Thrifty Thursday Finds

Went back to the thrift store to get some items I didn't buy the other day. The sugar shaker I wanted I could not find but I found some other good things.

I had bought the salt and pepper shakers and ashtray to resell but I don't think they are worth much. The shakers are from West Germany but they are glass and not crystal :-( The ashtray is from a Hotel in New York. It says Hotel New Yorker. Along with a banner that says around the world. I'm not a smoker but I will probably use it for change or something.

I was very excited to find the vintage clock radio. My dad had a similiar one when we were growing up. I love finding vintage items. The clock and the radio work and the best part, it was marked only $1

The books I am keeping for Ryker. Again, everything I bought was $2.11 Not sure why the guy keeps charging me this amount but I am alright with that.

linking up to Her Library Adventures

GoodWill Finds

Finally was able to get to Goodwill this morning.

I am keeping the No No Jack book for Ryker and selling the rest in my Ebay store. I have a complete double size set of the Holly Hobbie sheets and a complete set of the Wall-E sheets. I hope to at least get $20 a piece. I also found a Jansport book bag. I'm not sure how much a used one will go for but if it does not sell, one of my kids can use it for school.

Goodwill does have a better selection of items but no one can beat the prices of my favorite thrift store. I hope to go back tomorrow and get some books I saw there yesterday and a computer toy that has been there for awhile.

Happy thrifting!

Tuesday's Thrift Store Finds

Found all this at the thrift store for $2.11

I am keeping the bookends and the sandals and will sell the Little Golden books when I get more for a lot. I am selling the costumes on Ebay. They have a special today to list auction style for one penny. I am having a hard time getting my last listing to work. I don't know if it is because so many people are taking advantage of the listing special or if there is something wrong with my ebay account. It won't let me upload any pictures. I will try again later tonight.

If these costumes do not sell at auction, I will just add them to my store for BIN or BO. If the bear one does not sell by Halloween, I will let Ryker wear it.

What not to sell on Ebay

You can not, I repeat, can not sell your children on Ebay. It is frowned upon and your listing will be removed. (I am joking btw but read the story)

http://rapidnewsnetwork.com/australian-mom-puts-out-ebay-ad-for-her-children/1316/

Thursday Thrift Store Finds

Although it has been extremely hot all week, I managed to walk over to the consignment shop yesterday and picked up this keepsake box. It looks just like a treasure chest. It has a postcard of New York on it which I thought was pretty cool.

click to buy

Today there was a slight breeze which made walking over to the thrift store more bearable. I found all of this for only $2.11 Apparently you do not need to know any math to be a cashier as this should have been higher.

I am keeping the Pyrex measuring cup, the Tupperware shape sorter, the brand new pillow cases and the vintage soap dish. I love the way the soap dish looks. Plain but elegant. I'm sure in this household, it will be broken soon though.

The box of vintage doll furniture, cost me only $1. Some of it is missing pieces but I hope it will still sell on Ebay. I have no idea how to price this but I added Best Offer so hopefully someone will purchase it. I was hoping it was the furniture to the Fisher Price house I have but most of it is Tomy.

click to buy

I took a chance on the 70s Game. It is a trivia game and was still sealed in the factory shrink wrap. When I looked on Ebay, there were 2 others like this and they were priced at $49.99 I priced mine with Best offer and free shipping. Completes show one sold for $25 This was marked .50 so any offer will be profit for me.

click to buy

The other chance I took were these cross stitch books. They don't sell for much but perhaps I can make a few dollars. These must have been free.

What did you find this week?

Happy thrifting!

linking up to Yard Sale Mommy and to Apron Thrift Girl Also linked to Her Library Adventures

What to buy: character sheets

Whenever I go to Goodwill, I always check out their linen aisle. I am looking for character sheets and pillow cases. It doesn't matter if they are a set, if they are flat or fitted (although in my experience flat single sheets sell better than single fitted sheets) or their size. You want to find sheets with bright colors, little to no piling and no stains or holes. If you do happen to come across a great sheet with stains, you still might consider purchasing it. As long as the whole sheet isn't stained and it's a good price, buy it. Some people use these sheets for craft projects such as shopping totes, backing for quilts and toddler dresses.

Vintage character sheets will get you a higher price. One to look for is the Smurfs. With a new movie coming out, there are sure to be a new generation of Smurf fans. I sold one a few months back for $34.95 You want to list your sheet at BIN with BO. Auctions will most likely not get this high.

Mickey Mouse and Snow White are two other vintage sheets to look for. Make sure you look closely for stains. On my Snow White sheet, there were some small spots I did not see. My buyer did though and returned it for a refund. I relisted it as a cutter and mentioned the stains. The other sheet I sold her was fine and she was happy with that one.

sold for $35

sold for $30

Newer characters can also bring in a profit. I tend to avoid Barbie, Power Puff Girls, Power Rangers and Spiderman. I am sure there are others to avoid but these are the ones I haven't been able to sell. Sponge Bob seems to do well. A lot of buyers make little sundresses out of these sheets. Very cute!

2 sheets sold for $27

Also be on the look out for Cars sheets. With the second movie, a lot of moms are looking for these for thier little Cars fan. These do not get high prices though and sell better as a set. I sold just a flat twin for $10 but the set I doubled my money.

Don't forget the pillow cases. Like the sheets, crafters use these for their projects. Be sure to use cutter and fabric in your title. Moms also buy these to replace the ones their children have. I sold two Care Bear pillow cases for $19.95 to a mom who was very happy to find them.

So there you have it. Be sure to do your research when listing yoursheets to get the best price possible.

Ebay Store

One of my readers, Kim, from Moms Paycheck asked me to do a blog about the pros and cons of opening an Ebay store. From my understanding she does mostly auctions and is on the fence about a store.


So is an Ebay store the right choice for you? If you list more than 50 items a month at a fixed price, then a store is a more economical choice. Here is the math. 50 FP without store 50 x .50 = $25 With a basic store 50 x .20 = $10 + monthly fee $15.95 = $25.95. You would need to list more than 50 items to see the savings. If you want to do just auctions, then a store is not a good choice because you no longer get the 50 free auctions each month.

click pic to view store

Now on to the pros and cons of a store. I asked some other store owners and here is what they came up with.

PROS:

* Organization  You can organize your store by specific catergories such as clothes, toys, house hold goods etc. You can than organize each catergory by size, brand, woman's etc. You get the point. Buyers can search your store much easier by catergories.

* insertion fees are less with a store

* 12 free pictures per listing

*  Sales reports

* Mark down manager You can put your items on sale and a red line will cross off your old price and show the buyer how much they are saving

* Newsletters You can send newsletters to your buyers showing your new items or what is on sale.

* Promotion boxes You can promote certain items in your store or show when you are having a sale.

* Ability to put your store on vacation

* A store makes your business more professional and established.

* You can price your item for what you want

An eBay store allows impatient consumers, who are looking for a bargain but want it now, to purchase quickly without having to bid and wait for an auction to close.

click pic to see my feedback profile

I could only come up with a few cons. I love my store and would never go back to not having one.

CONS:

* set monthly fee in addition to insertion fee For a basic store it is $15.95 per month with a .20 per listing insertion fee. You need to list more than 50 items per month to see the savings. If you list more than 250, you will want to upgrade to a premium store. This is $49.95 per month but the insertion fee is only .05 per listing.

* You need to earn enough profit to cover the cost of your subscription.

* You no longer get the free 50 auctions but you still qualify when ebay runs their specials.

* Inventory may sit for awhile waiting for the right buyer to come along.

* You need to promote your store. Not sure if this is a con but promoting your store (making a fan page on Ebay, adding it to your email signature, using twitter) will bring you more business.

So that is it. I hope I answered your questions. If not, leave them here in the comments or come on over to Ebays underground discussion board. and start a new thread.

Friday's Fantastic Finds

Like my fellow bloggers over at We Sell on Ebay I have decided to do a fantastic finds Friday. I went over to the Dime and Dollar this morning with Robert and Ryker. This is a little farther walk than to my favorite thrift store but I am glad I went. Here is what I got.

I love the vintage table lamp($4.00) and I am going to keep this one to replace the lamp Ryker broke. It is pretty heavy and should be Ryker proof. The Mike plush talks when you move his arm. I'm going to sell him on Ebay in my store. He is for sale on Amazon for $42. I hope to get at least $25 for him. He cost me $1.50

These vintage post cards are unused and were only 10 cents each. They had a shoe box full of cards but Ryker kept throwing things off the shelves and other people were giving me the evil eye so I could not look through the entire box. One is the Gateway to Chinatown in San Francisco, the next is an aerial view of Fisherman's Wharf and the last is a mini album of Sea Life park in Hawaii.

Thursday's Thrift Store Finds

Tried to leave this morning to go to the thrift store, but it started to rain so we walked back home. Went later in the day and found the following items. Nothing great but I only paid .50 cents for all of this. Yes, that's Ryker's chubby little arms reaching for the book.

I love the Pyrex cracker container and I will probably keep that unless it sells for a good price on Ebay. The little statue dish thingy didn't make the trip home. She chipped her hand and the crown on her head. I'm not even sure why I was drawn to this in the first place. She has no top for goodness sake. The books I'll keep for Ryker. I love the Everyone Poops book.

Yeah Baby 500 feedback

After having an Ebay store for 6 months, I have finally hit 500 501 feedback. Yay me! I wish I could say all of them were positive but I have had 2 neutrals and 1 negative that was removed, so that negative does not count.

My first neutral was a set of baby blankets I sold. The buyer never paid so I had to open a case. I am pretty sure she gave me the neutral just to get back at me for opening a case against her. Petty, I know right? My second neutral was left without the buyer contacting me. This was a lot of Taggies soft cloth books. The buyer in this case claimed the items smelled of smoke. I don't smoke and I wash everything before mailing. So not sure what happened there.

The negative I got removed came from a buyer who bought a Talking Piglet from me. I had listed the plush as new. It still had the tags and its hands were still attached to his feet. (Before playing with it, one would cut the thread attaching the hands to the feet.) Her claim was the item was not new, did not talk and had stains on it. I asked her to return it for a full refund and she refused. She wanted a partial refund of $19. (This would mean Piglet would have cost $10) I told her I would have never accepted an offer that low but I was willing to let her keep the item and I would refund her $9. She accepted this agreement but left me negative feedback anyways. I immediately called Ebay to get it removed. After reading her messages, she had threatened to leave negative feedback if I did not refund her, Ebay sided with me and removed the negative. Plus I got my final value fees back. If she had not threatened the negative feedback, it probably would not have been removed since buyers are free to leave whatever feedback they want. The seller has no choice but to leave positive feedback for the buyer, even if that buyer is the buyer from hell!! It's better to simply not leave them any feedback at all.

Thrift Store finds

Yesterday, Little monkey and I walked over to our favorite thrift store. Although the temperature was a blissfully 75 degrees, it felt alot hotter than that. And of course the t.s is an old warehouse with absolutely no kind of cooling system in place so I was a hot drippy mess. Perhaps smelling bad would deter creepy guy from talking to me. No such luck! I went in a side door and he spotted me right away. I hate to be rude, but I am there to shop not chit chat. Unless you have a great item I might be interested in, I really don't have time for you. Ryker's melt down time is approximately 20 minutes so I have to look quickly. Here is what I found.

A lot of 11 Little Golden Books $1.25
Dora Candy Land Game $.50
Mickey Mouse Yahtzee $.50
Cast iron trivet free
McDonald's Cereal bowl with spoon for Ryker $.25
Stainless steal coffee and tea canisters $1.00
VTG Microscope Lab in steel box $1.00

So total was $4.50 right? Nope. Apparently the cashier failed freshman math because she only charged me $3.69. I didn't realize this while paying because Ryker had already broke down and I wanted to get the hell out of there.

I love My Sister

My sister, Sarah, went to Iola this weekend for one of the biggest swap meet and car festival in WI. While she was there, she found me this vintage phone for my seat. It even works! Unfortunately, there is no phone jack in my living room and I have to keep it up so Ryker doesn't destroy it but I love it! and it only cost her $5.

linked to Apron Thrift Girl

Item not as described

If you sell on Ebay eventually you will get the dreaded "Item I received is not as described" email. It's unavoidable. There is always that one buyer who (I swear) must have a black light and goes over all his purchases with it, or the buyer whose definition of preowned differs greatly from yours or the buyer who simply does not read your description. Whatever the case is, your job is to make them happy. So how does one respond to these emails?

Your first response may be to simply refund the buyer his money. But wait! You don't want to hand over your hard earned money to a possible scam artist. Be especially wary if they want to keep the item but get their money back. If it is truely damaged, why would they want to keep it? In your response, you want to do the following 3 things.

First: apologize
Second: acknowledge error
Third: Solve the problem

Be sure to take the emotion out of it and treat your business as it is: A Business. Be professional.

Before refunding any money, have your item returned. You can pay for return shipping but Ebay does not require you to do so. Once you get your item, be sure to refund through paypal. Also make sure you send the buyer a cancel transaction request. This will insure you get your final evaluation fees back and the item will not show up as unpaid on the buyer's end.

If the item is still sellable, simply relist and wait for that right buyer to come along.

My Telephone Seat

Ever since I read Laura's blog over on My Dear Trash, I have become obsessed with finding a telephone seat. Don't ask me why. I do have a landline but there is no jack in my living room so the seat would not be doing its job, but I had to have one. Well yesterday as I was leaving my favorite t.s.,  I spotted one. This one, right here, below.

I asked the guy how much he wanted for it and he said make me an offer. I told him I didn't have enough money but I would be back tomorrow (today) with my sister and he told me we could work something out then. All night long I thought about that seat. What if someone else snatched it up before I got there? What if he wanted more than I was willing to pay. The seat is in great condition with a few scratches and when I looked on Ebay, I saw its twin for $79.99 and that was in terrible shape. No way was I willing to even pay half that.

Fast forward to today. My sister picked me up around 1 and we went to get my seat. I went straight for it. I offered the guy $15 and he accepted. Then he told me how they hardly ever come across these and that a few months ago a lady came in and bought this one. She recently moved and redonated it. Then I was thinking, Man I should have offered him less. He already got paid once for it. I wonder how much she paid?  I asked the guy if there was someone who could carry it to the car and guess who shows up? Yup, Mr Creepy from the day before. But now my sister is with me so he starts a conversation with her. Ha ha. You deal with him.

I go to pay for it and put Ryker up on the counter. Apparently, Ryker has monkey arms and hit something on the register that made it ring up to $32 something. The cashier cleared it out but then the boss man gets all pissy about it, gives me the evil eye, and says to him you have to write that down or it won't balance at the end of the night. I apologize like a zillion times but honestly, I don't think Ryker touched the register. I had him quite aways from it, but like I said he has the monkey arms so who knows?

Meanwhile, my sister and creepy guy are trying to load the seat in the trunk of her Ford. I feel bad for leaving her with him but that's the price you pay if you want a great deal. And a great deal I got! Plus I really don't have to redo the seat if I don't want to. I would like to put a different fabric on it, but I am quite lazy. Perhaps I can get my sister to do it?

linked to the thrifty groove

Creepy guy at the thrift store...

Seriously, STOP hitting on me.

I walked over to my favorite thrift store today and had 2 teensy weensy (ok they were paper shopping bags) full of stuff to donate. I crammed them under Ryker's stroller with the hopes of getting rid of them there. When I arrived, I asked the guy where I can put my donations. He gave me a funny look and asked what they were. I said some clothes and other stuff. He replied "We are not taking any more donations. You'll have to try Goodwill or somewhere else." Yeah Ok I'll just walk the 9 miles to get there.

Dilemma, dilemma. What to do? I certainly did not want to bring the items back home but I couldn't leave them there. Or could I? I went to the back of the store (this place is a huge warehouse with 2 sides) and when no one was looking, I shoved my bags under a table and covered them up with a tarp. (I really hope t.s. guy isn't reading this and if you are, I most certainly did not do that.... oh and stop hitting on me. You are creeping me the fuck out) So can I actually get away with this? Did they see the big bags when I came in? Who the hell am I fooling? You'd have to be blind not to. Would they noticed said big bags were no longer under my stroller?

Getting away getting away... I looked around for about 30 minutes when not creepy guy found me and started talking to me. He apologized about not being able to take the donations (oh yeah you took them. You just don't know it yet) and about how they have so much stuff. He also told me they could no longer sell clothes because of something to do with the lease. It wasn't in the contract or some other bull shit. Anyways, I was starting to feel a little guilty about sneaking my items into their store. I quickly got over that when I found this beauty. Who doesn't need a stretched out Coke bottle?

Seriously, how cool is that? (I am becoming more of a hoarder each and every day) Some other items I picked up included some Polly Pocket crap (I'll save until I get some more to sell in a lot), Blue's Clues Christmas ornaments in house case, a hand held electronic game Robbie picked up along with another view master. The last two items are not pictured because Robbie took off with them.

I only paid $1.10 for all this awesomeness. and my bags of crap... still undiscovered under the table I hope.

Ebay Storage Solutions

You decided to start selling on Ebay but wait, where are you going to store all this junk, errr inventory? If you have an extra room, then that's a no-brainer. Simply get some shelving and storage totes and you are in business. What? No extra room? Then you have to get a little creative. You could store your items in the basement or garage but if your basement smells musty, you run the chances of your items smelling musty as well. And if you have a husband, the garage is off limits. So what are you to do? Look around your house. The answers are there.

I have a very small closet off of my living room. (It's only 5 feet by 3 feet) It has plenty of shelving and is big enough to store some totes.

My inventory has taken over other parts of the house as well. There are some shelves in my son's room I use along with a spot on the floor. Shelves can be your best friend.

I also use the curio cabinet in my living room (excuse the mess. Hurricane Ryker struck a few minutes before the picture was taken) and the cabinets above the refridgerator. Whoever thought putting cabinets above the fridge was a good idea, must have been over 6 feet tall. I have to use a chair to retrieve anything stored there. I also have a coffee table with drawers that hold my character sheets, but I did not take a picture of that.

Now that you have found room for your inventory, you need to figure out where to put your mailing supplies. Once you sell your item, you are going to need boxes to ship it, right? It's probably easier to break down your boxes for storage, but I am too lazy to do that. So they are stored in our upstairs closet/attic. I use a book shelf to hold my tape and ziplock bags.

So there you have it. Some simple, easy solutions for your inventory.

p.s. Don't look under my couch. I have stuff stored there too.

Yes, Yard Sale Mommy, I need a smart phone

A few days ago, Yard Sale Mommy wrote a blog about why one needs a smart phone. You can read about it here. Yes, Yard Sale Mommy, I need a smart phone or at least a phone with internet access. If I had a smart phone, it would have prevented me from buying crap like this.

No, not that Mickey Mouse life jacket. I needed that for Ryker. The other crap. Right there, down in front. Yup those two art books. They even came in a fancy box. Fancy Smancy. They look pretty cool and have some awesome art. They were published in 1971 and are in like new condition. I was hoping they would be worth something, but noooooooooo after checking them on Amazon, they are only worth a few bucks. It hardly even pays to list them. Good thing I am not out alot of money. I only paid $1.60 for everything in the picture.

Yes, Yard Sale Mommy, I need a smart phone. And does anyone want to buy some really old art books?

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 vtg Elephant planter by Relpo. I love the baby blue and pink accents. This would be cute to hold your small baby supplies or to put a plant in. It would also make a great baby shower present.

Lately I have been obsessed with all things vintage. I love buying vintage items because they obviously withstand the test of time and have a cool funky design to them like this coffee percolator I found. I love the orange, green and red flowers. Even if you don't drink coffee, you could use this for kitchen decoration or remove the lid and use it as a vase.

The last item I adore is this vintage Raggedy Ann and Andy sheet. I really wish I could sew or was crafty. If you had a little girl, you could make her an adorable dress. You could also make nursery curtains or throw pillows from this fabric.