Thrifty Thursday Finds

On Tuesday I walked over to my favorite thrift store. Upon entering, I noticed alot of their areas were thinned down. Did they sell all this during the weekend? I was just there on Friday and everything was overflowing. What was going on?

I walked over to the table of purses. This used to be a mountain and now it was a small hill. There didn't seem to be any good quality purses so I moved on. Next stop were toys. On Friday, you couldn't even move through this area. There were toys on tables, toys on the floor, on shelves, everywhere. Now it was nice and tidy. Sure it was great to be able to grab something without 5 other items toppling down but something was up.

I looked over by the bedding and housewares area and saw it. A BIG black garbage bag. I watched as two workers were throwing away perfectly good items. Now I understand throwing away stuff that is broken, stained, missing pieces and not useable. But they were throwing away items that could be used from what I could see. Kind of defeats the purpose of donating to the thrift store. These donors want to keep their items out of the landfill and that is where it is ending up! Ooooohh the horror! If you have so much inventory, you need the space, why not simply lower your prices? Plus they have a second store. Couldn't that store use the inventory as well?

As for the mountain of purses, as I was leaving I overheard the cashier ask the manager where are you going with all those purses? She replied That is really none of your business. The manager had a box full that she was taking to her car. I can only speculate that she was probably going to resell those purses for her own good. Why else would she take them and tell the cashier to mind her business?

Ok well enough of that. Onto what I found. For my nieces, I found 3 Power Puff Girls. One medium Bubbles and two smaller ones that talked. I found a Kids Knex Chompin Chums monster building toy with case that I will keep for Ryker. They do not seem to sell real high on Ebay.

Another item I am keeping is this vintage Fisher Price pocket radio. It is in terrible shape, missing the plastic handle and graphics but it still plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It was marked a quarter. At the check out, the guy that works in the toy area says real loud "That's a really old radio" Well thank you Captain Obvious. I really wanted to pay more than a quarter for it. Luckily they honored the price on the item.

I found this really cool Monkey Pod clam shaped bowl with wooden fruit. I just love the idea of wooden fruit over plastic fruit. I have this listed in my ebay store.

I also found a wooden abc giraffe puzzle with a Tupperware storage container, Pillsbury Doughboy Marching Band coffee mug, two Little Einstein characters, some ribbon (for myself grabbed before they threw it away) and some Star Wars Curtains. Unfortunately I did not notice that the smaller curtain had a finger nail polish stain until after I took pictures. I will list this as cutter fabric.

Yesterday I stopped over at the Dime and Dollar (I don't normally go there because their prices are too high) and found this lovely coffee table. I immediately fell in love with it and had to have it. I don't really have the room for it and I'm not sure yet what I am going to do with it but I NEEDED this table. I talked the lady down $5. Normally they do not let you make offers and their prices are final but she made an exception this time.  There is some damage and the one drawer is broken. She was a little snotty about the offer and said if it wasn't damaged you'd be paying alot more. (emphasis on alot) So for $20, I walked out with it. (plus I asked her to help me carry it to my truck. insert evil laugh here)

I also found a Smurfette plush doll from 1983 and it was half off.

Fan Pages and Giveaways

Want more traffic to your Ebay store? Why not make a fan page? It is easy to do and your facebook friends won't delete you for spamming their personnal facebook pages with items you have for sale. Visit my fan page here.

To make one, go to Facebooks login page. Under the sign up you will see a link saying Create a page for a celebrity, band or business. Click on that and it will lead you to a menu page. You want to click on Local Business or Place. Another menu will appear where you fill out your information. Fill that in and you are on your way to getting started. Once you have your page set up, you can use this app to automatically upload all your items from Ebay. Easy Peasy. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a message and I will try to answer them. 

On another note, my friends over at The Selling Sisters are having a giveaway. This is your chance to win one of Lizzie's non-custom prints from her photography page. So hop on over there and enter. These girls offer great tips for selling on Ebay and are alot of fun.

Cash in Trash

You just finished drinking a refreshing bottle of Diet Coke. You start to throw it away in the recycle bin. But wait! Before you throw it away, take off that cap. There is money to be made here. Sure you may not collect the Coke reward codes but there are plenty of people who do. There are also plenty of people willing to pay hard cold cash for those codes.

I started collecting the codes when Coke first started their reward program. I have gotten several Coke products including bottle openers, keychains, mugs, photo deals, etc. I have even gotten magazine subscriptions. Since Coke limits the amount of codes you can enter each week, it takes awhile to get the really cool stuff. I have gotten quite lazy and the caps have started piling up. They were everywhere: on the counter, on the desk, in my dresser. I even found one in the bathroom. Still I was too lazy to plug them into the Coke site. Then I found this blog. People were actually paying for these codes. So I counted my caps up 339 caps which equal 1017 reward points. I listed them on Ebay for $24.99 with free shipping. Within 30 minutes, they sold. Shipping to Florida cost me $7.83 so I made a profit of  $17.16. Not bad for something most people throw away.

I love my Diet Coke!

UPDATE: July 11, 2011
DO NOT sell coke reward caps. I got my listing pulled even though I already sold the caps and mailed them out. Selling these violates Ebay's policy.

This is what Ebay says "This listing has been removed because you are listing My Coke Reward points. We do not allow listings that promote giveaways, random drawings, raffles, or prizes. These promotions are highly regulated and may be unlawful in many states. Because of this, we don't allow the sale of "My Coke Reward" points as on their website, you can enter a sweepstakes for prizes. We understand that you may not have been aware, but please do not relist these or any other coke reward points on our site. "

Bratz Dolls

The last two days I have been digging through this box of Bratz dolls I picked up at my favorite thrift store. I hadn't realized how time consuming this task would be. Who the hell buys their kid 42 dolls? Sure, sure some might have been birthday or Christmas gifts from well meaning relatives. But seriously 42? Great for me though. Hopefully I can get a good return on them. Here they are in the box after I dressed all 42.

In addition to the dolls were a carrying case, a lil' bratz loungin loft, clothing, and accessories. Apparently the previous owners had a dog. Everything was covered in dog hair and this poor boy did not make it.

So down to 41 dolls. Now the task of figuring out how to list them. I did not want to do a big listing for 41 dolls plus accessories cause again, honestly, who needs 41 dolls unless they are me and are trying to resell them on Ebay.  The first three lots were easy. There were 10 Lil' Bratz dolls so they were listed with the loft along with their clothing.

The next lot was also a no brainer. I grouped all the boy dolls plus thier extra clothing. The clothing part was a little tricky because some of the clothes looked like they could be for a girl or a boy. I did my best and came up with this. Obviously I left out the one eaten by the dog. Honestly, who donates that? In the trash it went.

I debated about this next lot. There were 25 purses and I wasn't sure if I should just add it to the clothing or try selling it on its own. I chose the latter and offered free shipping.

Next came the dolls. I had dressed each one as best as I could and now had to decide how to break them up. I decided on 1 listing of 8 with the carrying case, another listing of 8 by themselves and then a listing of 9. When I first started going through the dolls, I noticed one doll had some pin holes on her leg. After dressing them all, I have yet to find that doll. I will have to go back through them before someone purchases it and complains. They are hardly noticiable but you know how some buyers are.

Then I had to decide what to do with all the extra clothes. I thought about dividing them up among all three doll lots but that seemed like a lot of work. And how was I to decide what outfit went where? So I ended up listing the clothes as a lot. There were some smaller clothes that didn't seem to fit the bigger dolls but they were too big for the lil" bratz. I saw a listing for teen bratz so I though maybe there was another doll in between the big doll and minis? I'm not 100 % sold on that though so if someone knows, please kindly share.

To view these listings in my store, click here.

Also if you're interested in finding out what other people found this weekend check out: Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Thrifty Thursday Finds

The rain has kept me out of my favorite thrift store all week. It is only a few blocks away from me, so I usually grab the stroller and take Ryker for a walk over there. Today it was raining on and off. I was dying to get out of the house and satisify my thrifting itch. So Ryker and I were off. The rain managed to stay away until we were about a block from the store. It was barely sprinkling so on we went. Of course when it was time to leave, it had stopped completly but started up again after a block. Then it was a heavier rainfall. We were wet but it was worth it. Here are todays finds:

Huge lot of Polly Pockets Just found out some of these were recalled :-(

Lamb Chop plush

This bear from Build a Bear workshop. It has the Texas Rangers logo on it.

Plus I found the television part to the Vtech Vsmile Baby Learning system.

Even with the rain, it wasn't too bad of a day. What treasures did you find?

Happy hunting!

Tuesday's Treasure

When looking through the plush bin of your local thrift store, be sure to be on the lookout for this doll:

Look familiar? It is Agnes from the movie Despicable Me. The 18" plush version is hard to find and one recently sold on Ebay for $59.99 I found one back in March at my local Goodwill. I only paid $1.49 for her and sold her for best offer at $30. I should have held out for more in hindsight but I'm sure I needed diapers or milk or something. The smaller size dolls do not seem to sell quite as high. I would not list her at auction but Buy It Now with Best Offer.

Happy hunting!

Goodwill Hunting

I know. I know. I said I would stop shopping at Goodwill for resale because their items are too expensive but I had to look. The Goodwill voices in my head kept calling me. I only spent $9.40 and got the following:

2 fused glass art serving trays They are unsigned (sigh)
3 Care Bear pillow cases
3 coffee mugs
1 Thomas the Train window vallance
1 role playing game "How to Host a Murder"

I thought the game was pretty cool but the completes on Ebay do not look good. It seems like they do not sell. I guess no one plays role playing games anymore even if they are endorsed by Vincent Price. The game is like Clue. You try to solve the murder with the clues you are given. It is meant for 8 players. I was suprised to see everything was in the box. Even the original invitations were there. Someone also went through the trouble of photocopying all the materials but I left those out. Maybe with the Best offer option and free shipping, someone will purchase it. Also in the series of games is an "All My Children" version. I wish I had found that one instead. I would have kept it.

Two of the coffee mugs I found were from the Shoebox Greetings line of Hallmark. They are cute mugs. The other one is from Disney's Animal Kingdom. It has two tigers in a ying and yang design.

So what treasures did you find? Feel free to post them in the comments.
Happy thrifting!

Sunday Steals

This blog is a shameless self promotion of items in my store that I think are Awesome! Unique! Totally Cool and a Must Have. Since I have best offer on almost all my listings, you can decide what you want to pay for them. You never know, you might get a great steal!

The first item I love is this Musical pull toy by Kids 11. If you pull his loop, he will stretch out and play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." He will help your baby fall asleep.

Another item to help your child fall asleep are these womb bears by Dex. They are made to play heartbeat and womb sounds. Once your baby no longer needs the sounds to fall asleep, you can remove the unit and use the bears as loveys.

If your child prefers a different animal to fall asleep to, there is this musical lamb by Soft dreams. She is similair to the bear and also plays a lullaby when her loop is pulled.

 

This last item is a praying puppy. Touch his belly and he says " Dear lord hear my prayer for all your creatures everywhere, for animals both big and small and for my pets, please bless them all. He is also by Kids 11.

Money in toys

Before you donate those outgrown toys to Goodwill or sell them for a buck at your yardsale, check Ebay to see if those castaways can be hidden treasures. You would be suprised to see what parents will pay to give thier precious ones those hard to find toys. Here are some toys I have consistenly sold for a good profit. Most of these I have found at thrift stores for between .50 cents to $5 but you should be able to find them at garage sales as well.

My first item is this Fisher Price SuperStar Musical stage. I have purchsed them for $1 to $5. I do not spend more than the $5 because hey I want to make a big profit. This toy is basically a big mirror with flashing lights that plays music. It comes with a microphone but if it is missing, still purchase it, as it will still sell. I usually list these for $39.99 with best offer. They do not go quite that high at auction unless they are new. I will accept as low as $25. I have sold 3 so far and the last one went to the United Kingdom.

The next item is also from Fisher Price. It is the Laugh and Learn shopping cart. I have only sold one of these for about $30 Again this item will sell without the shapes. Most kids just like pushing the cart around but if you really wanted to, you could order the shapes from Fisher Price. Again the most I have paid is $5 but that was at Goodwill. You could probably get it cheaper at a garage sale. This one is listed in my store with a best offer.

Next up is the Pat Pat Rocket. This is a play rocket based on the television series Little Einsteins. You will get more money if you have the characters and finding the green tv screen ups the value. I have sold 2 of these. They do fairly well at auction but I do BIN or Best Offer. You can get up to $70 Just check Ebays completes. I think I sold mine for over $60.

Another popular Einstein item is this Baby Einstein musical caterpillar. It is very hard to find and you can get up to $40 Again these do not do well at auction so I list mine at BIN for $39.95 or Best Offer. I have sold about 3 of these for $37 Most people will low ball you with their offer. I had one offering only $12 because that is what it sold for at auction. But hang in there. The right buyer will come along and pay your asking price.

The last item I just recently sold. I only paid .50 cents for it at the thrift store and sold it for $39.95. I have never sold one before so I do not know if I just got lucky or if this is always a good seller. It is Blue's Room for Blue's Clues. It had all the figures plus the key.

Hopes this helps in your search for toys. If you have any consistant best sellers, please be sure to share them in my comments.

Happy thrifting!

Freakin' Flops Friday

Instead of doing a Fantastic Finds Friday, like my fellow bloggers over at We Sell On Ebay http://www.ebayundergroundblog.com/ I have decided to do a Freakin' Flops Friday. This is where you put your items that you thought would be great sellers only to get them home to find a flaw or they do not work. They can also be items that have sat in your store forever.

What kid doesn't like robots? That's what I thought when I purchased this Kasey The Kinderbot.  He is an interactive toy that will teach your child all sorts of things. He also has cartidges you can purchase separately for more learning. He has been sitting in my store for quite some time with watchers but no offers.

There is also a smaller robot for younger children. He teaches letters. numbers, and shapes on his belly screen. He is called Toby the Totbot. I bought him at the same time as the other robot. He too has been sitting without any offers. They both sell on amazon for twice as much as I have them listed for, so I know they are not overpriced. Besides I have Best offer on them and am willing to accept all reasonable ones.

So what you have purchased that has been sitting in your store for awhile? Feel free to post your link in the comments.

Happy selling!

Thrifty Thursday Finds

I normally try not to go to Goodwill to find items to resell, but yesterday we were in the area so we decided to stop. I had Ryker with me, so I wasn't able to browse as long as I wanted. He started throwing out items from the cart half way through the store. Luckily it was just blankets and not the planters I found.

Starting from the back are vintage Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Sheets. I found 2 sets of these. They are twin flats I believe. Next row is the vintage Raggedy Ann and Andy twin flat sheet. This is really cute and would be great to make a quilt out of. Next are the two Care Bear blankets I found. If they don't sell, I can always use them as WI weather is unpredictable and mostly cold. This morning it was in the 50's. The bottom row shows my planters, a Norman Rockwell mug, a sing a ma jig for Ryker and a Care Bear.

This is one of the planters I found. I think it would look very cute in a nursery. You could put flowers in it or use it to hold baby items such as cottonballs, q-tips, pacifers, whatever. I think it would make a great baby shower gift.

This is the other planter I found. It is smaller but could function in the same manner as the other one. I like the colors: baby blue and pink. It could work well in a boy's or a girl's nursery.

This morning I walked over to my favorite thrift store and found this vintage coffee percolator. It has all the pieces inside of it. If I can not sell it, William said he would like to keep it as coffee made in these tastes so good. (I can thank his dad for allowing him to drink coffee.)



I also found Build with Pooh Mega blok set, two garfield ties and a Vtech Vsmile infant development system. Unfortunately I could not find the t.v. part of this but perhaps someone will just want the base. It still works and teaches colors and shapes. Besides kids watch too much t.v. as it is so why encourage them to watch more?

So what are your thrifting finds?

Ebay messaging

Every time I go to my Ebay summary and I see a number next to my message tab, my heart skips a beat, my stomach gets queasy, my hands get sweaty and I dread opening that tab. I wonder what complaint is coming my way and how I am going to resolve it. I'm not sure why I have such a negative reaction to the Ebay message system. I just do. Not every message I get is negative. Some are just questions about something I am selling or some promotion Ebay has going on or that a buyer has submitted a best offer. Every once in awhile though, I get those messages that make you proud you sell on Ebay.

This past week, I have gotten 2 such messages. The first was for this bear I sold.

Dear beckyp72,

freddy arrived safe and sound - just a little warm from the heat. your service was wonderful. he was my older daughter's first stuffed animal (given to her by my very best friend). this daughter now is going to give me my first grandchild in december. i thought it would be special for him/her to have a bear like his/her mommy. continued success in your ebaying. i applaud you for finding something you can do and be a stay at home home. children are God's best gift!

- jerseygirlcath
The second message was for this curtain I sold.

Dear beckyp72,

Thank you for shipping so fast! I received the curtain and am going to use it as a quilt back for my sister's new baby who is going to arrive next month.

- mtdono66

It's nice to know why a buyer has purchased your item and what they plan on doing with that item. After getting these two wonderful messages, I may no longer dread that tiny number next to the message tab.

Playtime Friends and Loveys

When my son William was 18 months old , he became very attached to a white waffle weave blanket with satin trim. He would carry this blanket everywhere: to daycare, to the grocery store, to the park. Needless to say, it was difficult to get it away from him to wash. I bought an identical blanket so when one was being washed, he had the other. He carried that blanket around until he was 4. After that, it stayed in his bed until he was 9. We moved and blankie was lost. Not a big deal to William, but I would have liked to have kept that blanket.

Is your child attached to a blanket or stuffy? Has he cuddled his lovey to death? Do you need a back up or replacement? Well look no further. Brieanna over at Playtime Friends and Loveys has a huge selection of these soft, furry friends. With over 500 items to choose from, I am sure you will find a replacement or even a new lovey. Her toys would also make great baby shower gifts! Come and check out her booth today.

Sunday Steals

This blog is a shameless self promotion of items in my store that I think are Awesome! Unique! Totally Cool and a Must Have. Since I have best offer on almost all my listings, you can decide what you want to pay for them. You never know, you might get a great steal!

The first item I love is this warming dish from the 1940's. You could use it for your child. If it has survived over 66 years, I'm sure it will survive your toddler. It would also make a unique decoration for your nursery. Or perhaps you just collect vintage housewares. It would make a great addition to your collection.

The next item I love are these collector pins from the movie Coraline. In case you haven't seen it, the movie is about a young girl who unlocks a mysterious door in her new home and enters a parallel reality.  On the surface this parallel world is similiar to her real life, only better. She begins to think that the Other World is where she belongs. But when the Others try to keep her there, she must muster all her courage to get back home and save her family.

The last item I am going to promote is this vintage mouse from Dakin. I had a similiar one when I was little and this one brings back those wonderful childhood memories. He is so cute and adorable, any child would love him. Or you could keep him for yourself.

To view these items in my store, just click on the picture and it will take you to the page it is on. Hurry though. These great items are ending soon!

Sea Wees

If you don't know what sea wees are than continue reading. These liitle mermaids can be big money sellers on Ebay. If you spot them at a garage sale, swoop them up. These 4 inch dolls were made by Kenner Toys from 1979-1983.  There were 5 sets of dolls that came out: Originals, Sea Wees 'n Babies, Fancy Sea Wees 'n Babies, TropiGals, and Icygals.

The originals were marketed as one doll with a sponge and comb. These dolls have hard plastic bodies and long combable hair.

After these came out, Kenner added a baby doll to match the momma. These babies were made of hard molded plastic and molded hair with bonnet.

The third set to come out was the Fancy Sea Wees and babies. They have the same molded bodies as the other two prior sets.

Next came the TropiGals. They had the same molded bodies but had a tan and came with a hula skirt. Kenner also added the Merpet: an animal that was half mermaid and some other animal.

The Fourth in the series was IcyGals. These mermaids had on molded fur coats and stoles and the babies have molded on fur coats with mittens. The IcyGals have a different copyright(1983) date because of the body change. Also their pets wore molded on hats and some had molded scarfs.

The last of Sea Wees were called Bubble Ballet. Their bodies had molded on skirts and thier arms extended upward in a ballerina pose. These came with a lace tutu.

Kenner also made a carying case in the shape of a sea shell.

There is also a lagoon play set.

These Sea Wees sell well in lots but also do well on their own. I have sold some sets for $39.95 and up. They do well at auction too but I usually list them as BIN with BO. Since they were made to be a bath toy, a lot of them are missing paint. Don't let this discourage you from buying them though as there are many collectors out there that love redoing them. If you can find them mint on the card you can make alot of money. Also the African American dolls seem to be rather rare and the momma alone can sell for $20 plus.

Happy selling!