Aloha!

Well Hello There! Long time no blog... we've been home for just over a week now and I have had a hard time adjusting back to normal life. Mainly because we've had some busy days and I just really didn't want to come home to the cold wind and rain of Seattle from the beautiful island weather we had on Kaua'i every day so I have had little motivation to get stuff done! I haven't even gone thrifting since we've been home, crazy!

Here are a couple of pics of our family from Kaua'i!

 

The infamous self portraits haha - this was taken in the spot on Anini Beach that my husband and I said "I Do" six years ago. It was wonderful to return back to the beach with our two children and show them the place we got married!

 

Here's a pretty good one of all of us at the Spouting Horn blow hole lookout. We did SO much on this trip! I was really hoping to do a lot of relaxing and not so much of the driving but we did everything from waterfalls to long drives to body surfing, lots of snorkeling, sand castles and of course shopping! Sadly I did not set foot in a single thrift store :( I was a little sad about that but no one else on the trip is much of a fan of thrifting and I didn't have any time on my own so alas, I missed out! BUT I did purchase a couple of Hawaii Starbucks mugs to hold onto for a while. You can only get the Hawaii mugs in Hawaii or on eBay and some of the older ones can go for a lot so we bought some to use and hold onto for a couple of years to see if our $10 mugs can turn into much more. Plus they were super cute and my morning coffee has been a little brighter lately!

 

Well now that vacation is over its time to get down to business! I didn't have any sales while we were gone, in fact I ended most of my listings so I have my work cut out for me the next couple of weeks trying to get all this stuff listed. Now is the time for your Christmas items!!!

 

Here is a BOLO to watch out for:

This is a vintage "knee-hugger elf" that I picked up at a my "Perfect Storm" yard sale this summer. I remember these from my Grandma's house when I was little. I picked up two of these cuties for a quarter each and re-sold them on Etsy for $9 and $6 plus shipping within days. Some of these in big lots can go for hundreds on eBay, just depends on what ones you find.

But a word to the wise - do NOT use "Elf on the Shelf" terminology in your listings as these are not the trademarked elves. I had a very nice cease and desist email waiting for me on the morning of my birthday letting me know that was not ok so I quickly changed my listings and they still had no problem selling.

Happy Halloween!

 

Hope everyone has a HAPPY HALLOWEEN and a fabulous first week of November! We leave Saturday to soak up the rays in Kauai, do you think there's a Goodwill on the island?! I am such an addict!

 

And in the spirit of the Thrifty-ness of my blog; here's this years Halloween breakdown!

 

Miss Dorothy Gail from Kansas

Dress = Value Village for $2.99

Toto Candy Basket = Value Village same day $3.99

Ruby Slippers = Full Price at Target, Ouch $17.99!

They may be getting returned though because almost all the glitter is already off the toes and they've only been worn 1 day, not cool.

Hey we found Nemo!

Disney Store Nemo Costume = Craigslist find for $10!

Of course I'll be hanging on to these costumes after today and saving them for next season to re-sell. Nemo alone should bring in about $60 profit and if I sell the dress and basket together I should get between $15-25.

Beastly!

This has been my best sales month to date in my history of selling on eBay! I am so grateful for the items I have found this past couple of months that helped this happen. Some things were items I'd found this summer out garaging also but never took the time to list, earlier this month I put myself on a thrifting fast until I got some of the stuff listed and it worked! The majority of my sales have netted me at least $20 profit after fees and a lot have been substantially more, we are going to have a very nice vacation next week!

So. Onto the point of my title! I was surfing Craigslist last week and came across a listing for an adult sized Beast costume from the Disney Store for $35. I checked the completeds for it and was shocked to find out that the one I was pursuing had been selling for between $100-$175! I emailed the lady and offered her $25 for the costume and asked if she'd be in my area anytime soon (because she lived more than 20 miles away from me) and that I'd be a for sure sale.

She luckily accepted my offer and told me she was going to be at a restaurant 10 min from my house for lunch yesterday so I loaded up my kiddos and met her there to buy the costume and got my husband to model it for me last night. It fit him perfectly and I almost decided to go a whole new route for our Halloween but the money was calling to me and the fact that I didn't want to have to store the gigantic costume for a year til next season!

Since it is SO close to Halloween I listed it on a 1 day auction starting at $120 with a BIN option for $159.99 and offered free Priority shipping or the option for Express shipping which would have cost $43 because this thing is gigantic and heavy!

I got an email this morning from a very nice fellow asking if I would accept his offer of the $120 and get it out in the mail today to give it one extra day to arrive in time for next week. I went back in forth in my head about whether or not I should hold out for more but he was very nice and going to use it for his daughter's 1st Halloween and I gave in and accepted! It was too large for a flat rate box, believe me I TRIED to stuff it in there but in the end it cost about $20 to ship Priority mail in a diaper box!

It's going to a good home and after my investment, shipping and all the fees (oh the FEES!) I'm netting about a $60 profit. I could have saved it for next year but I also would have risked this costume not being as popular next season and getting even less for it! I'm happy with my one last Halloween sale and my fingers are crossed that the costume will arrive in time for this guy to have a great, memorable 1st Halloween with his little girl.

My husband is going to KILL me for this pic but I had to :) Love you Hunny!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween!

Etsy is not only a great place to shop for handmade treasures, its also a treasure trove of good ideas and vintage heaven!

I used to sell candles and knitted things a few years ago but the market is so saturated with those types of things I stopped making and selling them. In the last couple of months I started listing some of my vintage items here and there. Supplies do really well as well as kitschy little things but one thing I've noticed is that your photos are everything. Eye catching photos will sell your items for you on there.

The reason I like selling on there is not only because it's substantially cheaper, but the listings last for 6 months! I can list for $.20 and that gives me 6 months, or I can "renew" whenever I want for another $.20 which bumps my listing up in the browsing categories. This is great for items that I have not invested a lot in and that might not sell for that much compared to eBay where I want to get the top dollar out of my items because the fees are so ridiculous. When I make a sale on Etsy I don't have to take 1/3rd of my profits out for fees which is very nice!

Here are a couple of things I've sold lately!

A cute metal brooch I found in a box of free stuff at a garage sale earlier this summer. It took about 6 weeks to sell but sell it did. $4 + $1 shipping, not a huge sale but for something I pulled out of the free box it was great! And because the fees are so minimal I only had to pay about $1 between the listing fee, selling fee and Paypal fee. If this had sold on eBay - I probably would've only made $1.

This is also proof that the photos are everything on Etsy. I'm pretty sure this would have never sold if I'd have used my normal solid white backdrop, or it would've taken longer to sell. The cool rustic look to the photo really helped my item pop.

These Playskool letters sold within 3 days of listing them on Etsy. I picked them up at Value Village for $3, loved them instantly because the box was still there and they are great quality. Its very true, things back then were made to last, the letters for the fridge today are cheap plastic that have such weak magnets they don't hold anything up. They sold for $18 + $5 shipping and are headed to CA!

I really want to start my own booth at an antique shop. I think I could be good at it but I haven't bit the bullet yet because I can't find an affordable place to rent out that's close by and also has good traffic for continual sales. My fear is that I would invest a bunch in booth space and inventory but then not sell anything and loose more money than I'm making! I have a small collection of things that will go in my booth someday, I just don't have a place to store big items or transport them! For now, Etsy will work for those smaller things...

I've Got the Spirit, Yes I Do!

Well I don't want to jinx anything by posting about a couple of my best flips ever. I don't consider a transaction complete until feedback has been received and I haven't gotten those feedbacks yet but I'm just so excited over them I couldn't resist posting about them!

Side Note - when I post about these awesome flips I do it so that other resellers like myself know to be on the lookout for them at the thrifts and yard sales, not soley to brag or anything like that, I want to help you guys out! Both of these things almost didn't get purchased because I didn't know that they were valuable!

 

These are Spirit - The Stallion of the Cimmeron playsets. I got a kid-free shopping day back a month ago or so and was at Goodwill browsing around the toys when I saw these. I actually almost didn't buy them because I am cheap and at $2.99 each for a "gamble" (couldn't find anything about them on eBay on my iPhone at the store) I just wasn't sure so at one point I even took them out of my little rolly cart and put them back. The more I thought about it the more I was sure they'd be worth a few bucks at least and I could always bring them back within 7 days.

 

Well, I am incredibly glad I picked up those playsets. They sold a couple of weeks ago as a Best Offer for $185 + shipping! SHOCK! I actually listed them separately because one set was missing 2 pieces, they sold to the same buyer in Canada via Best Offer and I combined the shipping. Now lets just pray they aren't held up in Customs and get to my buyer safe and sound!

 

By the way, in doing my research aobut Spirit - If you ever find a Breyer Spirit horse new in the box - you have struck gold!

Meet Balto. He is a character from the 1995 cartoon movie, Balto. I recognized him right away sitting on the table at a local church rummage sale last weekend. My daughter LOVED him right away too so we brought him home along with a whole other large pile of items destined for next week's consignment sale for only $4 and much to my surprise, Balto, is a plush stitched with gold haha!

He sold within less than a week for my full asking price of $149.99 and this one is heading to OK so he went via free Priority Mail shipping this morning! (Has anyone else noticed a serious increase in International sales lately? Over 3/4 of my sales have been international this month!)

My daughter, bless her heart, got seriously attached to Balto in this past week so it's been a hard day for her but that is how things work in this house, she knew when we brought him home that he was destined for eBay and that she could play with him til he sold but I think she thought it would take a little longer than a week, so did I! Luckily I have calmed her tears with a trip to Value Village and found her a new Rex dino from Toy Story today. She's such a good kid putting up with her mom selling everything!

These are 2 of my best re-sale flips to date and I've been doing this for several years now. I am so grateful and blessed that I have found this niche/hobby. I have been saving all of my eBay sales money for the last couple of months and I am so happy to say that we have saved enough to pay for Christmas already this year as well as really enjoy ourselves in Hawaii next month. Who knew that toys and stuffed animals would fund my Christmas budget this year?! I would have never believed it a couple of years ago!

Yay for Costumes!

I have got to get out tomorrow to a few places and find some more costumes, they are HOT right now! Every single one I had listed has sold and within a matter of days and for pretty good money!

 

This is a Disney Store Bullseye costume, I found one of these last season and didn't buy it at the time because I didn't know just how hot Disney Store costumes were and by the time I went back for him he was gone. Luckily I was able to find another one this season and he sold within 3 days for $64.99! Always look out for the less-popular characters from Disney movies, they tend to be more rare and sell for more cash. For example, if only I could find a Boo costume from Monsters, Inc. Big Bucks!! 

Also don't be afraid to pick up bits and pieces of costumes you find, people are often looking to complete a costume they've pieced together as well. I bought this Lilo top over the summer for $.99 and it sold last week for $12.99!

Keeping my fingers crossed that our thrifting adventures find us some more costumes tomorrow!

{Consignment Sale Love}

Please enjoy this super nerdy photo of me being excited to volunteer at my favorite consignment sale this past weekend!

This was the BEST sale I have participated in so far in my last 3 years of sales! I usually do 2 sales each season and still have stuff left over, I sold almost ALL of my inventory at this sale so now I have an excuse to hit up those last garage sales of the season the next few weeks so I can find things to put in the 2nd sale I'm signed up for in October!

I started collecting fall/winter clothes and toys earlier this spring after the spring sales. The nice thing about this is that at garage sales and thrift stores off season clothes are usually priced cheaper because its off season. I spent anywhere between .25-$2 per item and tried to find things in mostly sizes 2T-7 in girls and boys that would be good for fall which means long sleeves, coats, fleece, holdiay dresses, costumes, fleece, jammies and sweats. I also grabbed toys I could find for under $2 that were in working condition.

All that collecting led me to lots of tagging and organizing and general panic when I realized I only had 2 days before drop off to get everything done. I ended up with 136 items, they didn't take 7 at inspection because of a couple stains I had missed and 2 of my toys decided to stop working that day. (boo!) This is my favorite sale because of the fact that they are strict with what they accept, only the best! They are also the most organized sale I participate in, I don't have to put my items out on the floor they have volunteers for it which is very helpful because I usually have my kidlets with me!

If you are local in Washington, I highly recommend the Jack & Jill Sale. Check out their website and come shop the spring sale in early 2013!

I shopped the consignor presale with a friend that night and spent $42 on a bunch of cute new clothes for DD and 2 pairs of shoes for DS, a few toys, a DVD and even a pair of shoes for myself that didn't end up fitting so I sold them on FB yesterday for $10! I was so excited that night after the sales went up and I had already sold over $150 worth of inventory!

This sale ended up fabulously. I decided to volunteer this time to earn 70% instead of 65% and I picked the clean up crew shift which was lots of work and lots of fun. I think I will probably do this shift every time!

Final Tally:
$83 invested in consignor fees, hangers, & inventory
103 items out of 129 sold!
$535.50 in total sales!
I will get a check for 70% of that so probably around $375

If I can make an extra $100 at the October sale I will have had my best season to date!

Have you participated in any sales this year? How'd you do or have they happened yet? Any questions for me about consignment sales? Leave a comment!

You Gotta Friend In Me!

 

 

Remember that yard sale on my very own street that I was so excited about a few weeks back? If not you can re-live my "best yard sale of the season" post HERE!

 

 

Well I finally got my Toy Story original toy, Mr. Mike, listed last week! I listed him high at $109.99 with free shipping OBO. I immediately started getting offers in and they were low, like $50-$70 but I countered at $90 on a couple of them and one person took the bait! He sold for $90 + $20 shipping to Italy! Granted it ended up costing me $28.87 to ship it there because I didn't weigh it beforehand but I'm still very happy with my flip! If he'd have never been opened he'd have been worth about $200+... Now lets hope it gets there in one piece!

 

Toy Story toys are always a "Be on the Lookout" items. I have sold several items from Jessie dolls, Zurg, Potato Heads, Bullseye, etc and they ALWAYS give me a great profit! Mr. Mike is a definite BOLO and the other characters that are not as common in the movies are great because they tend to be more rare and worth substantially more!

I also sold these cuties last night for $9.99 with free shipping! They were in a grab bag of things at the thrift store that I paid $3 for. I have sold everything else in the bag already for a profit so these were all profit for me! Funny thing with these is that I got an email after they had sold from someone who wanted me to sell them to her for 1/2 price because her daughter liked them. I responded very nicely that they had sold already that evening for my full asking price. Some people are so strange!

Back to School!

My sweet little 4 year old started preschool this week! She was jumping out of her shoes with excitement on her first day and she LOVED it! She wanted us to leave right away and even made quick friends with another girl who was a little nervous. I think I was probably just as equally excited for this new milestone because it means 3 days a week with 2 1/2 hours of one on one time with me and the little man! I think to myself, this will be great, I'm going to get so much done!

On day 1 I thought I might take some listing photos and get a little "work" done while big sis was at school... Just one problem, when big sis is gone, someone else gets a little lonely and this is the extent of my listing photos that got taken that morning...

Oh boy I sure do love him though! We have been getting some good errands ran during that time instead and its very easy to meet people off Facebook and Craigslist during that time as well.

eBay was not great this week, only a couple of sales, one of which included a fabulous mid-century modern trivet that I almost kept for myself.

 

It's by Towle and was made of sterling silver. It was a little tarnished and there was only one other one like it up on eBay so I threw it up there and it sold within 2 days for my asking price of $39.99!

 

I picked it up at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago that was all by donation. I also picked up a crib, mattress and bedding for our condo for the baby and asked if they would take $50 for the crib and everything in my arms. They agreed. The crib setup itself is worth probably $100 and they threw in everything else for free which included this, a couple of mugs, some pampered chef goodies and a whole armful of items for the upcoming consignment sale. Since this sold for $40 I only need to make about $10 on all the other stuff to "pay for" the crib which will be very easily done! That was a great sale!

 

Other than that I only sold a pair of shoes and a pair of pants on eBay the rest of the week, bleh. I did however do pretty well on Facebook/Craigslist. Sold the baby's walker which I paid $15 off FB for it a few months back, he used it for a while and I resold it for $20! Gotta love when you can make a profit after having used an item.

 

I also sold this today:

I picked up this adorable child's rocking chair at a local thrift a month or so ago for $4. It is vintage and needed some love so I sanded it down, painted it, distressed it and added the cute detail at the top. I sold it to a very nice lady today for $30. She is throwing her adorable daughter a shabby chic themed 1st birthday and she wanted this for the photo shoot. I did spend quite a bit on supplies for this, but I have also been making signs out of re purposed wood and plan on selling them so while I made a small profit on this, the signs will be 100% profit!

Backpack, Backpack

If you have little ones you'll understand why the title of this post is driving me insane right now all I keep singing in my head is "Backpack, Backpack" (Dora the Explorer, oi!) Hopefully it doesn't drive you nuts the rest of the day as it has now done me.

I sold 2 backpacks this week and not the typical back to school kind but the kind that is A) good for daycare & preschool & B) made me lots of money!

 

If you sell on eBay you probably know by now that Little Einsteins are GOLD, anything LE mostly! This was a Pat Pat Rocket backpack by the Disney Store that I grabbed at my local consignment store for $4. It sold this week for $20.99 - not an insane-o great profit but still nice!

Remember back in July my "Craigslist Rocks" post? (See it HERE) Well Mr. Disneyland Stitch sold yesterday for $64.99 with free shipping! Not as high as my original $75 hopes but I was super happy to see him sell and it shipped very cheap so I made a decent profit after my initial $5 investment + fees! What's funny is that I got an email a few hours after he sold from a different buyer that said she was hoping he didn't actually sell because she was very interested in him. Well sorry, I guess you should have pulled that trigger a little sooner because he's bought and paid for!

Thats all for now, I have to go check on my 4 year old who has been "playing" in the bathroom for the entire time I've been writing this post. Not sure I want to know what she's doing in there but I hear a lot of banging and faucet on/offing. Again, Oi! Have a great day!