to list whatever I can. Usually my goal is 10 items, but I try to quit after an hour so that I have time to do other things. If I take pictures of the clothing ahead of time it moves the process along alot faster. I also have started taking the pictures in our dining room. I have a wide open space, I lay a old curtain down and I can move through the clothing pretty quickly. Our office space is cramped and I just found out hard to move around which was time consuming. I do occasionally list at night, but during the day has been an awesome change. I thought changing to the day would mean no last minute bidders, but I have found not only have people bidded last minute, but more people are paying right away. I do sell on Craigslist as well, but I just do that whenever. It only takes 2 minutes to list a posting, so I can whip those out quickly.

How and when do you list items? Have you found a system that works for you?

Finding Resell Items

2011-04-27T05:21:00.000-07:00

Finding an item to resell is one of my favorite things to do. I love thrifting, but it can be very time consuming. I have a main store that I thrift at and it's awesome, but I ~~can't~~ don't take my kids to this store. It's very dirty, the bins have all sorts of things thrown into them and kids have no business in there. Plus, I'm usually in there for a few hours and it's not fair to them to have to just stand around while I shop. One way I deal with this is to go in the evening. If I go during the week, I go right after dinner. That gives us dinner as family time when my husband gets home. As the meal preparer, that means I need to have dinner ready to go when he walks in the door. One of the nice things about going in the evening is it limits the time I spend in the store. They rotate the items in and out of the store I go to, so if I go near closing time I can only stay for so long.

I've also been exploring more thrift stores and now that garage sale season is here I can take my kids along on that. My kids like tagging along to these types of places. I just try to keep their tolerence in mind in order to make it a happy trip for me and them. Usually food and letting them pick out a small inexpensive item helps further my shopping time, but when they are done I stop. Reading their cues is defintely most important.

How do you balance thrifting and family life?

Balancing Life with Reselling

2011-04-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest issues with reselling can be the time it takes. For me, its finding a good balance between the time spent on reselling and still managing my personal life which is most important. Here is a list of the steps I see in reselling.

Finding the item
Listing the items
Answering any questions that are sent
Preparing the item for shipping
Shipping the item

This week I plan on writing a few post that will address small changes I have been making to help my family life and still have time to resell. When it comes to family life I find that being organized and prepared can make life run smoother and easier. I'm the last person on the face of this earth that should write a post on being organized. I'm a messie at heart and have to make an effort to keep my act half way together. One of the things that has helped me is "scheduling" my time. I use timers daily in my life. If my kitchen needs a quick cleaning, I'll set the timer and work on it for 15 minutes. Even if I don't complete it, at least its in a better place then it was before. I also do this with my kids. If I think our day has been so busy and I feel like I haven't had quality sit down time with them, I'll set a timer and play one on one with each one of them. What do you do to help manage your time or accomplish the daily task?

Box Tops for Education

2011-04-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

Box Tops for Education have been a great seller for me in the past. I sell the ones I collect off boxes of food as well as the bonus certificates you can sometimes receive in the store. Most people don't even consider this to be an item that you can resell. I know some people look down or frown upon selling them, but you look at it from the point of view that they are paying for you time to collect, not the actual item. Plus, its most likely some great mom is buying them for their child's school contest.

When I have listed and sold these, most often they go at face value. HERE, HERE and HERE are some completed auctions.

Leap Frog Tag Book

2011-04-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

Leap Frog has a reading system called Tag. The system is comprised of a "pen" that a child moves across a page in a specially designed book. I've come across and sold the books a few times with a good return. You can see a list of completed lots HERE and a list that has some completed single books HERE. If you can find a grouping of 2 or 3 books, they resell for a pretty good price.

Boys Madras Shorts

2011-04-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Keep an eye out for Boys Madras (plaid) shorts. These seem to be very hot sellers. HERE is a listing for Gap brand and almost all the listings sold. HERE is the results for a generic completed search for these types of shorts. Most seem to be name brand and selling well.

Saturday Thrift

2011-04-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

I was very excited that this was going to be a big garage sale weekend for my area. Community sales are starting to pop up and the weather is getting warmer. But, when I woke up today..it was chilly, wet, and the sales were so so. I ended up only hitting 4 garage sales. The only resell item I walked away with was an Abeka homeschooling book which I will list later in the summer.

I had only planned on being out for a short time due to my husband work schedule. So, after not getting much from the yard sales, I called to see if I had time to visit my beloved Goodwill Outlet. I headed over there and she did not dissapoint. I spent about $5.50 there and got 5 clothing items to resell, and a bag full of gray Tomy Track and accessories, Geo Trax, and Take Along track.

How was your Saturday Thrifting?

Tomy Tracks

2011-04-15T06:33:00.000-07:00

I've written alot about Thomas the Train stuff on my blog. This stuff goes very well and for me its pretty easy to come by. Recently, I started collecting the blue Tomy Track. From what I read its an older style track. There are adapters out there that can connect this track with other Thomas plastic tracks. I have only been collecting my blue track for the last month. I currently have a little over 30 tracks saved up. My goal is to get between 75 and 100 before I list. HERE, HERE and HERE is a list of some completed auctions.

The last auction shows some gray track that I also recently found and picked up. I knew it was Thomas, but wasn't sure how it fit in the picture. Currently have 5 different Thomas collections going on, not including the train engines themselves. The blue Tomy track, the Take Along Track, 2 other sets of gray Thoma track and wooden tracks. Seriously, I need a little boy around here. He would be one happy camper.

Delivery Confirmation-Is it Worth It?

2011-04-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Up until I started shipping from home recently, I rarely purchased delivery confirmation. If something seemed a little fishy about a buyer I would get it, but most of the time I didn't bother. I really haven't had that many problems with customers in the past and if I did, they were easily resolved. Now that I ship from home you have to buy a delivery confirmation. They are very inexpensive and I have the cost built into my shipping. First class and Parcel post confirmations are only .19, while priority is free. Those rates are much cheaper then if you purchase them from the post office.

Recently, I had a customer claim that she didn't receive a package. Had I been shipping from the post office instead of home, I would not have had the confirmation. I would have eventually refunded her money. But, I had a confirmation, looked up the info and showed that it was delivered 2 days after I shipped it. I forwarded the info to the buyer, so they coud see it also. She kept stressing that she wanted her money back or the item, which I refuse to refund. I contacted ebay and they told me I was in the right because I had the confirmation. When you ship at home, your confirmation number is automatically linked with the package. Along the way, I was very polite with this woman. She threatened to open a case, which I told her that was fine. After a week, she "supposedly" talked to the mail carrier. They scanned it as delivered, but never did and it was sitting at the post office. She did leave me postive feedback, apologized, but still said I should have refunded her money.

So, is a delivery confirmation number worth it-YES. For me, its worth the extra money. It gives me peace of mind when a customer comes along and states they never received a package. I have proof that I not only shipped, but can tell whether it was delivered. On the example I gave above, had I not shipped using a DC, then I would have been out $17.00. Not alot of money, but not something I would want to do even every once in a while. I'm sure there are more seasoned sellers who would say a DC isn't neccessarly proof it was delivered, but for me, and my experience it was.

Kelly's Kids

2011-04-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Kelly's Kids is a brand of childrens's clothing. They also have clothes for the entire family that can be coordinated and matched. I've personally never sold any, but they seem to go well. Prices on ebay are all over the place, but selling prices seem to be good.

HERE is a completed auction list. HERE, HERE and HERE are some items that sold at decent prices. Notice that they have some items that look updated, while others look like an old style (at least to me).

Boy Scout Pants

2011-04-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

I'm often asked how do I know about the different things that I have sold successfully on ebay. I never have a clear answer because I really don't know myself. Most of the time its a hunch. I have kids, so I think I see what's popular and go from there. Other times when I'm researching products I want to list, I come across other items that I see going well. I have a pretty good memory, so I usually store it away and when/if I come across it it I snag it up.

Last week I was browsing Ebay for an item I was interested in selling. Along the way, I made my way onto a listing for Boy Scout pants. I was very impressed with what the items were selling for. Men's pants seem to be a hot seller. I don't know what the retail prices of these items cost, but if you can find some at a garage sale for a buck or 2, I think it would be a great turnaround. HERE is a list of completed auctions. HERE, HERE and HERE are some other ones that I thought sold well.

Kid Sale Results

2011-04-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

The kid sale I partcipated in this week was a great success. I had a friend that preshopped a few days before the sell and I had some preshoppers (other vendors), as we were setting up our booth. One thing nice about being a seller is you can shop everyone else's stuff before hand. Keep that in mind if you ever decide to sell. There were a few things I saw beforehand that I would have liked to have bought to resell. Some prices were to high, others I just didn't feel like messing with. I did pick up some Robeez for .50. Another vendor had some Robeez and Keds I was checking out. At the end of the sale, I asked her if she would go down on them. She told me to just take them, so I was happy.

With preshoppers and the actual sale, I sold $235 worth. Defintely my biggest kid sale ever. With what my friend whom I split the booth with sales and mine, we made around $311. I think overall we both were happy with our earnings. We rented a double booth, so our cost were $12.50 each. The booth size was 20x10. We went a little over on one side becasue it was a open area due to a door. My sister was in the booth next to us, so we had a tiny bit more room on that side. We had our bigger items (stroller, pack n play etc.) on that side (not pictured). We had a full booth and was really busy for the first few hours, after that it dwindled down. This year they did the sale for 2 hours longer and it was totally not worth it. Most of the people started packing up early.

Gymboree Jacket

2011-04-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

This jacket is a prime reason why I'm about to successfully rent a booth in a kid sale. I love to buy for my girls, especially cute name brand items for way less then retail. Did we need another size 6 coat? Probably not, but it will look really cute on my 4 year old next winter and it was only .44 cents. After that, I'll wear it on my now 3 year old and then resell it. Even if it only sold for $10, I will have made more then my initial cost, plus wore it on 2 kids.

I've talked about Gymboree in past post, but I can't stress enough how well this stuff sells for me. I've only had 1 item never sell and it was a little skimpy toddler bikini. There's no way I would ever put one on my girls, but that doesn't mean someone else would not. I only paid .50 for it and it was in great condition. I might relist it one more time before I throw it in my next garage sale.

Kid Stuff Sale

2011-04-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

While I love sellling on Ebay and Craigslist, I also love to have a host garage sale of my own. The only downside is that it cuts into my own garage sale hunting. Once or twice a year a friend and I host a few garage sales, as well as particpate in a kid "stuff" sale.
A kid "stuff" sale is one in which you can sell anything that is kid related. My friend and I usually rent a double booth for $25. We are provided with 2 tables, but we are free to bring in any extra tables. We will have a few hours to set up on Friday night and the sale is 9-2 on Saturday. This year the sale is 2 hours longer then normal, so I'm hoping we still get good traffic late in the day. I prefer these types of sell over consignment sales because I walk away with more of my money. Plus, I always have a good time selling my junk and chatting it up with other people. I also like that I can preshop "other" vendors and get the good stuff early. Last year I bought a huge lot of robeez and pedipeds off another seller for $16. I made a huge profit off those items.

As a mom of 3 girls, I always have a ton of clothes. My friend that is participating in the sale with me preshopped and bought $42 off of me today. Along with clothes I have shoes, a stroller, pack and play, baby gates, bumbo, and blankets. I also bought a few items from the thrift store to purposely sell here.

Selling Adult Clothing

2011-04-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks I've started to seek out adult clothing to sell. In the past I would buy adult clothing if I found it, but I would never actively look for it. I've sold 3 items in the last week and a half and have and 7 more items listed now. The brands I have sold included Dockers, American Eagle, and Express. I have more American Eagle items for sale this week and they seem as though they will be a top seller for me.

The thing I like about adult clothing is I have access to a huge selection for cheap. I only paid .18 for the American Eagle dress I bought last week. After fees and such, I will clear over $9 in profit. I'm not expecting to make that much off of every item, but I also cleared at least that on the other adult items I sold.

What I don't like about clothing is the amount of time it takes to list. Buying used clothing you really have to look the clothes over carefully. It's also a little harder to stage pictures. I'm hoping that I can get some body forms this summer to help with clothing. I've also been reading about selling clothing on different blogs, so I'm going to experiment more with my packaging. I prefer to ship it first class since its cheaper. But, buying padded envies can eat heavily into my profit. So, I'm actively searching out alternatives. At the end of April, I'll do a post on my adult clothing. I'll then decide if its worth selling or if I should just go back to the way I was doing it. With garage sale season coming up, I know I'll find even more name brand adult clothing to sell. Would love any comments on what brands sell best for you.