Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Fall Is Here!

Well I think Fall has definitely arrived here in the Pac NW! Its been raining non stop for about 2 days straight now but the nice thing about it is that since I'm stuck inside I can get to all that work I've been putting off. I changed the Scentsy out to a fun fall scent, spaghetti sauce in the crock pot and I've been "Gettin' it done" all day which includes listing away with all that inventory I've been saving up.

I tagged 210 items for the Fall consignment sale and I'm taking literally a car load full to the convention center tomorrow morning! I am excited for this sale I have a lot of items, most are outfits and nice name brands so I'm hoping this will be a great paycheck for me. I plan on taking all my leftovers to another sale at the end of next month as well. Yard sale season was very good for clothing items this summer!

Last week I did a bunch of listing of old items and I was beyond happy to see some of them leave to new homes! I have a couple of fun items to share with you guys today!


This took me a little while to figure out but it is a French butter keeper by Emile Henry. I guess it stores butter inside the lid and doesn't need refrigeration. When I found it I had no clue what it was but I know Emile Henry can be semi-valuable so I grabbed it. This was at my favorite sale of the year at a small fire station in Central Washington. It is INSANE at this sale, I'm talking hundreds of people there at opening and people literally running to grab items they've spotted. I ran for a cute table but it got picked up and I got almost knocked over trying to get to it! The reason the sale is so popular is that it is by donation - meaning you pay what you think is fair. I picked up a boat load of items at that sale including this little guy, a bunch of vintage smalls, a mid-century ottoman, lots of toys, a pair of Keens and Chacos and much more! I paid $20 for what I purchased and then I've already sold the ottoman at my shop for $25 and now this little gem sold for $25 with free shipping! I should be able to sell the 2 pairs of sandals in the spring for at least $50 each as well.


Little Einsteins ALWAYS sells! I bought this costume last year and it sold almost overnight. Only problem - yeah it got returned for fit -- grrrr. But by the time I got it back there wasn't enough time to sell it again before Halloween. I kept it listed through Christmas with no activity or offers so I packed it away and stored it all year, which in my small house it took up good storage real estate, this guy is big! I was very happy that it sold the day I relisted it this year. I listed at $75 and it sold with a best offer of $60 plush shipping to California. It cost $15 to ship 2 states away, I told ya it was big! So glad its finally gone to a new home and its also the reason I say no returns on costumes now. 


This is one of the things I forgot I had purchased earlier this summer! We bought it for a whopping 30 cents when we were in Idaho visiting my dad and when I got home I just stowed it away. Well I'm glad I did, it sold within a day and a half for $49.95 plus international shipping! After all the fees and stuff I made just over $36, I'll take that any day! Now lets just hope I don't get a message saying it broke on its way to Costa Rica, fingers crossed!

Hope fall sales are in full swing for all my fellow resellers out there!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Balance

I am finally getting back into the swing of things now that school is in session and I'm home enough to be able to get things done! I even got some stuff listed and sold last week; which after 2 months of almost no online sales it was nice to package things again and take them to the post office!

My goal this week has been to get all the items for my upcoming fall consignment sale next week organized and tagged. I accomplished that goal today and have 1 week to go through the kids rooms and my storage areas one more time before the sale! So far I have almost 200 items going with a value of over $1,000. Granted I would only get 65% of that if 100% sold at full price but still, that would be so awesome.

Sales in the shop have been slow and steady. I have not had a month yet that I didn't make rent but I've decided I need a bigger space because my area has so much in it that I think buyers don't look much because its crowded and overwhelming. I'm working on sourcing more expensive items and things I know will be sure to sell. This week I brought in all of my fall and Halloween/Thanksgiving items and even sold a couple within the first few days. I have made rent already for September so all is well on that front!

I took time today and went through my ebay storage area, aka my sons closet! I had so much that I've just been shoving in there and waiting to list that I had forgotten about! I photographed every item I came across and now I'm going to spend the rest of the day listing listing listing! I finally feel like I have that time and motivation back so lets hope for good sales from all this awesome stuff I forgot I had!

Here's some of my sales from the last two weeks! Enjoy and happy selling!


Vintage Pendleton Blanket - Bought for $6 at Value Village - I stored without listing for a few months; finally listed it and it sold within 3 days on Etsy for $60 + Shipping to Alaska! The review said it was perfect for cold Alaska weather!


This sweet vintage hankie caught my eye at a yard sale over Labor Day weekend. I himmed and hawed over it for a while as the lady was very firm on her $5 price tag and said it was very rare. I finally caved and shelled out the $5 thinking I loved it whether I sold it or not, the graphics are just so cute! After a little research I found out it was a promotional hankie for lipstick from the 50's and was quite rare! Having never sold a handkerchief before I figured I would list it high and take a best offer. Much to my surprise it sold within a week for my full asking price of $49.95 to a buyer in CA. Proof that you should always go with your gut feelings!

 
Clancy Bear from Pottery Barn Kids - he sat and sat for a long time on ebay but finally sold to a buyer in FL for $35. Not a big profit but I was glad to see him head to a new home since he took up a lot of storage space!

 

Better get to listing, I hope I have a nice long list of sales to show you all next week!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Here We Go!!

Oh how I would love to have stayed forever... I call this my Lake Powell Easy Chair! This and a paddleboard is where I lived for 3 days at the end of our journey two weeks ago and I'm already missing the relaxation I found on that trip! Even though it was a crazy trip it was still so fun with many family memories made!

We started our trip in Vegas, then drove all night to Page, AZ. From there we borrowed my cousin's RV and drove around Arizona, New Mexico and Southern Colorado for 9 days just the 4 of us! We saw lots of cactus, cliff dwellings, Tombstone, the Very Large Satellite Array, rode the train to the top of Pikes Peak and ended our trip back in Page for 3 days on a house boat in Lake Powell! I even got to go to one antique store in Mesa where My Dear Trash sells her awesome furniture! It was a whirlwind 2 week trip and we had soooo much fun!

But Here We Go! Back to Fall, Back to School, Back to Work!


I can't believe I have a 1st Grader on my hands! She and I both were very excited for school to be back in session and I'll be even more excited next week when Mason starts his first year of preschool! Two days a week with 2 free hours? Whatever will I do?? I fully plan on those being my sourcing days since there are so many thrift stores nearby his school!

In the resale world things have been dead as a doornail for the month. I did make rent and do well last month at the shop which is good but online I sold 3 things all month two of which were on Etsy on the last day of the month! I have to say, it was kind of nice to not worry about shipping and feedback and listings but man the corner of my dining room is starting to get buried and to the point where its stressing me out to look at it so I need to get to listing and moving some inventory!

Bring on the Fall Sales!! Oh and consignment sales are coming at the end of the month too, I can't wait, I drug in all my bins for this today to start organizing and I think I have more this fall than I've ever had before -- 5 BIG bins full of clothing, costumes and toys. I am hoping for a huge paycheck from all this work!