Recent Sales 1/13/16

Since I last checked in sales have been average. I've had lots of little $10-$12 sales. This week I have listed several auctions after cleaning out my kids' closet, so we'll see how that pays off. Meanwhile, these are some of my better recent sales.

 

This jacket was a garbage find. It has one small rip under the pocket. It sold for $29 on sale.

I took a best offer of $25 on this Ernie knife, if you're a consistent reader of my blog you might remember I sold one of the same set before back in June of 2014.

Check out the Big Bird spoon sale here.

This vintage 90's VT sweatshirt sold for $38 on sale. My Mom has this sweatshirt and I was very close to keeping it, but as always I wanted the sale more than the item. I paid $3.

This portrait of a plain lady sold for $38 two weeks ago, and I forgot to mention it in my last update I got it at the thrift store for a couple bucks

 

This AMAZING vintage sweater sold for a best offer of $40. Yes, that's a leather eagle on the front.

 

I paid $8 for this Grateful Dead Cookie Jar. It is missing the lid. It has been listed for at least 18 months. I was so happy when it finally sold for $85.

 

How has January been for you?

 

 

Battle of Gettysburg & Recent Sales

Happy 2016! I hope your holiday season was relaxing, or you at least didn't suffer a nervous breakdown. Considering it was 80 degrees on Christmas Eve here in Virginia Beach, I was very surprised to see snow flurries today! January is here and that means lots of eBay sales. December was just average for me, but January is already turning out nicely. I've made over $800 in the last 7 days, which is above average for me. It also motivates me to blog because I have more to share.

 

This US Civil War Belt Buckle sold for $19.99

Not sure if it's a reproduction, the buyer and I messaged a bit and he thinks it might be real but will know for sure once he takes measurements. I was happy to part with it for $20. I got it in a lot of buckles.

 

Speaking of the Civil War, over Thanksgiving we visited Gettysburg, my favorite historic place, and while doing some research I came across and interesting collection of business cards; Battlefield Tour Guide cards. Some of these men witnessed or fought in the battle click here for more(it's worth the look if you love history!) It's really incredible.

 

 

This was my absolute favorite. Sold for $295.

Here is the listing for photo credit.

 

Moving on to more recent sales...

 

These 4T Carhartt Overalls were a trash find by my husband, who grabbed a Rubbermaid container of perfectly clean and folded clothes from the trash. (Why not drop it at the Thrift Store people!?)

Sold on auction for $13.49

This 1985 Lilian Vernon Wool Stocking sold for $20 a few days before Christmas

This was the feedback left from the buyer. I LOVE feedback like this.

I've sold two complete hardcover 1st edition Harry Potter sets in the last two months, one for $70 (best offer), another for $85 (BIN).

I stopped buying them because these are usually marked up in thrift stores, and I paid about $30 for each set, making my margins way too low. I am happy to have sold the two sets I had.

These Chinese New Year / Birthday cards sold for $20

They came from and estate sale box lot that I paid $2 for and have made my money back many times over already - this was a surprising sale as I listed them what I considered high because there were no like items. 

This GWO find sold for a best offer of $50

It was new old stock from Lazarus (do they still exist?) It reminded me of something a performer would wear while signing at a hotel lounge.

 

That's it for now. I'd love to hear how things are going for you.

 

 



Thimble Help

Can you help me identify this type of thimble? I thought possibly self-threading, or its a blade, but those searches don't exactly match.

Thanks in advance!

'Tis the Season... for Selling Mugs!

Sales have continued to be steady, but not spectacular. The one item that seems to be flying off the shelves are mugs. A few weeks ago I went through and re-priced all my mugs - about 70 in all. I like to try to sell most mugs for $15 but many had been sitting a long time and I relisted them for $6.99-$9.99. They were already listed, had been sitting a long time, and it was time to clear some space! The plan seems to be working.

 

These two English pottery mugs sold within a few days of one another for $8.99, and $9.99 

 

When I was about 10 my Mom and I were in the Hamptons (where my grandmother was a school teacher) and as we walked by a man, she said "That's Billy Joel" - I looked right into his face and said "Billy Who?" We still laugh about that in our family, so when I saw this mug at a thrift store I bought it for my mom... but then I decided to sell it (sorry Mom!) it sold yesterday for $9.99

 

This Lillian Vernon mug was marked 1977. It sold for $6 after being listed for about 18 months. This price is why I don't buy mugs much anymore - especially Christmas themed mugs. But the lady was very happy and called the mug perfect in her feedback.

 

Not mugs, but beautiful cardinal glasses. Perfect for a winter tablescape. I would have kept these if it was a larger set. There was 3 tumblers and 3 tall glasses, sold to the same lady for $24.

 

Overall I don't by mugs as frequently as I did in my eBay beginnings, but I do always check to mug section because some can be very valuable.

 

Have you sold any mugs lately?

 

 

Drunk Teddy Bear

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, and that you're enjoying the holiday spirit. I love Christmas lights and have really enjoyed seeing them go up all over town.

 

November sales were slow overall, in fact it was the worst month I'd had all year. It probably had more to do with me listing next to nothing in Sept/Oct. So far Dec has been steady, because I started listing quite a bit at the end of November. Here's some recent sales:

 

This Drunk Teddy Bear sweatshirt from the 80's sold for $20

I got it at an online estate sale with a bunch of other clothes that all smelled like smoke. It took me literally 7x through the washer with vinegar, oxyclean etc to get the smell out!

 

This Atomic Star flatware serving set sold for $40

 

This is one of the first (maybe 200) items I ever listed on eBay. It has been sitting there forever (almost two years!)

 

It's a Veggie Tales Nativity set. I LOVE Nativity sets, and this one is super cute. It was missing most of the pieces though, and sold for only $12

 

This vintage Weebles circus set sold for $49 I paid $6? at an online estate sale.

 

That's it for now! Hope things are going well for you on and off eBay.

 

 

Sales and Issues

 
 
 

This mug sold in October for a best offer of $30

$30 for a mug? I'll take that any day!!!

It's signed Vietri - a name to always look out for on ceramics.

No issues here, thank goodness!

 

Sometimes selling on eBay, just like any job, can be stressful. The difference with eBay is in the end I am my own boss, my customers aren't able to yell at me to my face and so I never take it too much to heart. October seemed to be full of eBay issues for me.

 

 

This pitcher and these canisters sold early in the month (perhaps late Sept).

 

I mixed up the labels and they went to the opposite buyers! Oh no, talk about anxiety. These are some fragile items which I'd made $80 on. Luckily BOTH buyers were helpful, kind and sent back the items promptly. I sent them both labels via priority mail, so the turn around was less than a week.

They've both received their correct items and one has left positive feedback. Phew.

 

The inexpensive items will always be the ones with issues.

 

I took a best offer of $12 free shipping on this tie. The buyer included some nice feedback extortion in one of his many messages. He finally returned the item, and his PayPal wasn't working so I'm still messaging him while he get's his info up to date. Geesh.

 

October FLEW buy and I bet I didn't list more than 20 things all month.

How are things for you in the eBay world?

 

 

It's Time to List... FLATWARE!

Food holidays are around the corner...

 

Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas are fast approaching and many an organized home-owner the world around are making sure they have enough matching flatware to set their tablescape.

 

If you're like me, it's time to list that flatware you've been hoarding over the summer!

 

How To Install Old eBay App

I gave the new app a few days, but unfortunately after missing several messages and best offers due to not receiving notifications, I really wanted the old app back while eBay irons out the kinks. I searched eBay forums and found the answer.

Thanks to Kyokat12 on the eBay forums for these easy instructions:

1. Uninstall current awful ebay app
2. Google search "old ebay app" and tap on the first website
http://app-oficial-de-ebay.en.uptodown.com/android​/old
3. Select the version on the right-hand side, version 3.0.0.19 (the last version before the new monstrosity)
4. Download
5. Go to your Play Store home page
6. Click Apps
7. Tap the top left menu, then select My Apps
8. Under your Installed list, find the newly downloaded Ebay app, select it
9. Bring up the menu by tapping your bottom left pad (left of the phone home button)
10. Uncheck Auto-Update

Pantry Reset Update

I've been too busy cooking to blog. But I've found some time and here I am with a pantry reset update.

The last of the protein.

It's September! Can you believe it? In August we spent just about $500 on food - or an average of $125/wk or $16/day. We didn't decide to do the challenge until the 7th though - so that's a whole week of unemcumbered spending.

A search on my online banking allowed me to figure out what we spent this time last year.

August 2014 $1129
August 2015 $500
(I went to Costco yesterday the 31st and spent $118 on food that is counting towards September as we haven't eaten it yet)

I looked at May too, incase that insane number was a fluke, but no it wasn't:
May 2014 $1110
May 2015 $967

We had been spending about $250-$275/week to feed a family of four (plus animals). That's crazy! Not to mention we can't actually afford it.

The pantry reset has been time consuming. Mainly because it is still summer and the kids are home (snacking) all day - and once we ran out of the ready snacks (about a week in) it was time to make or bake them.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (use up canned pumpkin, cream cheese blocks which I had 4 of in my fridge for an unknown reason)

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies (use up Craisins, Oats, add pecans omit chocolate and they are amazing)

Copycat Golden Oreos (A HUGE hit, used up a bunch of margarine I had in the freezer from last Thanksgiving's homemade gingerbread house fiasco)

I've been baking bread, cookies, muffins and pies. I've made several crock-pot meals, and am eating lots of salad too. The quality of our food has gone up rather than down, even now when I'm getting to the dredges of what's left in the pantry. My personal problem is eating the cookies and popcorn I make the kids for snacks. I'm not a fan of goldfish, but these homemade goodies are hard to pass up!

Is this food revolution going to last forever? Have I bought my last loaf of HealthNut? Certainly not because I'm getting burned out. But I am happy to have found an area where we can greatly improve our spending habits, and eat a little healthier in the process.

Again & Pantry Reset

My husband hates a particular habit I have. I'll rearrange a whole room, live with it for a week and then decide I can't stand it a second longer, then proceed to have him help me put it back to where it was before.

Well that is what I (mostly) did with my blog. While I'm rearranging I'm mopping under furniture and dusting knick knacks - and with my blog I did some house cleaning too. So it was not all a loss.

I started this blog as an eBay journal, and the new format wasn't conducive to "journaling" - so here we are back to basics and I'm totally excited about it.

The past couple weeks have been busy. We went on vacation. I've been listing consistently and have about 1020 items currently listed (about 20 on auction on my personal account are all my kids outgrown clothes). I've been having typical summer sales. I got a negative feedback (which I was expecting after the back and forth with the buyer). It was one of those, "if you aren't happy with the item send it back for a full refund," but since she'd already told me in another message that the (jacket) was "so cute" she obviously didn't want to send it back, and I gave her a partial refund, which she rewarded by leaving a negative and saying something to the effect that the jacket was horrible and smelly - I made the mistake of saying "excellent" when I missed a small stain. I did try to call and have in removed but in the end I know I misrepresented the item. Oh well.

I have been selling lots of shoes. I got about 30 pairs for $3 at an online estate auction! It was about a 45 minute drive to go pick them up (and the rest of the contents of the closet) but well worth it. I spent $28 total for an entire closet of stuff. It's been work, and it's only a third listed, but about 6 pairs of shoes have already sold including these Skechers Shape Ups:

Sold $27 paid $.10

I don't think they are manufacturing these anymore.

New In Box sell for up to $100!

 

Keurig Replacement Lid sold for $12.99

Sold the tank for $26, and another part for $6 too - all within three days,

I got the broken Keurig from my grandmother for free

 

Winter Jacket size 6XL

Sold for $100 to a buyer in Australia. Paid $10 at DAV

 

I've also sold several pairs of jeans recently too, so fall clothing sales are starting!

 

PANTRY RESET CHALLENGE:

 

 

After our vacation money is pretty tight this month, so we've decided to do a pantry challenge. You take an inventory of everything in your freezer and pantry and eat it all before buying more (we're anticipating this taking us a month). We uncovered about 35lbs of meat from the depths of our freezers and pounds of rice, pasta, and beans from the pantry. Luckily both my husband and I are decent cooks, but I have a feeling the last two weeks will be the real challenge when supplies dwindle! We'll limit our grocery spending to milk, fruit, and veggies. No store bought bread until we can't make it out of our pantry! I have a feeling I'll be logging lots of kitchen hours this month but that's okay it will be fun to see how much we can save by doing this. After reading many frugal cooking blogs, and other pantry challenges I do truly feel blessed to have a months worth of food in our pantry.

 

Have you done a pantry challenge before?