A Cranky Case



I recently sold an old wooden ice cream maker for a best offer of $55.

 

In the description I made some mistakes that bit me in the butt when the buyer opened a case as item not as described.

 

My Actual Listing:

 

Vintage Rustic Primitive Decor White Mountain Freezer Ice Cream Maker Hand Crank

6qt

This hand cranked ice cream maker would make a beautiful décor piece in your Rustic/Primitive/Country style kitchen.

It does crank and presumably work, but there is rust and aging throughout - I think it is more of a show piece than for actual use.

 

Here is the case:

 

The buyer requested a return

Comments:

The listing said that it was old, but fully functional. I intended to clean it up and try it out. But this is a mess, mainly because the top of the milk canister is missing...

 

You sent a message

Comments:

Hello, The item description stated that it was a decorative piece. I will gladly accept a return but I will deduct the shipping cost, and a 10% restocking fee. Thank you

 

The buyer sent you a message

Comments:

Look at the Specific part of you description--this states that the product may be used but still is fully functional.. I purchased this freezer knowing that it had rust, but thought it was fully functional and that I could clean it up.... You never said that the lid on the freezer part was missing! Now you expect me to pay to ship it back plus you intend to charge me a 10 percent restocking fee??? This is no way acceptable to me!!!!! I'll probably be contacting E-bay for their decision on this sale.

 

You sent a message

Comments:

My return policy is that buyer pays return shipping. I will waive the normal 10% restocking fee, but feel that the condition of the item was fully disclosed.
No where in the description does it say "fully functional" - only that the crank piece works.

I am also willing to let eBay make the final decision.

Thank you.

 

This is where I went wrong! I'd listed the item as "USED" not "For Parts" - I was thinking it was a used decoration and all decorations have to do to function is sit there. She was thinking it was a used ice cream maker. And according to eBay:

 
Used: An item that has been used previously. The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended. This item may be a floor model or store return that has been used. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections.

 

Uh oh. Well I did not try to argue with eBay that I really was thinking someone would buy the piece as a decoration because I did say that the crank worked. Oh well.

 

I learned my lesson and hope that by sharing these details some of my readers will too. 

5/5/15 Update - Garbage Haul

I did not list at all this week and my numbers reflected that. No problem though because I just got a bunch of FREE stuff to list today. Yay for free! There was a neighborhood yard sale this past weekend and this morning was trash day. Someone packed their yard sale up into these boxes and left them for the trash - but I got them first. Inside were some Land of Nod baskets, several tablecloths, a bunch of clothes, and some décor items - and some other great stuff pictured below. I threw them in the back of my car and ran some errands. When I got back into the car I smelled something - laundry detergent. These clothes which were left for trash must have been newly laundered for the yard sale!

 

Free stuff

 

Fossil Toiletries Bag

Brass Bamboo Edged Chargers (4)

Ralph Lauren Polo Zip Up Cotton Jacket

 

I am more and more inspired to find items people are throwing away to sell. It's just so amazing to me that someone wouldn't call for a thrift store to come pick up this stuff, they'd rather just throw it out. I will donate the items I don't intend to sell (mostly the kids clothes) to the local thrift store.

 

What is the best sale you've made from a free item?

 

4/28/15 Update

Hope your eBay week is going well. I had a decent past seven days. My most notable sale was this needlepoint stocking kit. I paid $3 at Family Thrift.

 

Sold for $100 F/S

 

The buyer is also a seller and consistently sells stocking kits for $275!!! I'm not going to share the store name but you can easily find it through searching. In the past month she's sold 13 stocking kits in the $90-$225 range, and dozens more in the $40 range. I'm totally impressed!! I wonder where she found them all. If you're the owner of that store and by the craziest chance in the world reading this blog I'd love to hear about where you source your items!

 

I continued to run several auctions this week. I'm planning on continuing that through the summer.

 

 This suit sold for $44 on auction.

Tops in uncommon sizes to really well.

 

White Stag Denim Dress

Sold $14.99

pay by the pound at GWO (probably a dollarish)

Not a huge sale but I find denim dresses sell really consistently - and the brand White Stag (a Wal-Mart brand) is also popular on eBay.

 

Let me know how your sales have been going!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4/21/15 Update

I'm back with an update! Life always seems especially busy in the Spring. Life reemerges after the cold winter. We come out of hibernation. We naturally want to get things back in order. It is instinctual for us to start losing weight, cleaning house and planning for the summer. We have lots of energy too, and of course an off shoot of all this is yard sale season. There has been too many yard and estate sales in Virginia Beach over the past few weeks to tackle them all. I've tried to hit up the promising or close to home ones.

Last weekend I stopped at two sales in a nearby neighborhood - they were both a bust.. but I "pulled a Martin" as I call it now because of my favorite blog, and stopped at two huge garbage piles right down the road. I pulled out some silver plate flatware, an old in-dash Pioneer tape deck (completeds here) and several military flight suits and a flight jacket made of 100% Aramid (completeds here).  Not going to make me a millionaire but solid finds for sure. Today was trash day in our neighborhood, and I stopped at a promising box and pulled out a Vera Bradley purse. Seriously WTF?

After a SLOWWW few weeks I was getting frustrated and disheartened with eBay. I decided to go "back to basics" and work things like I did last year when I first started eBaying. Yep, auctions! I ran a bunch of .99 auctions on some of my kids old clothes - stuff I wanted out of the house but didn't want to donate. Those sales spurred more sales and I turned out to have the best week I have had since the fall. Yesterday was a huge day for me and I made over $450. This gave me a big eBay boost which I was needing, and also gave me some blog-energy. I will plan on updated monthly or semi monthly with some highlights.

I've been working hard the past two months listing TONS. I had over 700 items for a few days - followed by a bunch of sales, and haven't caught back up yet.

Some fun highlights since I last updated - as always I charged shipping unless otherwise stated:

This wooden serving lotus sold for $179.99

The leaves detach as bowls, and there is a bowl in the middle.

I profited about $140

Purchased at an estate sale in the fall

 

This is a QVC fragrance that I paid $2 for at an estate sale.

It sold on auction for the opening bid of $19.99

This is an example of me going back to basics. I needed the cash flow that the auctions afforded.

Thanks to other bloggers I finally decided to buy some fragrances - so far so good!

 

I can't remember where I got these Fire King restaurant ware bowls.

I do remember paying $2 though.

Sold for $26

 

I paid $1 for this Red Wings poster at an estate sale

I took a best offer of $20

 

Of course it wouldn't be a Beach Thrifter update without me boring you over flatware

This lot of Oneida Tortellini pattern sold for $120 Free Shipping (small flat rate box)

I continue to love selling flatware:)

 

I bought 4 of these at an estate sale. I looked behind a door in a laundry room and there was tons of ziplocs etc. I remembered reading a blog post that vintage types of these would sell on eBay. This is wax paper. The pink box with little mod flowers caught my eye.

I've sold one so far for $9.99

 

I bought a dozen or so Life's Good hats at NWT or NWOT at Second Chance thrift maybe 6 weeks ago. These hats retail for $20. I sold this one for $39.99 Free Shipping

Several others have sold for full price, and some for best offer. I've made at least $15 on each one. This is a great example of charging what you think people will pay - not what the MSRP is. I chose to charge more because these are all discontinued designs.

 

This butter dish is AMAZING. 

It literally still had butter in it when I bought it at an estate sale.

I paid $2, sold for $19.99.

I think the new owner probably gets a lot of joy every time she uses it, it's just so cool.

 

I hope that your spring has been filled with lots of amazing finds and sales. I hope that the pollen isn't as bad where you are as it is in Virginia Beach. Today's count was over 1800! And that you and your families are in good health. Let me know what's been going on with you and your thrifting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blogging Break

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately and while I love eBay, and enjoy reading other blogs, my blog has been feeling like an obligation. I need a blogging break.

Click for Credit

I mentioned yesterday feeling grumpy starting out writing my intro. I felt like it was more than just the weather bothering me, and today I heard these very wise words: "Stop Trying to Do It All"

So, for now the blog is something I'm eliminating from my all.

I've been writing FanFiction for fun, and working on a podcast (This Is 30 Podcast) that will hopefully be available on iTunes soon. My friend Karen and I have just recently started podcasting. It has been a lot of fun, and a HUGE learning curve. If you listen please be aware the sound quality starts off pretty poor - but by the most recent episode (6) I've finally learned/tackled Audacity. (There is some swearing in the podcast if you have little ones around).

Thank you all for your comments and support!!! 

I'll certainly still be around reading and commenting or 

if you need to get in touch comment on this post and I will get an email. 

Sum it Up Sunday CABIN FEVER EDITION 3/1/2015

This is my second attempt and writing an intro for this post. The original started out with a bunch of complaining. Instead of that, this picture sums it all up:

Some decent sales this week. I grossed just under $300. And hey, it's MARCH TODAY! I've officially been eBaying for one year!!!

This mirror sold for $47

It's got silvering and is distressed. Paid $5 at an estate sale.

This with tags Air Force uniform skirt said "1997" in the tag.

Paid $.40, Sold $21

Pyrex buffet chop plate sold best offer $10

Got it at the GWO awhile back. 

Well those were some pretty boring sales huh?

I might being losing TRS next month due to tracking not being uploaded on time (I'm at 87%). I'll probably try to call eBay and fight this one because it is all mother nature's fault. I'm sure the majority of those have been in the past two and a half weeks. 

That's all for today! 

Sum in Up Sumonday 2/23/15

I'm going to complain for a second... This weather has been horrible and I AM SICK OF IT. We were cooped up all week. Serious cabin fever has set in, and I found my normal generalized anxiety through the roof. I was going nuts! I'd love to hear I wasn't the only one so please commiserate with me in the comments:)

Here was the post office this past Wednesday. 

I live at the beach, and there is maybe two plows to be had in a 100 mile radius.

School was closed all week, but my poor postman was here everyday (literally risking life and limb).

I gave him some homemade chocolate chip cookies, which upon re-reading the above sentence seems a little lame.

I only listed once this week. It was Thursday night and I sold a bunch Fri and Sat, proving the more you list the more you sell once again.

Before that was slow. Like didn't sell one thing for two days slow. I grossed about $250. 

On to some sales from the week:

TI Business Analyst paid $2 sold $14.99 in two days.

I'm still selling calculators very regularly. They are on my guaranteed quick sale list now.

Copper Tea Kettle paid $2 or $3 sold $24.00 overnight

Palm Tree Silver plate Candle Sticks

Paid $2 sold on sale for $16.99

From here at the beach to someone in Vermont which I really got a kick out of.

Here is sending WARM weather wishes your way!!! 

If it's hot where you are I'd love to hear about it. Just don't rub it in:)

Sum it Up Sunday 2/15/15

I hope that you're all keeping warm! Today is the coldest day of the year so far here in Virginia Beach, and we're cuddled up inside. It is very sunny and very windy today. The temperature is 20 degrees, and the "Real Feel" is -6! That is COLD for the beach! I really am getting tired of winter. I'm ready to lay in the sand and go swimming.

On the eBay front this was a much lower dollar week than last, I grossed under $300. But that is the ebb and flow of eBay, maybe with the long weekend today and tomorrow will be high dollar days.

These slate trivets (made in Maine) sold for $30 this week. 

I paid either $1/$2 each I can't remember.

This vintage Oregon Ducks hat sold for $35 I paid less than $2

I picked it up the week AFTER they were in the National Championship, I'm sure I could have gotten more. Their coach signed a 17 million dollar deal this week. I joked with my husband that the coach probably bought the hat. 

My dad and step-mom sold this Starbucks mug this week for $40. 

What a lucky find!

Stay warm today, and I'd love to hear about your week and the weather in your area in the comments!

Sum it Up Sunday 2/8/2015

This was a steady week on the eBay front. I made about $550 but I have a $150 unpaid item case open so that brings me down considerably. Cross your fingers that the buyer pays!

Horner Michigan 100% wool Vintage blanket

I shouldn't have bought this blanket, because I bought it online for $40 I thought I would get at least $200 for it, but realized that this brand doesn't bring as much as some

I resold it for $85 and am happy with that.

Picnic Basket shaped locket with ship

paid $1 at a yard sale, sold for $22.50

This Last Supper framed print sold for $28

I paid $6 (I think)

I LOVE the frame on this piece.

Just a quick one today.

How was your week?

December 2014 & January 2015 Money

December Money

# of Sales
74

Amount spent on new inventory
$705
I went on a shopping spree in December when I realized I was only going to profit a few hundred dollars for the year. I bought lots of packing supplies etc, to write off for taxes. I owed no taxes this year.. so yes on paper I made no money. I'm looking forward to paying lots of taxes this year!

Amount of Sales
$1850

Avg Sale Price
$25

Highest sold item
Silver plate flatware set $113

Lowest Sold Item
$5 Iron on t-shirt decal

January Money

# of Sales
79

Amount spent on new inventory
$329

Amount of Sales
$1927

Avg Sale Price
$24

Highest sold item
Car Part $325

Lowest Sold Item
$3.75 Fisher Price Recycling Truck replacement parts
Our toy truck was broken, so I sold some of the accessories

I've finally reached my tipping point after getting the office where I am making money again. This business has never been in the red, but the past two months (Nov & Dec) broke even, January actually had a profit, and my goal is for every month moving forward to be profitable again. The office did set me back for the initial two months I had it, as I suspected, but having it is invaluable because I would not have been able to grow my numbers without the space it affords.