Monday, July 29, 2013

Thrift Store vs Garage Sale

When sourcing inventory to resell what do you prefer- thriftstore or garage sale?

I like the prices at garage sales vs.  the prices at the thrift store, but for this time in my life with my two littles, it's much easier to do my sourcing in one spot. My hubby works another job on the evenings and weekends so I can't have him take the kiddos for me so I can garage sale alone. My parents are 70 years old and already do daycare for me all week while I'm at my teaching job, so I don't ask them to watcht them, although I'm sure they would.  Little man is getting much better about going to garage sales and wants to go more often (usually because he wants to find new toys)  but with the baby, trying to get them both in and out all of the time is just too much.  So, for now I do my sourcing in thriftstores and usually just one visit one store on errand day (taking them in and out at multiple places anywhere is a lot of work!~)

Once I start my new job I will already be in town so I am planning on stopping a few days a week on my way home and doing a quick trip around the store before I pick up the kiddos.

Other places that work well for ebay moms with small kids:
online sourcing
large garage sales- like whole neighborhoods where you can walk to several and take the kids in a stroller or wagon (just don't buy too much!)
look around your home
ask friends and family for things they don't need anymore
if you work outside of the home, try to source on your lunch break
find another mom you could take with you (one watches the kids, while the other shops) or swap daycare, you watch her kids one day while she runs errands, she watches you kids while you run errands
pick the 3 most promising garage sales before you head at in the morning, and go to those. bring lots of drinks, snacks, and things to keep the kiddos busy (my son's ipad is a great distraction for a while- I usually get a new app (free one) before we go out so he has something new to occupy them.



Friday, July 26, 2013

BOLO- TV Plug in Games

I puchased this at goodwill at the beginning of the summer for 1.99.  It is a Ms. Pac-Man game that you can plug in and play various games on your tv.  
I listed it a few weeks ago and it sold today for 32.95 plus shipping. I have sold several of these types of games over the last few years.  I have the best luck selling it on Etsy and mostly to international buyers. But I've also seen them for a good price on Amazon. I just didn't want to bother with sending them in FBA.  Just make sure to test them before you list them to make sure they work. That's one job I can get little man to do for me!

BTW: please excuse the horrible picture. I was in a hurry to get some things listed that day and this really is no excuse for a picture!  

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Craigslist- I'm beginning to like it!

I've tried Craigslist before and haven't had very good luck. I live out in the boonies and list most items in the summer when I have more time to meet people. But I don't feel very comfortable having them come to my house because there is no one else around most of the time.

So, if I sell something on craigslist I usually have to drive about 45 minutes to meet someone on my "town" day. But it seems that my buyers never want to meet on days/times that I am already in town.

Due to all of the complications of meeting people I kinda gave up until this summer.

In the past month I have had good luck with Craigslist. I listed a house that we have for rent and got about 40 responses just from the online ad. Unfortunately I drove in about 10 times to meet people and they didn't show- so annoying!  But I was able to sell two children's chairs that were garage sale leftovers. I originally paid  $ 2 for each of them, and was able to sell them for $25.  I also sold some old milk crates that I got a few years ago for $10 each.  I sold 5 of them at our garage sale for $20 each, I sold 2 on etsy for $45 each and I sold the remaining 5 for $150 on Craigslist. I also kept one for myself to put my vinyl rolls in.

Now that our house in rented I am getting ready to list several more things the renter left behind. We had to evict her for non-payment, and she left us with so much damage to the house that it's taken a year to getit fixed up again, so I'm happy to get any money back that we can.

I'll let you know how those sales go.

I'd be curious to know how selling on Craigslist goes for you.  Do you have a lot of no shows?

Monday, July 22, 2013

Don't be afraid to ask

Excuse the horrible picture, it's from the early days and I need to retake it.
I've had this pitcher in my store for over a year. I haven't been able to find it's maker or any other information about it.  I listed it anyway and said I wasn't sure what kind of pitcher it was, or who the maker was.  I asked anyone who read my listing to let me know if they knew something more about it.

I got this email thru ebay today:

Hi - I have one, and I've seen listings that ascribe this pitcher/batter jug to Monmouth.



I love it when someone steps up to give you information, offer advice. etc The online community can really be helpful if you ask!




Friday, July 19, 2013

BOLO ~ Be on the lookout for~

I'm hoping to start a new Friday posting.  I will do my best to post a BOLO.

Here is my BOLO for this week~

Does anybody remember Pillow People like I do?  I had the blonde one in the pink dress, like this.
So, when I was out garage saling with my precious 4 year old a few weeks ago (he wanted to go garage saling and then bowling for his birthday. So Sweet!) and found a sweet little pillow person for $1, I trusted my gut and went for it.  Things from my childhood seem to be good sellers right now, but I was still surprised  when I looked it up and found. . . .

 My sweet little pillow person needs a good bath and has a few flaws- like a small paint splatter on the back. But I'm still going to list it high with a Best Offer. 

 I usually don't look things up on my phone while I am at the garage sale. I either go to my car or risk it. 
My advice, trust your gut, and keep your eyes peeled for pillow people! 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

New Ebay Coupon Policy- What a bummer!

I was sad to get the email from ebay today concerning the restrictions on listing coupons.
Here is an excerpt:
  • Sellers can only sell up to a maximum of $100 value in coupons or 25 valid, unexpired, original coupons per month, whichever limit is reached first. (The 25 coupons limit includes multiple coupons purchased from a multi-quantity listing.)
  • Coupons for "free" products—including coupons where the coupon holder buys some quantity of items at one price and gets some number of items for free, for example, "buy-get-one-free" offers, or offers for free shipping—may no longer be sold on eBay.
  • Starting September 1, 2013, listings for these coupons that don't comply with these policy changes will be removed. After September 1, listings in violation of this policy may be subject to a range of other actions, including restrictions of buying and selling privileges and a suspension of your account.
I've had good luck selling the formula check coupons that I've been getting in the mail. I don't personally sell over $25 a month, but I am a couponer and have a stockpile and I am sad that I can't get buy one get one free coupons anymore. I am all in favor of everybody getting good deals on stuff, but I am not one of those people who get stuff for free just to get stuff for free. I worried when all of those couponing shows went on TV, that manufactorer's might start changing things.  I think this also shows how you shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket. If the majority of your sales depended on coupons you might be in trouble.

How about you, do you sell coupons? 

Monday, July 15, 2013

How to find time for ebay with 2 small children

I was fortunate enough to be able to take maternity leave from March until the end of the school year with the arrival of our new little one. After the complications for both baby and I, I am so glad I did.

Once little one got into somewhat of a pattern I worked on getting a schedule that will allow for me to use my time "off" to it's best advantage. Since I am at home right now, and am having to take $300 off of each of my normal summer paychecks to cover the 5 extra days I needed for maternity leave, Hubby feels that I should have the house all clean and the laundry done, dinner on the table, etc. I am fine with this as I feel that my job is taking care of our home and our kids right now. But I must confess, and as you probably can guess from the pictures I've shown you of my ebay space, housekeeping is not my strong point. But I am working on it.

I always wonder how other ebayers shedule their days to be the most productive and still get things done around the house that they need to.

This is the schedule we have been running off of for about a month and it's working pretty well. But, let me forewarn you, I'm running on not much sleep right now, especially since little one lost so much weight from being sick and we are having to basically force feed her to help her gain the weight back. So, I am feeding her more often than 3 month olds might usually do. And in case this is your first time here, I have a four year old and a 3 month old.

5:00 am - 7:00 Feed baby, little one up (7) , breakfast,
7:00-9:00 free play time for little man, baby play time/tummy time, nap, Mommy start load of laundry/fold 1 basket of laundry, empty dishwasher, meds/vitamins/brush teeth for little man, sweep entryway/kitchen/
other chores as needed, check email, put dinner in crockpot or start thawing meal from once a month cooking
9:00-9:30 Feed Baby
9:30-10:00 outside play time for little man, nap for baby and Mommy sometimes sits at table checking email, or listing while watching little man play, or Mommy and baby play with little man
10-11 Little Man "school time"/snack (Hey, I'm a teacher, I can't help myself, we usually work on reviewing rhyming, letters, and some beginning reading as well as a math everyday and once or twice a week a science of social studies activity. He begs me for it, otherwise I wouldn't force him to do it. And I use a lot of ideas and supplies from my supply of teacher stuff, so I don't spend a lot of time making new things just for him)
11-12 little man free play time baby playtime or nap, mommy house chores and getting lunch ready
12-1:00 mommy and little man lunch
1:00 little man quiet reading or craft time, feed baby
1:45 little man nap time, baby play time, mommy (phone calls, bill paying, book keeping, homework)
2:30-4:00 mommy ebay time usually photographing or packing orders, baby nap
4:00 or so, little man up, tv time, mommy/little man time/ start dinner, baby still napping
5:00 feed baby
5:30-7:00 Daddy's home (only M and W, he has a welding business and lawn mowing business on the side so he works extra the other nights) Family dinner, then Daddy time with kiddos, Mommy out to shop to work
8:00 bed time for little man
9:00 mommy back inside to feed baby
10:00-2 am mommy ebay time
2 am- Feed Baby/ then mommy to sleep
5 am Start all over again (hopefully baby sleeps until then, otherwise Daddy gets up and takes care of her until 5)

I don't think that I could keep this schedule forever, but once baby is able to sleep thru the night again, I could stay up until 1 am or so and get back up at 5am and be good. If I get really tired I will occassionally take an hour or so nap when the kiddos do. I am really motivated to get my online thing really going, so for right now I don't mind missing some sleep.

What does your schedule look like?  Do you work full time at home, or outside of the home?  Please share, I'd love to see how you make it all work!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Fastest Sale Yet (BOLO)

Paid $3.99 for this Paradise Found men's shirt at Goodwill, about 6-9 months ago (I am busy trying to get thru my many piles and get things listed) After some research and looking at completeds for the same shirt design decided to list it at $24.99, even though it was a men's small.
 
Sold at full price in less than 20 minutes!  Already paid for and ready to go out!  Gotta love that!

If you find a Paradise Found shirt, my advice is to buy it! This is a brand made popular in the 1980's by Tom Selleck and the tv show Magnum PI.  If you can find a shirt design that he actually wore, and a picture of him in the shirt, you can get up to $100.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

A picture is worth a thousand words

A few weeks back I was working on editing my photos and getting very frustrated with the quality and the lighting of my photos even after I edited them.  I have 3 overhead lights in my ebay room, and white walls, but no natural light. So I was using a double headed shop light I got at big lots for $25 for my "photo" lighting and it wasn't working so well. It looked like this, but had a taller stand so it was off the ground.
I was getting too many shadows and it was hard to take the photos standing directly behind it. 
Here's an example of one of my photos, before editing it 


another photo after editing
not that bad, but not great either. 

So I finally decided to bite the bullet and get a good lighting set. I figured the time I spent trying to doctor up the old photos would be saved and I would be able to make more money by listing more. 

So I ordered these on Amazon for only $45. 
Can I just say, why didn't I do this sooner?  Not that much more money, used my prime membership and got them within two days or ordering. They were very easy to put together and are already saving me so much time! 

I think that photos are the most important thing for your listing. They give the buyer the information they need so much more than the words, because as we all know, most buyers don't read the listing very well anyway. 
My advice if you are holding off on getting good photo lighting, just do it, you'll be so happy you did! 

Photo I took just now, without any editing, using just my new photo lighting.

Let there be light!




Monday, July 8, 2013

BOLO: Leap Frog Toys

As a kindergarten teacher and a mom to young children, I love Leap Frog products! So when I saw this fridge barn, similar to one my son has and loves, for $2.00 at a garage sale I scooped it up right away.

I listed it Best Offer for $24 and free shipping on 7/8/2013 at 4:00. I received an offer for it on 7/8/13 at 4:15. for $20. SOLD!

I already had another one ready to list as soon as this one sold. I picked it up at the thrift store in their bagged section for $1.99 and 10% off. Hopefully this one sells just as fast. Do your research and I bet you'll find some other leap frog toys that will give you a good return on investment.  And if you get home to find that your barn no longer sings, no worries!  Just sell the extra animals. Every kid loses one or more under the fridge and mom would love to get a replacement! 

Happy Hunting!
Melissa

Friday, July 5, 2013

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth

Home of the free, because of the brave.



Thank you to all of you and your families who have served, or who presently serve to keep our homeland safe.

Be sure to shop these American finds and support small handmade businesses. Isn't that what America is all about?

Distressed Patriotic/American Flag Baseballs - Americana - Red, White & Blue


Patriotic american flag with words for stripes and stars 8 x 10

Patriotic Vintage Gasoline Cans


Hope you have a fun and safe 4th of July!



Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Recent Thrifting Treasures

I've been busy thrifting and listing, here are a few of my favorite recent finds.

1980's wrap style dress, Goodwill outlet, probably about .25 (gotta love paying by the pound!)

I got a set of 7 of these idea/pattern books for knitting, sewing, crochet, needlework, there are some very cool vintage patterns in them!

The next two pictures are of some Target Home Brand plates and bowls I picked up for .49 each. There were multiples of them and they are both already sold (within a week of listing!)  I always pick up Target Home Brand dishes when they are at a good price. I've sold everyone I've purchased.

I was happy to find these Waterford Crystal dishes at my favorite local thrift dive (its in the scary part of town and always a little grungy, but all of their clothing is only .99!) I got 2 of these plate/bowls that had the original retail price sticker of $104.00, for $1.00 each. They sold the day after lsiting them for a best offer of $40, plus shipping.  I could have held out for more, but was happy to make a quick flip.
I found several of these beautiful red plates.  I haven't had any luck finding a maker or pattern name on them, but listed them anyway. If you know something about them please let me know~!
and finally, excuse the bad picture, but here is a plug and play Ms. Pac-Man game for your tv. I have had really good luck selling these internationally. I paid $1 each for three different games and listed this one last night. We'll see how long they take to sell.


I have also been able to ship about 25 boxes to FBA Amazon. I try to get most of my christmas inventory to Amazon before July, since I am a teacher and things get a little busy for me in August and September. :)  Hopefully all that hard work will pay off  in a few months! 

Interested in something you see here?  Be sure to stop by my etsy or ebay store.  

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Life unexpected

Well dear thrifty friends, let me tell you what a curveball life has thrown me lately.
Here is a quick recap of my life since March.
March 20th- baby girl born via c section, serious complications to follow for me
April 9th- I get a call from my school where I have taught kindergarten (my only teaching job, ever)  for 9 years, and am informed I will be moving to 3rd grade (say what !?!)
April 19th, baby girl hospitalized with the flu
May 17th Baby girl has the flu again, along with mommy, daddy, 3 yr old brother (who threw up in the middle of his preschool program) granny, grandpy and uncle
May-10th I decide to start looking for a different job
May 17th-30th- job interviewing and packing up 9 years worth of kindergarten teaching stuff - it took 9 truck loads to get it all out!
End of May, I have a new job teaching kindergarten in a different district, but now have trainings and lots of meetings to attend- so long to maternity leave,
 also baby girl has not regained weight she lost after the flu, and continues to lose weight (1-2 ounces every couple of days!)
Beginning of June, baby girl visits doctor every few days, several visits to children's hospital and lots of tests
End of June Baby girl has one more chance to gain weight or admitted to hospital. . .  she gained 11 ounces in 4 days! looks like just the lingering effects from the flu

It has been a very emotional and trying time. There were many days I just sat and cried all day long. I know it was partly the hormones and lack of sleep. But I had not ever planned on leaving my old school until I retired, but obviously God has other plans for me, and I guess it took something drastic to get me to move from where I was.

Things have calmed down finally.
Baby girl is finally doing fine and has gained weight 2 weeks in a row, she weighs 12 pounds right now, but should be at 15 or 16, so we continue several feedings all night long, even though we basically have to force her to eat.

I cannot tell you how grateful I was to have my online selling. I was fully prepared to make selling online work as my full time job if need be even as the hospital bills that neither my regular insurance or our gap insurance will cover. There were also days that listing felt like the only thing I could have control over in my life. I knew that I could list and that would translate into money for my family. I am so sad that my maternity leave was taken away from me with stress and almost 3 weeks of packing, interviewing, etc. I just wanted to be home with my kiddos and enjoy them for the few months that I could before having to return to work.

So, please forgive me for being absent lately. Also, I would really appreciate a pep talk for those of you who have been able to quit your day job to stay home with your kiddos. I know that there are moms out there who do it, but my hubby doesn't seem to think that it can be done. I have 22 days until I return to work at my new district. Please, tell me your story in the comment section, I would love to hear it!

I'm back......

Whoa Friends, has it been a long time! Hard to believe my last post was over 3 years ago- but here I am. A few things have changed- I am now...