Dear Neighbor (a note from your sarcastic online seller)

A form letter for my selling friends- (You're welcome)

Dear _______________ (insert word of your choice) neighbor, friend, church member, family member:

Yes, I sell on Ebay.

No, I don't want to sell your stuff for you, I have my own stuff, and lots of it, thank you.(and it will actually sell for some money) 

Oh, you have bunches of very collectible ____________? (beanie babies, dolls, plates, As seen on TV items) 

Ummm, again, thanks, but no thanks.

Oh, you want me to teach you how to sell on ebay? (ie: list stuff for you for free and then give you all of the money)

I think they have lots of books at the library about that, or maybe you could look on youtube. There might be something there. 

Good luck with that.

Sincerely,

Your local ebay seller, who wishes just to be left alone to sell his/her own stuff. 

Things you (might) not know about me on my 38th birthday

Alright, I'm going to try my best to come up with 38 new things to post on my birthday this year. We'll see if I can do it. You can see my birthday post from last year here. 

1. I cannot stand for anyone to touch my belly button- which was tough when I was teaching and pregnant, as my inside out belly button was right at my students eye level. I finally figured out cotton make up remover pads and a little tape would cover it perfectly. 
2. I still have trouble reading a tape measure. I can do full inches, and 1/2 inches, after that it gets a little fuzzy. 
3. I didn't figure out how to tell time on an analog clock until I was in 8th grade
4. Math is not my thing (see 2 & 3)
5. Mornings always start with coffee- homemade iced mocha frappucino to be exact (even if it's cold)
6. Recently hubby and I have really been working on losing weight and eating healthier. I am down to one soda a week (cherry coke) when I go to town to run errands and source (just about my only treat) When things were really bad (depression) I was drinking 6-8 a day. ( I know so bad!) I have lost 30 pounds in the last 3 months, which is my half way goal. 
7. City or Country (country but not as country as where I live right now)
8. dog or cat- cat, but really I'd prefer a bunny- I used to have a classroom rabbit named Wilbur. He had the cutest floppy ears and calico design. Sadly, we only have a fish right now, hubby is allergic to everything else. 
9. Matching furniture vs mismatched furniture- I'd prefer mismatched- preferably all found free on the side of the road at different times
10. I don't eat anything spicy- at all- big red gum is too spicy for me- seriously
11. I don't like it when people pop bubble wrap
12. Sometimes I wonder why everyone in the whole world doesn't just quit their jobs and sell on Amazon and Ebay- I just love my job- I think it's the worlds best kept secret that I can sit in my recliner, in my pjs, watching netflix and drinking coffee while my children play around me and make a living- truly a miracle! 
12. I worry sometimes- ok- a lot- about how my hubby will be doing in a few years- if he will still be able to work and take care of himself- I am fearing that I am possibly seeing some early onset alzheimer's type symptoms starting to appear- which can be common with Traumatic Brain Injury- It's hard to realize that how you thought your life would be isn't how it's going to turn out.
13. I don't like craigslist- we live too far and it's too much work trying to meet people's schedules and then they don't show up
14. I haven't been thrift shopping in 4 months- I am having withdrawls, but I am being a good girl! 
15. I'd never held a baby or changed a diaper until my son was born. Other people's babies freak me out. mine on the other hand, I'll hold all day! 
16. The chore I hate the most- unloading the dishwasher
17. the chore I like the most- loading the washing machine
18. Since I've become a stay at home mom I've discovered that I really like to cook, it makes me happy to cook things from scratch for my family. This is from a person who cooked dry beans in the crockpot for 2 days trying to make something for my hubby, only to discover that you need to soak them overnight. Hubby still tells everyone about the time my beans broke his teeth! 
19. Beach or forest- beach, but I can never really afford to go there- so Forest is where I go the most
20. Favorite childhood book: There's a monster at the end of this book- with Grover
21. My children still use my little table and chair set my parent's got for me when I was a child, my daughter's baby dolls sleep in the wooden cradle my uncle made for me, I might hoard things, but we did use them later on.
22. I don't understand why people collect: spoons, thimbles, plates, Barbie Dolls
23. I think I might have a canning addiction. My hands are still orange from the 50 lbs of carrots I canned last week
24. My favorite thing to do from my childhood is roller skate-but we have no rinks where we live. 
25. I have broken one bone- in my arm- b/c my brother pushed me down the driveway of the local firehouse (we were there because my dad was a volunteer fireman for over 35 years and he was out on a call.  
26. favorite wild animal- monkey
27. dream car -12 person passenger van- I really tried to talk my hubby into it, but he said no. Even when I tried to tell him how much inventory I could fit into it!
28. Only class I ever flunked in school- Weight lifting (they made us take it) I weighed 80 pounds then and the bar alone was 45lbs, and he wanted me to bench press it with weights on it. That was more than half my weight! 
29. I've never been to Hawaii, it's my goal to get there soon!
30. Hubby and I will be married 10 years this summer- the day after my baby boy turns 7!
31. I liked my long hair, but I never could do cool pintrest things with it and it always just looked like a mess, so it's shoulder length now
32.I'm very excited that we might be getting some chickens soon!
33. Google Drive scares me- I can't ever tell what people see from my drive- somehow my stepdaughter was able to see my very huge pregnancy photos, I never wanted anyone to have to see those again! 
34. If my hubby didn't have his TBI and more children wouldn't be more stressful to him, I would totally adopt a couple more
35. I would really like to home school my children, but my hubby is really against it. 
36. most annoying thing- when people talk when you are trying to talk (or when people are talking to you and you are trying to listen- like church or a lecture)
37. if I could I would wear only moccasins, everyday, all occasions, all weather, all outfits 
38.If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be a stay at home mom, selling on ebay/amazon, with three kids, a granddaughter, a hubby with a TBI and writing a blog about selling, I'd think you were crazy, but look, here I am! (and I'm glad) 

What sold this week on Amazon/Etsy/Ebay

Here are some of my best sales for the week:

Amazon has been really slow this week. Two reasons- I haven't sent anything new to FBA in almost 2 weeks. I have been working every spare second on getting my shop all cleaned out and organized and it is getting seriously close now. I can't wait!

Mostly what I sold was bundled items, and since I created them myself and most are replenishable, I'm not going to share them at this time. Sorry!


Ebay:  Steady with at least 5-10 sales everyday. I have been working on listing or scheduling 10 items a day which has been helping with sales.

I haven't been looking for new wallpaper rolls in a while, but sales have really picked up on them again, so you can bet I will be looking for them in the future (when my rehaul project is complete)
paid .50 a roll, sold 3 at 9.95 each and then 5 minutes later sold the other 4 to a different person

Exotic Bamboo Korea lot of 4 Salad Fork Flatware stainless steel  
paid .20 sold for $14.95

 Pepe Le Pew Large Mug Shot Coffee Tea Mug 30 oz 1997 red white black
paid $1.99, sold for $40.00 plus $44.00 shipping to the Netherlands

Vintage R. Dakin Koala Puppet Plush Animal tan 1979 Stuffed Animal Zoo Australia

paid $2.99, sold for $45.00 plus shipping

Etsy- I listed a few things here and there and revised some items. I sold one item that I had already sold on Ebay, so I had to refund. I hate it when that happens (which honestly, has only been 1-2 times since I started selling) I've been listing a few things here and there and have been changing the pricing on some of my items and sales have picked up a lot!


This sold while I was writing this blog post:

Vintage 1960's Pyramid White Mica 4 Unbreakable Santa's Boots Original

paid $1.99, sold for 14.95 (these have been around since I first went full time, Summer 2014)

Ceramic Blue and White Measuring spoons set accessories kitchen baking paid .49 at hobby store 90% off clearance sale (and used my gift cards I get from my credit card from there, so free to me!) and sold for $19.95 and shipping. In a funny side story about these spoons, I had another set that I sold  in January and when I went to pack them up I realized that I had sold them to my sister in law! She didn't know and I didn't either until I read the name on the shipping label. I hand delivered them down the road for free and refunded her shipping cost- I guess it is a small world after all! 

Mary and Baby Jesus Religious White Statue with Gold crowns Germany GDEP 7487 10"

This was in one of my rehaul boxes. I've had it for over 4 years and never listed it. It took less than 6 months to sell. 

As I was writing this post I also noticed that my feedback is now up to 

and 100% positive feedback. WOOHOO! 

Let me know in the comments, what did you sell this week? Have you ever sold to a family member or someone you know without them knowing it?

The Re-haul: Post 1

I've decided that for a while I have too much! unlisted inventory. I would like to gain control of my work space again, which means I need to put a halt to buying new stuff (I will try my hardest!)

Instead of showing you what I've just purchased to sell, I'm going to go into my shop and choose a box, bin or bag. Then I will show you what I purchased some other time to sell and never got listed. Then I'm going to list it, box it up and put it away in the listed inventory area until everything sells (which hopefully won't be long at all!) I'll do my best to keep you updated as items sell. It should be interesting to see how long it takes these items to sell vs long they have been sitting unlisted.
Here's my rehaul for this week:

Vintage Fisher Price See 'n Say- Works 

paid $1.00, listed for $18.00 (OBO)

*Update Sold in 3 days 

 for $18.00 plus $22.00 for International Shipping to Chile

Bodum Starbucks French Press 2 cup, paid $1.99 listed for $20.00 (OBO)

Vintage No Spill Commuter Coffee Cup paid $1.00, listed for $29.95 (OBO) 

*sold on etsy June for full price

Palmer's Olive Butter Formula Lotion 12 fl ox (Price Tanked at Amazon) 

paid $2 listed for $ 10 (OBO) x 2

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula for Men 12 fl oz (Price Tank at Amazon) 

paid $2 listed for $10 (OCO) x 2

Sold 1 in April for full price

Native American Air Freshener Doll- I looked this up on Amazon and decided to sell it there instead. 

Paid .50, listed Amazon FBA for 21.95 

Marvin the Martian Stuffed Toy- Draft Blocker? Weighted paid $1.99, listed for $39.95

Born Women's Size US 6 Wool Blanket & Leather Slip On Shoes / Clogs

paid $4.99, listed for $39.95, OBO

Winnie the Pooh Chime Ball toy Plush paid .99, listed for $24.95 OBO

Faberware Classic Series Self Pulling Corkscrew (Amazon Price Tank) 

paid $2.99 listed for $14.95 (OBO) 

*sold on Amazon April (full price)

Fiskars Tool Taxi Scrapbook/Paper Craft tool NIP 6 in 1

free from my mom, listed for $10.00 (OBO)

Vintage Round tin Greek Design- free from garage sale listed for $ 20 (OBO)

That's it for this banker box. Took me about an hour to list it and 10 minutes to photograph it. I only have about 100 more to go (not kidding) Go me!

Here's the Grand Plan- Getting Organized

Here's my Grand Plan to Overhaul My Warehouse/Workshop Building

I have been really blessed that I have this wonderful work space for my business. I know a lot of people work out of their basement or a closet in their house, so I truly feel lucky to have the space I have. But, I have not been using it to the best of it's ability!  It hasn't been helping me progress my business and get more inventory listed and sent in. And, I'm really tired of dealing with the mess of it all! I want an efficient, clutter free space that I'm not embarrassed to have someone see. I want a place I look forward to going and doesn't involve me moving something and causing a daily inventory avalanche (true story!)

You can see my final plan in the graphic above (although not to scale!)

So, I really busted my butt last week to get the house all tidied up for (not so) baby girl's birthday party. I'm really working hard on keeping it that way. It's nice to finally have all of my inventory and supplies out in my shop and not have to carry things back and forth and work from the coffee table all of the time. Since my hubby got my heater installed it's been much easier to work out there.

On the downside, I had to haul all of my inventory back out to my shop and it has taken things over! I just don't have a place to put it. Bags of inventory just don't stack very well.

I'm not going to do the usual decluttering (I tried it, it just isn't for me!) that everyone has been talking about. Instead, my plan is to FBA the clutter away, as much as I can anyway. The rest will be sorted into either banker boxes (unlisted ebay inventory) or totes (bundle inventory for next year) that will be stored on high shelves around my shop, one section for each holiday.

Banker boxes will go on shelves in my new shelving area, which will have one side for un-photographed inventory, and one side for photographed, but not listed inventory. Then once it's listed it will go to the listed inventory section which has heat!

The main obstacle for me right now is that I don't have a clear work space to label, pack, ship in. All of my ebay inventory, amazon bundle inventory, and supplies, boxes, etc are all in one big messy and unstable pile and I am very ready to change that.

Anything that can be sent in to Amazon is going to be- everything else will be stored and then I should have a great work space to move on from here with. I think it will take a couple of weeks, a couple of hours each day to get things mostly settled. I also plan on getting rid of a bunch of stuff I no longer need, want, or do anymore. (most of my stuff from my old house, when I was single, my family collectibles stuff, my childhood stuff, and crafting that I used to do are out there too)

We'll see how it goes. I promise to post pictures when things are in the right spot.