Some Sales

Thankfully January hasn't been as rough for me as some of my fellow online sellers. I have been on a picky kick when out shopping which means I haven't bought much unless its something I know I can sell for a good sized profit and something relatively small so I don't take up too much space with it on the off chance it hangs around a couple months. This seems to be working well for me as I've had some pretty decent sales and on things that I've bought just this month.

Since I don't have much else to post about I'll leave ya with some of my recent sales. I also recently bought some new backdrops for my photography shoots so I've been using some in my product shots and I actually think the photos may be helping my sales along since they aren't on just a plain white or black background.

Starbucks Valentine Mug - I've been storing this for a while and listed it this month. Glad I did it sold within a week for $18 - After all my investment, shipping and fees it was only a profit of just over $7. This is an example of why I am being more picky. I bought it in June, stored it for months and sold it quick but is it really worth all the effort for only $7?

 

These Circo boots from Target are always on my radar. My daughter actually wore this same style when she was little and let me tell you, ADORABLE! They are very desirable online even though they are from Target. I picked these up on the 7th of Jan at Goodwill for just over $3. They sold within 2 days for $22.95. After fees and shipping I cleared a profit of $11.10. Plus I didn't have to store them for months, bonus.

 

Same with these cute glitter TOMS. I originally purchased them from my Facebook group thinking I'd give them to my friends daughter but her feet are too big already for them so up on eBay they went! Bought on the 13th, sold on the 19th for $29.95. Profit after investment and fees was just under $14 and again, no storage!

 

Oneida Flatware set brand new in the box - this was a bit of a bigger investment for me since I don't usually spend more than $10 on items at a thrift store, they cost $16.41 but sold for $49.99 within 8 days for a profit of $16. I had to ship medium flat rate because of the weight but still, no storage time and pretty decent profit after fees.

 

I reiterate my Disney Store plush love. Always grab random character plush, especially from Disney Store. When I saw this little guy in a bin at the thrift I had no idea who he was but I saw the Disney Store tag and he was only $.29 so I grabbed him. After a little research I found out he was Morph from Treasure Planet, never seen it but bigger versions of this guy can go for $50! Mine sold this morning for $16.95 and he's small so he's heading out First Class. I purchased him on the 15th, he sold this morning and I cleared a profit of $12.78. (Although I wouldn't have had problems storing him for a long time because he's super small!)

I have to give a shout out to fellow blogger Kari over at She Thrifts She Scores on this one! I'd have never guessed to be on the lookout for this game but man I'm glad I was! Bought it on 1-14 for $4, sold 4 days later for $49.95, an awesome $24.42 after fees and shipping! This is one I wouldn't have wanted to store for very long either as it had lots of pieces and the box took up some space! Thanks Kari!

So I'm going to try and keep on this be picky, sell quicky motto and see how it goes for a couple months! I have decided I need to slow down and appreciate the small stuff right now, my kids are at a great age and I am loving just taking time every day to be with them and not stress about having to list. If I can still make the same amount and buy less, its all good!

Paying it Forward

I know that 90% of my blog is all about sales and making money but I wanted to talk for a bit about something else that I participate in. Have you seen the movie Pay it Forward? I'm sure you have but if for some reason you haven't I highly recommend you rent it and watch it, amazing movie! Its about a little boy who starts a phenomenon called Paying it Forward. When someone helps you or does a good deed for you, you turn around and do something good for 5 people. I try to live by this motto and help out my community where I can. I believe in good karma and lets face it we all need karma on our side!

I occasionally buy coffee for the person behind me in the Starbucks drive through and donate to charities that are important to me but I recently became a part of a new kind of group on Facebook called the Buy Nothing Project. This is a trend spreading nationwide and its all about gifting and not exchanging money. Its not just about getting rid of stuff either (although that has been nice!) its about creating a better community, meeting neighbors and giving & receiving. My group is in Kirkland, WA and I have come across some of the nicest people from it!

I'm not picking up things for resale, I'm only picking up things that we genuinely will use in our home and I'm gifting things we no longer use to people that will get use out of those items, its awesome! I've been slowly going through things that we don't use anymore and posting items here and there that people have come to pick up from me and in return I've received some wonderful gifts as well!

In fact, we were gifted this wonderful balance bike for our son from a fellow mom that we'd never met before yesterday. These bikes are not cheap brand new and I wasn't sure if he'd actually like it if we bought him one so when we went to pick this up yesterday I was shocked at the quality and the condition of this bike and Mason LOVES it! I intend to bake her some cookies here in the next couple of days as a thank you for this awesome toy that my kids are going to get lots of use out of the coming year!

There are several Buy Nothing Project groups in my area, I heard about it on another group that does exchange money and joined, but to find other groups all you have to do is search for "Buy Nothing + your town/city" there are probably 20+ neighborhood BN groups in the Seattle area and I know that there are groups popping up all over the country. If you are on Facebook, see if you can find a group in your area and do some gifting!

How else do you Pay it Forward in your community?!

 

 

P.S. I just have to mention something else I'm super excited about - We are officially diaper free in our house again! Mason has been potty training the last 3 weeks, I'm shocked at how fast he trained and is almost completely accident free. We did the potty training in a day method but with our own variation so it worked for our schedule. I was worried this was just going to be a first attempt and that we'd have to wait a little longer since he's a stubborn little guy but he caught on right away and is good to go! So long to high diaper prices and hunting for the best diaper deals every week! 

Be On the Lookout...

for Skylanders!

I know another blogger friend out there already posted to watch out for Skylanders but I wanted to just say that they were right!

I first found out all about these guys from my friend's 5 year old son who is super into them and showed me all about the game and the different guys. These are from a video game, the figures are placed on a little light up stand and each figure is a character in the game. They aren't super cheap to buy and some of them are super rare as well.

I was out at the thrift a month or so ago and found 4 grab bags full of them. They are most recognizable by their bright green bottoms and I knew right away to grab all they had. I had 34 figures in total. I tried to go through each of them and look them up to see if I had any rare ones but most were pretty common so I decided to auction them as one big lot with a BIN price.

I thought with an auction I would attract more buyers plus I wasn't exactly sure how much they would go for. I started it out at $99 or $149 BIN. Lots of views but no action so after 2 days I lowered the BIN price to $139 and it sold via BIN the next day!

I think I invested about $12 in total into it and after fees & shipping I came out with an awesome $99 for Christmas gifts! Definitely watch out for those little green bottoms! They also have orange and blue bottom ones as well.

Fortune in Fourteen

Every year on New Years Eve we come up with a good slogan for the new year, I can't for the life of me remember what 2013's motto was but this year we came up with Fortune Fourteen! Now that Christmas has past once again its now time to focus on a new year and new goals! This year I would like to see eBay do well but my main focus is my husband & kids first and my photography second so eBay/resale will be my "fun money".

I have a TON of things at home in drawers and cabinets that I've never gotten around to listing, since winter is slow photography-wise I plan on spending the next month photographing and organizing all the stuff I've accumulated, all of it. I am going to run my old listings one last time and if they don't sell they are going into the garage sale/re-donate box. I have a bunch of flatware to go through and Valentines & Easter items. Those will go up for sale asap and I'll run them through Easter, if they don't sell by then, bye bye!

I'm going to rein in the buying as well and try to only pick up the things that are going to make me a profit of $15 or more after fees. Sometimes I get carried away with buying and then never sell the items so I need to be more picky and ask myself, "Is it really worth cleaning, photographing, listing and then storing for possibly months for only a few bucks?"

I have always wanted to open a booth in an antique/vintage mall. This year could be the year, I think I could be really good at it and its something I've always wanted to try so I am going to research local malls and find the best place for me. Mostly the cheapest rent and lowest driving distance!

I wish you all GOOD FORTUNE in 2014, Happy New Year!