Paypal Rant

Have any of you fellow sellers ever had to deal with a chargeback before? I have twice now, the first time Paypal sided with me because the buyer had cancelled the sale; I'd already refunded her and that was that. This instance was a WHOLE other situation and I want your opinion on what I should do here! I'm about to leave for vacation in Mexico and now I'm going to have this hanging over my head the whole time!

In early September I sold a Lilo Costume from the Disney Store to someone in Israel. I thought it was a little odd that someone there ordered a costume but who knows maybe this guy's daughter really loves Lilo & Stitch right? I shipped it off the day after I received the order, took it directly to the Post Office.

Three Weeks later I received a chargeback stating that the buyer never made the order. Mind you the order came from eBay, not directly from Paypal. I provided the tracking/shipping information (it was tracked til it left the country) and did everything they asked of me for the "case". I also took it upon myself to email the buyer through eBay. He responded that his issue was not with me but that someone had accessed his account and made the order without his permission, oh but by the way the costume still had not arrived. What?! I think this guy did order it and then changed his mind and decided to get his money back.

Anyway, my opinions aside, I heard nothing for 3 more weeks (Paypal states I'll hear from them within 7 business days) and yesterday morning they reversed the charges siding with the buyer. I never received the costume back which I invested money in, I shipped it internationally, I lost out now on over $50 in payments and now its past the window that I can file a resolution problem with ebay so I lost out on my transaction fees there as well. This is SO unfair!

I emailed Paypal immediately asking how to appeal this case (in the resolution center it says go to view the case and click Appeal) Yeah that's not there in this case; not sure why. I received a generic response that had nothing to do with my problem within a couple of hours so I retyped the whole email and replied again. This morning I got an email from Paypal stating that the item did not match the description in the listing and that is why they returned his money. WHAT?! Are you kidding me?!

Sorry for the long rant but oh my gosh, over all I have lost out on a lot of money here with the original investment, fees and shipping and the sale!

Has anyone had this happen before?!

I emailed them back this morning and gave the person the case ID said there was no place to appeal and to help me asap because you only have 10 days to appeal. If I only hear from them once a day that window will close fast!

Change the Title

Sometimes all it takes is a change in the title to get your item to sell! I bought two of these Starbucks Coffee Pot house mugs at an Antique store almost 2 years ago! It was right when I started to pick up and sell mugs and I didn't know a lot about what I should be looking for so when they were in the 1/2 off room I didn't hesitate paying $3 each for them. Well they sat, and sat and sat and sat and sat. I decided ok this is it I'm relisting them one more time and if they don't sell they are getting donated to make space. Since it's fall now and Halloween is coming up I added both "Halloween" and "Fall" to the title in the listing. They both sold within 3 days to 2 different buyers!

Granted they didn't sell for much at only $14.99 each with free shipping but thankfully for the "Jelly Roll" Method I was able to ship them both in padded flat rate mailers and already have positive feedback for one of the two stating how carefully it was packaged and shipped! Score!

Not a huge profit but a profit non the less and I cleared out a little more storage space!

Welcome October!

I had the BEST sales month I've ever had in September, Wahoo!! So thankful that things picked up and I'm hoping I can keep up the momentum, which means I better go get some more stuff listed! We are taking off for a Mexican vacation at the end of the month so hopefully I can get some big ticket items out the door before we leave and then when I get home I can roll out *GASP* Christmas items that I've been storing all year!!

Hellooooo Fall!

Sweaters, beautiful leaves, boots, Seahawks Football, everything involving pumpkin... and SALES!

Man it was a slow summer but I'm on track to have one of my best months of the year! It is still going in weird spurts like 3 days of nothing but then bam 4-5 sales in a day. Nothing amazing but inventory moving out the door and money back in my pocket so I'm happy! I've been trying to get my fall items listed as well as some toys and plush I've had on hand. I'm still on the lookout for that fun mid century vintage but my bread and butter are what are making me money right now and the vintage items seem to sit around forever and they are harder to store as well so I think I may take a vintage break for the fall. Unless I find any holy grail items in which case all bets are off!

Here are some good flips from the last week or so...

Bought this Tommy Bahama Mounted bottle opener with cap catcher this summer for a buck at a garage sale. Sold within 2 days for $25 to someone in FL. Hubby wanted to keep this for a future man cave but I reminded him that money in our pockets is better than storing!

I bought a Spike the Dinosaur off my Facebook group for $15 but it didn't have the battery charger so instead of spending $30 on a charger to make him work I decided to strip it for parts. So far I've sold Spike himself for $5 at our garage sale, the battery pack for $30 and now the remote for $28. I still have the bone to sell as well. Sometimes replacement parts are better than the full package!

I found this Princess Aurora Dress the other day at a thrift for $3.50, it sold within a few days for $25, gotta love those Halloween costumes! ...that reminds me, I have 3 new ones to get listed! Better get to it!

This was one of my favorite outfits for Mason last year. It seemed to fit him for a long time too which was great. I bought it off Facebook group for $10, he wore it for over a year at least once a week and it sold overnight for $28! Great ROI on that North Face outfit!

I think this one was all in the photo. There were 3 others listed for 1/2 of what mine was listed at but mine sold within a day. I got him at a by donation sale a few weeks ago. I think I got 7 items for $7 - he sold for $29.99!

This lovey was my best sale so far this month! I went to one of our area's many consignment sale events on Friday while my daughter was at school. I had the boy with me and he can be a challenge to keep in a stroller for very long so I knew it would have to be a quick trip. I picked up this lovey and 2 others for a total of $7. I looked through the other toys and stuff but couldn't find anything else I couldn't live without so we grabbed a free chocolate milk sample from our favorite Milkman and headed home. I listed the loveys all on Friday afternoon and this one sold overnight for my full asking price of get ready.... $45!! WOW! I've sold lots of security blankets before but this one has by far been my best sale. Here's hoping it makes it to its new little girl safe and sound!

That's it for now, hoping everyone else's sales have began to pick up too! Bring on FALL!

Costumes!

Ok friends, I'm on a mission for Halloween costumes. Every year this is one of my most lucrative and solid sales and I under estimate it every time! I have been "collecting" all year when I find dress ups and costumes here and there but now that Halloween is rolling out I will be trolling my local thrifts and consignment stores for these awesome money makers! All of September and the 1st 2 weeks of October are the best time because they are in high demand.

My favorite brand? Any and everything from the Disney Store - even some that have issues will go for big bucks.

As I always say - be on the lookout for less popular characters from movies as well. Maybe your daughter LOVES Beauty and the Beast and wants the whole family to set out with her as Belle, Dad as the Beast, Mom as Mrs. Pots and baby brother as Lumiere or Cogsworth? Well to do this by shopping on eBay it will cost your family at least $300 if not more. Yep. Really.

So definitely pick up those popular characters but the real cash is in the adult costumes and the lesser known characters. For example - Emperor Zurg from Toy Story - they are going for $70-$90 right now and I'm kicking myself because I passed one up last fall!

I also re-sell my own kids costumes the year after they wear them. Remember my post from last Halloween with the adorable Nemo & Dorothy of Oz? Check it out HERE!

I bought Nemo off Craigslist for $10 last summer sometime, and my little cutie wore it 3 times over Halloween! Usually its just the once for Trick or Treating but we had a couple of different costume events and parties last year. I stored it for the next 11 months and then it sold within 1 day of listing for $49.99! Now another cutie will get to be super adorable this year and I'll use the profit toward more costumes! Now that is what I call getting your money's worth!

This Disney Store Lilo costume sold within 2 days for $39.99 + shipping to Isreal. It even had some of the tulle ripping off in a couple of places which was fully disclosed in the listing and off it went. Fingers crossed it makes it over seas safely! Oh did I mention I bought this on clearance at the consignment store last year after Halloween and my daughter used it for dress ups and play dates over and over as well?! Gotta love it!

I have a couple more costumes listed up currently and you better believe I'll be sourcing for them this weekend. I am not exclusive to the Disney Store either. Some other brands that do well are: Gap, Gymboree, Pottery Barn Kids, Babystyle and lots more! I recommend doing some research before you buy just to see what's going for the big bucks and what may be worth leaving behind. For example: I typed in Disney Store Costume into the search and sorted by highest price and completed listings. You can do the same for Pottery Barn Costume etc.

Happy Hunting!

Putting it out in the Universe!

Well I'm glad I complained in my last post because it seems to have worked a little. Since I last posted I've sold quite a few items, 3 of which were "big ticket" things that I was hoping would sell soon so I could make room for new inventory.

Plus all of a sudden I seem to be drowning in inventory! I am trying to prepare for my favorite fall consignment sale so all of that is sitting in my dining room and I'm also busy listing costumes and all things Halloween that I've been collecting all year. It looks like a tornado has come through my house and I'm furiously trying to list and tidy as I go I just need more time!! I have already sold one costume with about 7 or 8 more to list. I hope they sell quickly, because I usually buy 10 or more costumes from the thrifts and consignment stores to resell every year also. Fingers crossed that things are finally turning around and some of this stockpile can finally go to new homes and places that actually want to keep them!!

I have about 7 or 8 photo sessions I'm in the middle of editing as well. Busy Busy Busy!

OH and my baby girl started Kindergarten this morning, hugely proud mommy moment and I'm hoping I can make good use of the time we have just me and the boy each day now!

I was dreading fall and the end of summer but now I'm kind of welcoming it, cooler days, more sales, Halloween and SCHOOL! Still not looking forward to the cold/rainy days of winter though I have always thought that we should celebrate Christmas in February so that we have something to look forward to through all the dreary months.

Conspiracy Theory

I know online sellers have periods of ups and downs, I've said this to myself many times. But COME ON! I have had very very little sales numbers this past month. I attributed July to the fact that I was out of town for most of it and didn't do much listing other than maybe one or two items. I did upkeep my current listings and relist items though and since I've been back home I have still only had a few sales. Earlier this year it was not uncommon for me to here the little "Cha Ching" on my phone mulitple times a day, now I'm going 2-3 even up to 7 days without a single sale and I am beginning to thing eBay has it out for me!

I don't get it, I'm a top rated seller, I have just under 50 quality listings and I'm slowly adding new listings every day. I don't want to open a store; this has gone back and forth for me a lot but I decided a while ago that I just don't want to have a store for various reasons mostly because this is just a hobby and I don't list enough or have enough storage space to do a store. At any rate, eBay calls me a LOT. So much to the point of annoyance and they want me to open a store so my conspiracy theory is that since I won't do it they are now blocking my listings from even being viewed! Is this anyone elses conspiracy as well or am I nuts? My other gripe is that as a top rated seller I am supposed to receive FVF discounts and I only get a discount on my invoice once every few months, sometimes longer. Granted I'm sure if I called them and talked to them about it they could probably look at my account and give me some answers but I haven't gone that route yet mainly because I don't want them to hound me about opening a store again!

Anywho, I hope everyone else is having a better sales month than I. I've been trying to concentrate my new listings on seasonal items like backpacks and fall clothing. I had 2 sales in a day last week which was shocking in itself but it was for items I'd listed that day that were Back to School related.

I bought this backpack at the St. Vincents the other day and it sold 2 days later for $29 - shipping to CA.

Its not just eBay thats slow either. Etsy has also been very slow but it is always slow for me so nothing that unusual. I am getting a lot of views and traffic to my shop but no sales so either my stuff isn't that desirable, my photos aren't good enough, prices too high or something! I need to cool it on shopping for a while until I get some of my bigger items cleared out.

I don't even have any other sales photos to show you so I'll leave you with a cute before and after project I finished and actually sold! Its a little key table that I picked up at a yard sale for $2. I sanded it down, stained the top, painted the legs baby blue and then put several coats of poly on the top to make it shiney; all supplies were things I had already so no extra $ invested and it sold for $20!



Before - Black Peely Chippy Paint -- $2 Cost



After - Trendy, Cute little table! Sold for $20 locally!

 

Adding some character to your photographs so people can see how to use them is always a great idea, I think the trendy props on the table really helped to sell it.

Wishing, hoping and praying that sales pick up soon and maybe some of my more valuable items will finally go to new homes... Putting it out in the universe like Lorraine over at CLAMCO says! Until then we will just keep concentrating on having as much summer fun as we can while the weather is still nice and school hasn't started.

Back To School Time Again!

We are having so much fun on our little summer vacation! It's been lots of trips to the river, ice cream cones and evening walks! It's been pretty busy but we are having a blast and my goal of sheer exhaustion each night for the kids is happening most days!

I just wanted to send a friendly re-sale reminder that it's time to get those back to school items listed. People are already starting to shop for fall so it's a great time to get backpacks, office supplies and cool weather clothing listed!

I have already sold a couple of backpacks this month while I've been away! My wonderful husband has been so great and helping me with my sales and getting them shipped. I definitely owe him a "no complaints action movie & asian food date night" when I get home!

Hope all of you are enjoying your summer! Happy Sales!



Jansport "Shatter" Backpack - Paid $.50 at a garage sale - Sold for $27.99 - shipping!



Kipper the Dog Preschool backpack - Paid $.50 at a garage sale - Sold for $39.99 - shipping!

A Fun Month Ahead!

Well June was pretty busy for me, not just resale-wise, that part was actually pretty slow, but I did a lot of photo sessions for a lot of clients and that was great for business but my plan this year has been to take my kids to where I grew up in July and spend the entire month so I wanted to clear up any loose ends before we take off TODAY! This meant lots and lots and lots of editing time but it was all fun and I got it all done in time plus I had time to take my own son's two year photos as well! (Big pat on the back and sigh of relief for me for getting it all done!)

I cannot believe this little goofball is going to be two years old on Sunday; man how time flies sometimes!

On the resale end of things I'm looking forward to taking a break from listing for a month; this of course doesn't mean I won't be sourcing because I can't resist the thrifts and when I see a garage sale sign I go into convulsions if we drive past it! It's a sickness really. I plan on collecting and being picky with what I buy, then come home in August and get all of my fall/back to school items listed up!

Hubby will have to ship out anything that sells this month so while I hope things do continue to sell I hope it doesn't get too crazy for him. I have a hard time letting other people do things for me that I'm used to doing on my own all the time; I trust that he will take just as good of care of those sold items as I do but it always makes me nervous!

Sales were ho-hum for June. It started off painfully slow but then in the last few days of the month things picked up and I ended up with some decent totals and some fun finds too.

My hubs and I celebrated our 7th anniversary in June and my mom came over to sit with the kids overnight so we could go relive our kid-free days! This of course meant hitting up a couple garage sales kid-free too! It was late in the afternoon but we got to one charity yard sale and one church rummage sale that was actually closing when we got there. I was so surprised at the church sale to find my first Heath Ceramics plates! I couldn't believe they were still there for one and for the other it was 1/2 price on everything and I got all 3 of them for a whopping $2.00!  Hubs also did some wheeling and dealing and we picked up a box full of vintage blue mason jars for $20 which I cleaned up and flipped for $50 within a couple of days.

At that first sale the only thing I ended up grabbing were a bunch of loveys! Oh I do love the loveys! There were 3 Bunnies by the Bay, 1 Carters and 1 Blankets and Beyond all for $3! Two of them have already sold and my son has kind of adopted the Carters puppy so I think we'll keep him a while longer.

 

 I adore Bunnies by the Bay items. Their plush are so soft and cuddly, it's no wonder they are so expensive brand new! This guy sold for $18 with free shipping that cost me $2.

 

This guy sold for a whopping $25 with free shipping and fast too, I will definitely keep buying this brand if I see it! I think this guy might have been a hard to find one I only found one other in the completeds and so I listed him high with a best offer option. He sold for full price within a couple days.

I hope you all have a profitable and fun July! I may do a fun finds post if I get around to it at some point this month but otherwise I will see you all in August; time for summer vacation!

My Artsy Husband!

While out antiquing one day, my hubs and I came across a really cool booth in a mall that had all these really cool light fixtures made from pipe fittings, insulators, pulleys and all sorts of other cool, non-conventional things. I looked at the price tags and went "Whoah", looked around a bit and moved on. Well my husband being the resourceful thing he is started looking at the mechanics of the lights and thought, hey, I could make these! He snapped a few pics of the light fixtures he liked and we moved on to the next booth. The prices by the way, in the $150-200 range! Like I said, "Whoah!"

While out at a couple of estate sales the very next weekend we came across a vintage wooden tool box FULL of old rusty vintage pipe fittings and knobs. I lugged that thing along with a pair of old roller skates to the check out station and asked how much for all this? Well the lady wanted way too much for the skates so I put those back, the box full of fittings? Two Dollars. Yep, sold!

Right away hubby started twisting and turning those fittings and shaping them into what turned out to be something really cool! After a trip to Lowe's for a couple of lamp kits and some cool vintage style bulbs, here are the first two of what I hope will be my husband's new hobby!

Can't you just see these as bedside tables in someone's super cool loft or studio apartment? We currently have them listed for sale on craigslist but I'm not sure it's the right venue for them. I'm not super keen on the idea of shipping them out because they are kind of heavy so we'll see how it goes!

Yard Sale Day!

 While cleaning house last week I was looking around at all the clutter in our small house (Our family of 4 lives in under 110 sq feet) and out in the garage the boxes had been piling up to save for a garage sale later this summer and I flipped, I couldn't look at it any more, some of it had to go! So we decided to do a Friday only yard sale and I spent the next couple of days pricing and going through everything to weed out some of the stuff we just don't need anymore.

It wasn't a super big sale by any means but my sister brought some stuff and my neighbor contributed too. Plus I let Naomi have her first lemonade stand since she is saving up to buy an American Girl Doll soon. She did pretty well, I also gave her the money for any of her toys that sold so she ended up with $21 to add to her piggy bank which puts her savings at around $75! Girl is determined to buy one of those dolls! I'm hoping maybe around Christmas time she might get her wish!

We didn't do bad overall but it was colder and windy that day after being sunny and beautiful all week so I'm not sure if some people were not out that day or maybe the sheer volume of sales in the area was too many for people to get to. (over 10 within a 3 mile radius!) We ended up getting some rushes in the later afternoon and ended up keeping the sale open until after 5pm and then took almost everything that was left over to Value Village.

I ended up with around $125 for all my "junk" and I'm totally happy with that! Plus I can breathe a little easier when I walk out to the garage and see a little less of a pile!

Online sales have been the pits for 2 months now. Last week I went an entire 7 days without hearing that Cha Ching sound on my phone, which for an online seller can be pretty distressing! I know its slow because of summer but man it is SLOW! I have more listings up than ever right now but no one appears to be shopping. Usually I get desperate and slash my prices but I feel like everything is priced really reasonably right now so I'm being stubborn and just waiting for things to pick up.

I have had a couple of decent sales and I can show you a few here:

 This is Owl from Winnie the Pooh. Most of you sellers of plush know this already but for anyone looking to find valuable plush here is a tip: Everyone has the main characters already and they don't go for much most of the time. But when you find a character that is not super popular or didn't have a huge role, they tend to sell for more because there probably weren't many of them sold when they were in the stores.

I picked up Mr. Owl for 50 cents at a garage sale a few weeks ago and he sold within the 1st month for $29.99 - shipping! Someone who either collects owls or someone looking to complete their Winnie the Pooh collection was looking for this guy and since he is a little harder to find he went for much more than the Pooh bear would have!

 This was the last of the mugs I picked up on our road trip to Seaside back in March. I bought it for 50 cents and it sold for $14.99 with free shipping. Not a lot but not complaining about any of my sales lately! I sold another Starbies mug for $16.99 the other day as well. The way I see it is that everything that leaves my storage area the better so I can make room for more exciting treasures!

This was just a funny pic I wanted to post. I always pick up vintage Scrabble games because the tiles can sell for a great profit and I can usually find them for $1-3 at garage sales. I can sell the games for maybe $6 or I can save them and then break down into bigger supply lots and make way more. This listing was on Etsy for 16 tile racks. People use these in crafts and paint them or sometimes in tournaments. I sold these for $11 + $5 shipping. I also have the tiles listed and then I can sell the boards all together in a big lot as well.

When it comes to selling on Etsy your photographs are everything! If you have an eye catching picture of the item you are selling you are more likely to sell your's first than someone else because most people who buy on Etsy are artists themselves and like pretty pictures!