Goodwill Haunting

Thrifty Treasures Thursday … And Stuart the Salsa Dancing Dog

2011-12-22T17:26:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I had to drive DS#2 to his job at Disneyland. (Did I mention he gets FREE admission pretty much anytime he wants … and if I’m a good girl, I get to go with him once or twice a year and get in free!) Anyway, I took advantage of the 45-minute drive to Anaheim to check out the GW store in that area.

I found a couple tops and a jacket, plus this lot of 9 ornaments. There are seven Hallmark, one Christopher Radko, and one Lenox. Woohoo! Score! I paid $24.91 for the lot – about $2.75 each. The little Crayola Crayon tepee is going to DD for her collection, and I’m keeping the Olympic Santa. The remaining 7 are listed in my eBay store. Actually, 6 are listed as one already sold. If all sell at my fixed price, total sales for the lot would be $168.00! Now that’s cash for trash!

stuart the salsa dancing dog

Okay, so this video has nothing to do with thrifty treasures. I thought I’d just share it and bring a smile to your face.

Stuart is just way too cute! When I first saw this, I thought it had to be fake. I couldn’t believe a dog could dance this long – a whole 1.42 minutes – but I saw it all the way through, and it’s definitely for real! Stuart just loves to dance, and he’s got all the right moves!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful, healthy and prosperous NEW YEAR!

Goodwill AS-IS Outlet Store Discovery

2011-12-18T16:23:00.001-08:00

In my last post, I mentioned that we just got back from a trip to San Francisco/Berkeley. I decided that on this final trip of the year I would go to a GW store. You have to remember that I go on these trips with DH, and a trip to the thrift store is never in the schedule. This time I threatened to have a major tantrum and throw myself on the ground if I couldn’t go to the TS.

Me, whining to DH: We ALWAYS do what you wanna do! Why can’t we do something I want to do this time? DH: Okay, I don’t want to hear you! Find out where it is and we’ll go Saturday morning. Me: Yippee!! Ya’ll know this is not too far from the truth!

I quickly search on my Smart Phone for Goodwill Store San Francisco. Well, guess what? I discovered there is a store that is called the AS-IS store and you can buy clothes there for $2!! It’s not a regular retail store and it’s rather junky, but I certainly don’t care, not at $2 per piece.

Okay, so this picture is not the real door to the as-is store, but it’s pretty darn close. This “store” (and I use the term loosely) is just around the corner from the real retail thrift store.

This is a picture of the real thrift store. The as-is “store” is located behind on a side street and it is a hole-in-the-wall.

These pictures are from the internet taken a few years ago. I was surprised that there weren’t so many folks when I was there; and instead of bins, there are now tables to sort through:

All clothing is $2, except children’s clothes and stuffed toys are $1. I arrived just before 10 a.m. and there wasn’t too much left (plus DH was waiting in the car for me) so I didn’t spend too much time looking. Still, I managed to find a few things and came home with a bagful of clothes.

Just to mention a few: A Queen of Hearts costume, a couple of down-filled jackets by London Fog, a couple of Chico’s items, a Ralph Lauren Black Label polo shirt, and a Starbucks shirt, all in great condition.

We then drove around the block to the real GW store. Boy, talk about sticker shock!! It’s a very nice store that is well-stocked and organized. You could almost believe you are in a department store. But it also has the prices to go with it. After just spending $2 on a brand new Chico’s Travelers pants, I could not see myself spending $7.50 for a shirt; some items were priced higher. Needless to say, I bought nothing …

Anyway, the as-is clearance store has auctions during the week. The store is open until 11:30 to vendors/resellers who buy bulk quantities at auction. I was lamenting that I live too far way to make a weekly trip to SF (over 300 miles one way). So I had to find out if there were any as-is (or outlet) GW stores in So. California. Guess what?! There are 3 … woohoo! They’ve been around a few years and I know they exist throughout the country. I just don’t why they haven’t been on my radar screen. I always seem to be a dollar short and a day late. Hopefully, not this time …

I am definitely going to check these out and will let you know how this works out for me. … And, as for DH, he has now decided that he wouldn’t mind making a trip to San Fran every 3 months to stock up on inventory! Now who’s having the tantrum?!

San Francisco Here We Come … Again!

2011-12-18T14:56:00.001-08:00

golden gate bridge with Alcatraz island in the background

I just love San Francisco and the Bay Area in general. I love driving up the California Central Coast and seeing the beautiful ocean … what a scenic drive! There’s Morro Bay, Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey .. and let’s not forget Yosemite. Drive further north and you are in the wine country of Sonoma and Napa. This year alone we’ve made the trip to San Fran four times.

point Bonita lighthouse

Actually, our real destination is Berkeley where DS#1 is going to school. It’s a weekend trip for us; and each time we visit, we see something new. DS#1 will be graduating in June, and he says he’d like to stay in the area after graduation. However, he’s worried about finding a job in this economy … like so many of his fellow students. He’ll be celebrating his 25th birthday this week and he’s trying to keep a positive outlook on his future.

DH and I have a lot of faith and believe in him. DS knows he will always have our love and support no matter what. He’ll be staying with us until after the new year. Then it’s back to school for his last semester.

Son, we are proud of you and love you so much! Happy Birthday!

Cash for Trash: Christmas Sales

2011-12-14T22:00:00.001-08:00

2 Tier German Woodland Christmas Pyramid & Candles NEW – sold $149.95 – paid $3

My sales were not too bad last week. I sold a few Christmas-related items, like this brand-new German pyramid that sold for almost $150. I paid only $3 for it at a huge yard sale this summer. The homeowner told me she had sold her house and was moving to another city so I think she just wanted to get rid of stuff. She had really great prices!

Sakura China Debbie Mumm CHRISTMAS TOPIARY Salad PlateS (4) – sold $12.95 each – paid $0.25 each

I sold all 4 of these salad plates; each had a different Santa design. I wrote about this dinnerware set in a previous post and mentioned that I paid $5 for it. Except for 2 bowls, I have sold all the pieces for a total of $135.00!!

Set (4) DEBBIE MUMM Folk Art PENGUINS Christmas Holiday MUGS by Sakura NIB – sold $26.99 – paid $2.99

I may have been able to get more for this set by selling each mug individually. But there were quite a few listings for individual mugs; and I didn’t really want to hang on to this set for any length of time so I listed the set with Free Shipping. It sold right away and flat-rate shipping was $7.

Black & Yellow Roman Stripe Throw Quilt 60" Square NEW – sold $49.95

I made this small quilt last year and decided to list it on Etsy last month. I was pleasantly surprised to see it sold. I’m thinking that in the new year I am going to list my vintage and handmade items – even my sewing patterns – on Etsy rather than eBay.

2011 San Diego COMIC CON WB THUNDERCATS BIG BANG THEORY SWAG BAG PACK 23 X 27 – sold $19.99 – paid $3.99

I was at GW, already in line to pay, when I spotted these bags hanging on a wall way in back of the store. I wasn’t sure what they were, but the print caught my eye. Turns out they were new bags from the Comic.con convention in San Diego. They were a little pricey at $3.99 but this was the last bag that was “backpack” style so I bought it. I found a similar one on eBay that sold for $19.99 with free shipping so that’s what I did. However, this went to a buyer in Australia so he also paid for shipping!

Here are my top clothing sales:

LILIA SMITH Women's Black Western Fringe Evening Cocktail Dress Sz 3/4 – sold $24.95 – paid $2

Tommy Bahama USC Trojans Men's 100% Silk Hawaiian Shirt Size XL – sold $21.52 – paid $2

No! Not more ugly Christmas sweaters!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters – sold $24.99-$16.95 – paid $2.00-$3.98

I have only SIX sweaters left in my store; and I’ll be marking them down 20% this weekend. Don’t really want to keep them in stock beyond December.

So I was watching a morning talk show today and they did a feature on Ugly Christmas Sweaters! This phenomena has been around for a few years; but instead of fading out, it seems to be gaining in popularity. Sales of these tacky sweaters have doubled since last year and are now 5 times what they were a few years back. “Ugly” “tacky” “reindeers” seem to be the buzz words for searches.

Here’s a great article with more info:

Searches for "ugly Christmas sweaters" are up 30% in December compared with December last year, according to Google's research tool Insights for Search. It's "one of the most-searched-for terms among people looking for information about sweaters," a Google spokeswoman says. On eBay this year, someone paid $282.59 for a sweater with three reindeer across the front, an increase from the website's most expensive holiday sweater last year, which sold for $200. EBay's sales of holiday sweaters are 24% ahead of last year.

Thrift stores are all out of Christmas sweaters for this season, but start looking for them come January. All those ugly, tacky sweaters will be sure to end up at the thrift stores!

California Dreamin’ … Another Beautiful Day

2011-12-09T15:56:00.001-08:00

It was a nice 76 degrees today – not too hot and not too cold. Just the way I like it.

A few years back, I was looking to change jobs and applied for a job in the city of Encinitas. My interview was in the afternoon; and when I was done, it was already late in the day. As I was finding my way back to the freeway, I made a “wrong” turn and came face-to-face with the most beautiful – and unexpected – sunset right over the beach. I forgot all about hurrying home! I drove into a small parking lot and sat there for a few minutes, just taking in the view. I fell in love with Encinitas right then and there! For various reasons, I withdrew my application so I didn’t get the job, but I always wanted to return to that beach.

So when Mr. GH asked me if I wanted to go with him to Encinitas this past Wednesday, I immediately said yes. He was going there for business purposes; but knowing how close the beach is to the main highway, I hoped that I’d be able to walk there. As it turns out, the place we went to was only one block away. So while Mr. GH worked, I was in heaven!

This beach is well hidden because there are residential streets all along the beach so you can’t see it because of the houses. It is a public beach owned by the State, but I think the locals think of it as their private beach. The small public parking lots are well hidden and the access stairs are located between properties, so it looks like private access. I’m sure very few “outsiders” know about this – unless they stumble upon it like I did – which is why the beach is always empty.

California may have its problems – which state doesn’t – but you can’t beat it when it comes to the weather!

This is what I call California Dreamin’ … not a bad way to end the day.

Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay #22: DREAMSICLES Cherubs – And How Their Creator Ended Up In Prison!

2011-12-08T14:07:00.001-08:00

DREAMSICLES THANKSGIVING BE THANKFUL FIGURINE 2000

Starting Bid: N/A	Winning Bid: $11.50
Paid: $0.99	From: Goodwill
Ended: 9/21/08	Winner: Avon, OH

The Dreamsicles collection of adorable cherubs was created by Kristin Hayes and was produced by Cast Art Industries. In 2001, the collection celebrated its 10th anniversary, but it is no longer in production.

Dreamsicles Nativity Assortment Ret Figurines DX489 MIB

Starting Bid: N/A	Winning Bid: $52.00
Paid: $9.99	From: Goodwill
Ended: 1/21/09	Winner: Independence, MO

This exact same Nativity set sold last week for $174.95! Wow! It’s all about supply-and-demand.

DREAMSICLES FIGURINE NATURE'S BOUNTY CALENDAR COLLECTION 1993

Starting Bid: N/A	Winning Bid: $8.99
Paid: $1.78	From: Sal Army
Ended: 7/23/09	Winner: Eau Claire, WI

DREAMSICLES ANGEL SNOWMAN & FRIENDS FIGURINE 1993

Starting Bid: N/A	Winning Bid: $9.99
Paid: $1.99	From: Goodwill
Ended: 7/23/09	Winner: Eau Claire, WI

Artist Kristin Hayes was raised in Utah; and, after graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in art, she turned her talents to sculpture. About 1991, she began creating a group of cherubs, bunnies, and other characters now known as Dreamsicles. They were an instant hit, and demand became so great that Kristin could no longer make the reproductions on her own. So, she turned to Cast Art Industries for assistance, and that's how the Dreamsicles collection was born.

DREAMSICLES FIGURINE NEWBORN CHERUB 1994 RETIRED

Starting Bid: N/A	Winning Bid: $6.99
Paid: $1.77	From: Sal Army
Ended: 7/30/09	Winner: Tiffin, OH

DREAMSICLES NATIVITY COLLECTION LIGHTED BETHLEHEM INN

Starting Bid: N/A	Winning Bid: $69.99
Paid: $5.99	From: Goodwill
Ended: 10/5/09	Winner: Holstein, IA

After 10 years of producing Dreamsicles, Cast Art Industries merged with Papel Giftware in 2003 and ceased producing the Dreamsicles collection. The merged company eventually failed due to financial fraud by Papel Giftware prior to the merge. So, Cast Art filed a lawsuit against the auditing company for negligence; and last year, won a verdict of $31.8 million.

As for Kristin Hayes, the artist and creator, she is now in Federal Prison for tax evasion. In November of last year, a federal judge sentenced her (and her husband) to 2 years, plus ordered her to pay more than $800,000 in penalties, fines, and interest. You can read the story here.

Every once in a while, I will run across a Dreamsicles figurine, but I stopped buying them because they aren’t good sellers. However, keep an eye out for certain larger or limited-edition pieces that can sell for $100 and some sets can even go for $900.

Cash for Trash: Ugly Christmas Sweaters

2011-12-07T22:54:00.001-08:00

Sales have picked up a little as buyers scramble for last-minute holiday gifts and items. Ugly or not, sweaters continue to fly off the shelves.

I first read about the “Ugly Christmas Sweater” phenomena in January, so I bought holiday sweaters all year long. I then realized that any “ugly” sweater would also qualify as well as holiday sweatshirts and turtlenecks.

I think I’d collected about 20+/- when I started listing them in September. I was thrilled – and a little surprised – when they started selling. To date, I have sold about 40 sweaters. Not all are ugly, but I will usually list them as “ugly Christmas sweaters”.

Here are my top selling “uglies”:

These may or may not be the ugliest, but they were the highest sellers, selling between $25 to $40 each. I paid about $30 for the lot, and they sold for a total of $291.27. Sweaters are not usually part of the $2 Rag Day sales, so I have to wait for the 50%-off sale and pay little more than $2. Still, 10 times my investment is not bad.

When I started buying these sweaters, I wasn’t sure how well they would sell – after all, some were ugly! But I am definitely SOLD! Total amount of sales for all sweaters is almost $800!! Now that’s cash for trash!

Janessa @ Savvy Saver Secrets has a couple of great posts on her “uglies”. Read them here and here. She’s got a great blog about her bargain shopping adventures and her great sales.

Believe in yourself and prosper!

Happy thrifting and selling!

A Few Words About Taxes … What you Need to Know

2011-12-05T12:28:00.001-08:00

In my previous post “eBay Blocks Users for Not Providing Tax IDs to PayPal”, Tina posed this question:

Does this mean you have to start collecting sales tax on the items you sell as well?

The short answer to Tina’s question is that sales tax and income tax are two different things. Whether you need to collect sales tax depends on the state where your business is located. The Tax ID required by PayPal is for the purpose of reporting income, and not related to sales taxes.

Her question made me realize there may be some sellers who are still confused about the PayPal Tax ID issue; and “operating a business” is a new concept to them. So I thought I’d do a post about what you need to know.

First off, I am not a tax attorney and everything I’ll tell you is from my own perspective and does not necessarily reflect the actual law. Having said that, DH and I have owned our own home business for over 20 years. I also worked over 20 years for local government in code enforcement and worked closely with the business license divisions. So I hope I’ve learned a few things along the way …

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as “hobby selling”. Even if you sell one thing, by law you are required to report the income of that sale on your state and federal tax returns.

The IRS finally figured out they can require payment processors (like PayPal and Amazon) to report payments received (income), which is why PayPal is “requesting” your Tax ID (usually your SSN). So what does this mean to you and me?

It means payment processors will be reporting "gross" payments to the IRS next year on Form 1099K for 2011 transactions. You will be getting a copy of this form (probably in January 2012), which will tell you what has been reported to the IRS.

NOTE: Want to know your PayPal gross payments to-date? Scroll to the end to find out how.

This means, that by law, you will be required to report the income of your eBay et al sales on your state and federal tax returns. And unless you relish the idea of a tax audit and the ensuing wrath of the IRS, it’s best to make sure this income is reported on your tax forms to Uncle Sam.

Now, wipe the sweat off your brow! This doesn’t mean you will necessarily owe taxes on your total online sales. If you are a “sole proprietor” (single business owner), you will be able to list your deductions (business expenses) by filling out a Profit and Loss (Schedule C) form along with your regular Form 1040.

Schedule C is used to figure out the net income or loss for your business by calculating your business income and subtracting your business expenses. This may include the costs associated with maintaining a home office as well as many other deductible business expenses. The total profit (or loss) is then entered on your 1040 as income.

Typical deductions include, but may not be limited to, the following (for more info, click on each link):

Advertising
Cost of Goods (Inventory)
Office expenses, including supplies and postage
Travel Expenses
Phone & Utilities
Professional Services
Vehicle expense (mileage)
Other Expenses: This may include cell phone, internet provider and website expenses, as well as bank charges and other miscellaneous expenses, such as reference books.

If you use a portion of your home for business, you may be able to take a home office deduction. HOWEVER, the IRS is very specific as to what constitutes a “home office” and what qualifies for this deduction. For more info, click here and here and here. If your home business does qualify for this deduction, the good news is you may also include mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation as expenses.

Note that most business expenses have restrictions on their deductibility or conditions that must be met before they can be deducted.

Calculating Net Profit/Loss

To calculate your Net Profit/Loss, subtract your Total Expenses/Deductions from your Gross Income. The resulting number is what you must report on your income tax return. This profit or loss is added in with other income by you and your spouse to determine the amount of tax payable

This means your tax liability will be calculated on your net profit - not your gross sales. You may even discover you have a Net Loss and may not need to pay taxes on your sales income. The more expenses/deductions, the lower your profit and the smaller your tax liability.

Self-employment Taxes

In addition to income taxes, you will also need to pay Self-employment Taxes. A sole proprietor is a self-employed individual and must pay self-employment taxes based on the income (profit) of the business. These are taxes paid by self-employed business owners for Social Security and Medicare. If you have a net loss, then you do not need to pay Self-employment Taxes.

A Word About City Business Licenses …

If you are operating a business – and yes, you are if you sell 1 item or hundreds of items – then you are required to get a city business license. Even if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar retail location, you are still required to get a city license. I know cities just don’t have the resources to catch every unlicensed business. Even so, they do what they can to proactively find unlicensed businesses (after all, that is lost revenue). I am not saying that PayPal will send your info to your local county or city, but I am aware cities use various sources to solicit information on unlicensed business. With the bad economy, cities are desperately looking for revenue. Just a word of caution if you don’t already have a city business license …

Important Disclaimer: This information is provided for general information purposes and is not intended to be used for the purpose of completing a tax return without the assistance of a tax professional. Always be sure to consult with your CPA or Tax Advisor. We’ve had our Tax Advisor for over 15 years.

For more information:

Tax Deductions: Home Business Tax Deductions

Deducting Business Expenses

How Can I Find Out The Amount of “Payments Received” that PayPal Will Report on My 1099K?

So, you think you don’t need to provide your Tax ID to PayPal because you don’t think you meet the $20K in payments received. Want to know for sure? Here’s how:

After logging onto your PayPal account, go the “History” link at the top of the page (just under the blue tabs).
When you scroll your cursor over the word “History”, you will see a drop-down menu.
Click on the “Reports” link. This will take you the “Reporting Center” page.
Under “Summary Reports”, you will see a link to “Monthly Financial Summary”. Click on the link.
On the “Monthly Financial Summary” page, you can select a month to view from the drop-down menu. This will generate your report.
The first part of the report shows your balances. The second part shows your Sales Activity. The amount shown here is what PayPal will report on your 1099K.
Do this for each of the past 11 months and you will get a pretty good estimate of the amount of payments you have received.

I highly recommend you do this so that you’re not surprised later on. I recently took the time to add up my monthly Sales Activity and discovered that PayPal’s amount is actually lower than my own calculations. It’s not by much so I believe the difference is due to the cash and money order payments I received.

Fancy Feast Exclusives Holiday Ornament

2011-12-03T14:42:00.001-08:00

Fancy Feast Exclusives Holiday Ornament

Adorn your home with a symbol of love and devotion. Sign up to get your FREE Fancy Feast 2011 Holiday Ornament.

As a special gift to you, we're including a coupon for $10 off an engraving from Things Remembered, so you can engrave your ornament with your cat's name for a sentiment that helps you remember this special time.

I just ordered one for my Checkers. Isn’t she beautiful?!

They are only giving away 7,000 until supplies last. They still have 5,000 left so it’s not too late to get yours! To order one for yourself, click here.

Cash for Trash: November Sales

2011-12-01T11:29:00.001-08:00

SOREL Youth Snow Ranger TP Boots Little Boys Sz 11 NEW – sold $29.99 – paid $5

November sales have been a little lackluster. After the summer slump, sales really picked up in August, and I really looked forward to the “great” November sales. But November turned out to be one of my slower months … bah hum bug!

When this happens, I always wonder if there was something I could have done to improve sales. Should I have listed more items? Perhaps it’s my product line? Maybe I should have listed more non-clothing items? But it seems I am not the only one with slow sales.

I’m thinking that it’s just the busy-ness of November. I know I’ve been busier than usual with family and such, and haven’t done much listing or thrift-shopping. I also think people were holding off shopping, just waiting for the Black Friday sales – which means they were not shopping online. I know Cyber Monday was great, but I think – with few exceptions – folks were mostly buying new items. Whatever the reason, my sales did slow down in November.

Not to say I didn’t have a few good sales. My “ugly sweaters” continue to sell and I did sell a few NIB toys. Here are my top sellers for November:

SOREL Youth Snow Ranger TP Boots Little Boys Sz 11 NEW – sold $29.99 – paid $5

SOREL Youth Snow Ranger TP Boots Little Boys Sz 9 – sold $21.79 – paid $2.70

These little boots are always good sellers. I have sold 3 pairs and none for less than $20.

BURBERRY Black Label Boy's Orange Nylon Windbreaker Jacket Size XL – sold $28 – paid $2

JACQUELINE FERRAR Women's Classic Black Leather Straight Skirt Sz 24W NEW – sold $27.52 – paid $2

SUNDANCE Catalog Cotton White Denim Jacket Women's Size Medium – sold $24.99 – paid $2

I didn’t recognize the brand name when I bought this jacket. I had no idea Sundance was Robert Redford’s clothing line, although in hindsight I should have figure it out!

LAUNDRY by Shelli Segal Women's Black Velour Long Sleeve Sheath Evening Dress 4 – sold $24.95 – paid $2

NEWPORT NEWS Easy Style Women's Black Lined Leather Pants Plus Sz 22W – sold $22.50 – paid $1

UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER Robinsons Red Sweater with Cute Dalmatians Sz M – sold $22 – paid $1.68

TIARA INT'L CHRISTMAS COLLECTION Fun Snowman Bright Green Hot Pink Sweater M – sold $20.99 – paid $2

NORTH FACE EXTREME GEAR Boys' Red & Black Nylon Winter Jacket Size M – sold $20.50 – paid $3

Boy, did I mess up on this jacket! I though I had scored when I bought this “North Face” jacket. I quickly listed it, thinking it would sell for some good $$, so I was a little disappointed it sold for only $20.50. But surely the buyer would be thrilled with their purchase, right? Wrong! I soon received one of those dreaded “Item Not As Described” messages. Turns out the jacket is not a “North Face”. I confirmed this by enlarging my picture … and sure nuff! In clear black letters, it says “North Sport”. After handling this jacket through the whole process, I cannot believe I missed this! Of course, I told the buyer I would give him a 100% refund including shipping, once I receive the item … am stilling waiting for it.

Harry Potter Professor Snape Potions Class Edible Activity Set 2001 DISCONTINUED – sold $24.95 – paid $4

I found this Harry Potter set at the SAVERS discount store. Since it’s sealed, I didn’t open it to test it. I suspect the buyer bought it as a Christmas gift so I hope it works! And doesn’t come back to bite my in the behind …

Star Wars Characters Creepy Crawlers Mold Maker Oven NEW NIB – sold $22.95 – paid $3

I found the Star Wars oven in the clearance shelves at Big Lots. Actually, I found 5 and they were priced at $7, discounted from $20. When the cashier rang it up, the price was $3 so I bought all they had. So far, I’ve only sold the one …

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends … and I also hope you’ve had some great sales!

Believe in yourself and prosper!

Happy saling and selling!

eBay Blocks Users for Not Providing Tax IDs to PayPal

2011-11-28T12:31:00.001-08:00

12-2-11 UPDATE end of this post …

Due to a new IRS reporting rule, PayPal is now asking online sellers for their tax ID number. The new rule, however, doesn't apply to all sellers. The IRS is requiring payment-service providers (such as PayPal & Amazon) to report gross payment volume from sales of goods or services received by merchants if they receive more than $20,000 in gross payment volume from sales of goods or services in a single year AND receive more than 200 payments for goods or services in the same year. Both conditions must be met to trigger the reporting requirement.

Although my sales this year have exceeded any previous year, I didn’t think I’d ever make $20,000 in sales. So when I first heard of this new IRS rule, I wasn’t concerned; but then I started receiving requests from PayPal for my tax ID. Naturally, I was a little miffed. You see, I was under the mistaken assumption that only the Sales Price was considered payment by the IRS. Unfortunately, ALL income received from sales is subject to this new ruling, including payment for shipping!

I keep an Excel spreadsheet of the details of all my transactions (includes eBay, Bonanza and Etsy). And, when I added up the total paid for each transaction, I was not too surprised to see that I have exceeded $20,000 in payments.

So, after doing some research and getting over the idea of providing my SSN, I submitted my info to PayPal. Am glad I did, now that I see eBay is blocking users for non-compliance.

What I’m not happy about is paying taxes on my sales. You can be sure I’ll be going through all my receipts (expenses) and recreating my mileage. So glad I kept everything, even if it is just thrown in a box. With the new year just around the corner, I’ll definitely be more diligent about keeping expense records for write-offs!

UPDATE 12-2-11: Oops! Momtoqts is right! Obviously I'm not the math major in the house! Just to clarify, if you have BOTH a minimum of 200 transactions AND have received $20K in TOTAL payments - this includes what you received for shipping - then you do need to report. And it also includes what you have received from Amazon, Etsy, Bonanza, etc. - any payment you received thru PayPal or Amazon or any payment processor.

In my case, I have over 1400 transactions and just over $17,500 in eBay sales; but adding what I received for shipping puts me over $20,000. I also had a handful of sales from Etsy and Bonanza that were paid thru PayPal.

Now eBay is blocking buyers for not providing their tax ID, even though some buyers do not meet this criteria. Not sure if eBay has corrected this, but AuctionBytes has a great article here.

The Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay ~ #21 BARBIE PINK HARD CASE FOR DOLL ACCESSORIES

2011-11-27T22:41:00.001-08:00

Starting Bid: $9.99	Winning Bid: $20.62
Paid: $1.50	From: Goodwill
Ended: 8/24/2008	Winner: Vacaville, CA

Starting Bid: $9.99	Winning Bid: $9.99
Paid: $1.50	From: Goodwill
Ended: 9/21/2008	Winner: Australia

Starting Bid: $9.99	Winning Bid: $9.99
Paid: $1.77	From: Goodwill
Ended: 11/24/2009	Winner: N/A

A few years back, I found three Barbie storage hard cases on separate occasions. I was pleasantly surprised when the first one sold for over $20. So, when I found the other two, I was hoping they’d sell for as much; but I was a little disappointed when they did not do as well.

The GW stores in my area no longer accept toys, although they will accept the occasional plush. I’m not exactly sure why but I suspect it has to do with liability and recalls on toys. So I have not come across these again.

In fact, I’m not sure how rare or collectible these really are. There are none currently listed on eBay, although there are a few older vintage cases that sold for over $50 (and a couple that sold for about $10). But if I come across another one for under $2, I would pick it up because I know it’d be a sure sale.

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-11-02T21:36:00.001-07:00

KENNER 401 SPIROGRAPH DRAWING TOY COMPLETE ORIGINAL VINTAGE 1967 – SOLD $39.99 – PAID $1

Whadda ya know? I just wrote a post about this vintage toy last week and it just sold! When I first listed it a month ago, I had a BIN price of $49.99 with free shipping and Best Offer. I received an email or two, but no hits. Then I received a message from someone who had a few questions about condition. At first I was a little annoyed, thinking the buyer had not read my description. Well, turns out that I never mentioned its condition. Once I revised my listing to include condition, removed the Best Offer and lowered the price, the item received more interest and it sold within days. Ka-ching!

I know I keep repeating myself, but ya gotta sell internationally! Here are a few of my recent international sales:

THE NORTH FACE BROWN LABEL DOWN JACKET Medium Brown Sz XL – sold $50 – paid $2

This jacket was listed in my store for 2-1/2 weeks before it sold to a buyer from the United Kingdom. They paid a total of $66 to have this.

DICKIES Denim Jeans Bib Overalls Men's size 36 x 32 Blue – sold $20 – paid $2

Third time’s the charm! For some reason, these Dickies overalls just couldn’t keep a buyer. They’d previously sold TWICE and each time the buyer failed to pay. When eBay had their recent listing promotion, I listed them again – for the THIRD time. This time the buyer was from Norway, who paid a total of $35.99 to get these pants. Somehow I managed to really squish these into a flat-rate padded envelope, and they are now on their way.

SIX FULLY NESTING AMERICAN GLASS COASTERS 1984 LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS COLLECTIBLES – sold $15 – paid $0.95

I still remember the 1984 L.A. Olympics. We didn’t go to any of the games, but there were many other Olympic-related events and things to see and do. DH and I were still newlyweds, and we were so excited to be living in L.A.

Anyway, I found the glass coasters pictured above at a small church thrift store and paid less than $1. I listed them at $15.00 with free domestic shipping. They’ve been in my store for a few weeks, but finally sold this week to a buyer from Greece. The beauty is they not only paid the $15 but also paid another $15 for shipping! AND, eBay will NOT include the shipping to calculate the final value fee. Yea!

Many of the items we sell may not generate much interest with US buyers. But these items may not be available in other countries, and international buyers are willing to pay good money for our “trash”. Gotta love ‘em!

Hope you’re having a great week!

Believe in yourself and prosper!

Happy saling and selling!

Linking up to the following blogs. Be sure to check them out for more great thrifty treasures!

Thrifty Thursday @ Bloggervitaville

Club G.W. Party @ Charm Bracelet Diva

What’s So Special About THIS SA Thrift Store?

2011-10-31T11:12:00.001-07:00

Like many eBay sellers, I’ll sell whatever I think will bring in a few bucks: books, magazines, knick-knacks, toys, games, dinnerware, cookware, etc., etc. But it wasn’t until I started reselling clothes that my sales – and profits – took off (thank you, My Dear Trash).

Reselling clothes, however, would not work out for me if I didn’t have the right source at the right price for my inventory. Wouldn’t it be great to have a one-stop source where you can pick up most of your inventory for the week? Well, I have found just that place! It’s the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Perris, CA.

Believe it or not, there is a thrift store behind all those trees! You can see from these pictures that this store is not located in a busy shopping strip but is actually located next to the railroad tracks in nowhere-land. It’s about a 40-45 minute drive, through the back roads to get there (or take the freeway for a longer drive).

Daily Auctions 7:00 AM

This is actually a Salvation Army complex that includes not only a rehabilitation center and warehouse but also vehicle and merchandise auctions. Donated vehicles are auctioned off at this location. I also see folks loading BINS & BINS of stuff onto their trucks. So I suspect this location receives overstock from the area stores; and what doesn’t sell in the store gets auctioned off here. Something I REALLY need to look into!

Of course, they also have the “family store” – and it’s huge! The picture above shows just a small section of the store.

An entire wall of dresses for $2 each! There are also racks and racks of women’s pants/slacks/jeans, blouses, sweaters, skirts and jackets, etc. Oh, and more racks of men’s shirts, slacks/jeans, sweaters, etc., although not as many as the women’s section. There’s also a wall of shoes; and the other half of the store includes sections for dishes, knick-knacks, furniture, lamps, etc.

Every Monday is “Rag Day”, although what’s on sale varies. ALL dresses and blouses are always on sale for $2. Two-piece outfits are $5. Usually sweaters and skirts are on sale for $2, but not always. Slacks/pants are always on sale, usually for $1 each; but sometimes 2 for $1. Men’s shirts and slacks are usually $2. A couple times they had $2-Days where ALL clothing was $2; and a few times they had all jackets/coats for $3!

Since all the clothes are on sale, there’s a greater selection. I can easily spend 4-5 hours in the store. Sometimes I get tired before I get to all the racks. I usually walk out with 30-60 items a week, depending on the selection. And I’m not the only one: I see many of the same faces every Monday, and most of them are filling cartloads with clothes to resell.

On this same day, they also have their books on sale: 10 for $1. So, you also have booksellers with cartloads of books. I don’t usually get to the books because I run out of time and energy, but on occasion I have bought a few books. At 10-cents a book, you just can’t go wrong!

They also have everything at 40% off on Tuesdays; and on Thursdays, children’s clothes are 50% off. Plus they have 50% off everything on the 1st and 3rd Friday/Saturday of the month.

So there you have it – my “secret” source for clothing. With one-stop, one-day convenience, this has become my main source for clothes. Of course, garage/yard sales are always the best way to pick up inventory at great prices!

Believe in yourself and prosper!

Happy saling and selling!

Thrifty Treasures Thursday: Vintage Spirograph

2011-10-27T22:25:00.001-07:00

KENNER 401 SPIROGRAPH DRAWING TOY COMPLETE ORIGINAL VINTAGE 1967

It has been so busy around here lately that I didn’t have a chance to complete this post until a few days later. Not only have I been busy listing, listing, listing, but I’ve been celebrating birthdays this month, including my own!

On top of that, I’ve been attending classes to be a certified emergency volunteer through my city’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Lots of good stuff to know but the Saturday classes are a bummer cuz I’m missing all those great sales!

A few weeks ago, though, I did manage to hit a few yardies. At one sale, I found this vintage Spirograph and this lot of board games, not to mention the lot of Leapster games and console. Each was only $1.

I remember this Spirograph set from my childhood, although I never had one. These sell between $20-$40 on eBay, depending on condition and completeness. One recently sold for $40! My set is complete and in great condition, so I have it listed at $39.99 with free shipping. Hope it sells soon!

Believe in yourself and prosper! Happy saling and selling!

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-10-26T11:46:00.001-07:00

Thank you all for your great comments on my last post. I appreciate them all because they keep me motivated. I also love visiting your blogs and reading about your great finds and sales. I’ve learned so much about online selling from bloggers everywhere and thank you all for sharing!

So, things have been flying off the shelves, and it’s going to be another good month! Here are a few highlights of my best sales from the past three weeks:

Leapster Leapfrog Educational GAME - 7 Cartridges – sold $47.83 – paid $1.00

A few weeks ago, I bought this game console with cartridges at a garage sale. I had no clue what I was buying, but at $1 for the lot I couldn’t go wrong. As it turns out, the console was broken; but after a quick search on eBay, I discovered the games are good sellers. I had 7 games and listed them with a starting price of $0.99. I clearly stated they were untested and offered a full refund if a game didn’t work. Well, they all sold and none have been returned! The 2 Disney ones were the best sellers, selling at $10.50 each.

PHUN SHIRTS Women's Cream Sweater Beautifully Embellished with Pearls Sz S NEW – sold $29.95 – paid $2.00

UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER Santa & Reindeer New York Cityscape VW Bugs 1995 Sz M – sold $26.00 – paid $3.00

I am amazed at how fast sweaters are flying off the shelves! I have been buying sweaters since the beginning of the year and saving them to get on the “Ugly Christmas Sweater” bandwagon. I think I had about 50 sweaters and listed them the beginning of this month. I have already sold 23! I’m pricing them from $8 for the turtleneck shirts up to $28-$30 for the sweaters, depending on their condition and design.

ALFANI Women's Graphic Print Mock Wrap Career Jersey Dress Plus Sz 3X – sold $35 – paid $3.60

I bought this dress at GW at 50% off. Ever since they raised their prices, I don’t shop as much at GW but you can still find some good deals, like this Alfani dress. This was a plus-size wrap dress so I knew it would be a good seller.

SHEEP MAP OF GREAT BRITAIN THEA GOUVERNEUR CS KIT – sold $69.99 – paid $2.35

I’m still reaping the benefits of my one visit to the SA. This cross stitch kit was purchased at the same time I bought the Eva Rosenstand kits. On that day, I spent $122 and so far have grossed over $1300!

ALPACALINDA Peru Alpaca Fur Plush 9" & 11” Teddy Bears Stuffed Animals with Tag – sold $52.49 – paid $1.50

Seriously, you just can’t beat garage sales for product sourcing! These 2 little guys are made from real fur and I paid only $0.75 each. They sold for a total of $52.49 to the same buyer! How’s that for a great profit margin!

Sakura China Debbie Mumm CHRISTMAS TOPIARY Dinner Plates (3) – sold $30 – paid $0.75

Here’s another great garage sale find! I paid $5 for this 20-piece Debbie Mumm stoneware set. So far, I’ve only sold these 3 plates, but I’ve already made 6 times what I paid for the set.

BOLO TIP: Dinnerware is a fantastic product to sell because it has a great profit margin. The secret is in selling the pieces individually. In the set above, each piece cost me only a quarter, and I broke the set up into 13 separate listings: 3 dinner plates (1 was broken); 4 salad plates; 4 cup/saucer sets; and 2 lots of salad bowls. If each listing sells for $10, I will gross $130 from my $5 investment. Ka-ching! You just have to find the right design at the right price.

Someone left a comment wondering about the SA store I shop at and lamented that their SA store basically sells junk. So, my next post is going to be about my SA store because it really is not your typical thrift store!

Oh, and that vintage Casio calculator that I bought for $1? It ended up selling for …

Casio FX-98 Solar Cell Scientific Calculator 42 Functions Vintage 1984 Rare

$267.84!!

Believe in yourself and prosper! Happy saling and selling!

Linking up to the following blogs. Be sure to check them out for more great thrifty treasures!

Thrifty Thursday @ Bloggervitaville

Club G.W. Party @ Charm Bracelet Diva

Cash for Trash: Military Air Crew Jacket & Casio FX-98 Vintage Calculator

2011-10-05T10:58:00.001-07:00

AIR CREW HEAVY JACKET BLUE HOODED VINTAGE 1950s Korea TYPE N-3A MIL-J-6279 Sz M

Another fantastic sale! I bought this jacket at the SA thrift on the same day that I bought the Eva Rosenstand cross stitch kits. Those six kits sold for almost $630!! Read my post about the kits here.

On this particular day, SA was having a $2 sale on ALL their clothing. I headed straight to the coats and jackets and filled my cart. This was one of the jackets – and I almost didn’t get it. The cashier questioned whether it was part of the $2 sale since it was heavy and obviously a “quality” jacket. After a small discussion with her supervisor, the cashier rung it up, and I got to bring it home for $2.

Once home, I realized it was an air crew military jacket. I found an online site about military jackets and learned this jacket was from the 1950s Korean War. I also found an old auction for the exact same jacket that sold in 2008 for $145. Score!

I started the listing at $99.00 and it ended this past Monday. So, how much did the jacket sell for? Drum roll, please …. a whopping $383.00! Can you say ‘ka-ching’! The buyer paid immediately and it’s already on its way. Click here to see the closed listing.

This particular visit to the SA turned out to be a goldmine. I spent just over $100, and so far, have grossed almost $1250.00 in sales. Now, that’s CASH FOR TRASH!

Casio FX-98 Solar Cell Scientific Calculator 42 Functions Vintage 1984 Rare

Last week I mentioned that I bought two of these vintage Casio FX-98 calculators at an estate sale for about $1.00 each. Turns out only one worked, so I listed that one with a starting price of $45.00. As of right now, it’s up to $61.00 with 14 watchers. Click here to see my listing, which ends Sunday evening.

But check out this closed listing for the exact same calculator that sold for $485 in March! That seller was able to guarantee the calculator worked. I, however, have no clue how to operate this little treasure. I did a few basic calculations and it works just fine, so I assume the scientific buttons work properly. We’ll see for how much it sells. Heck, I’m already $60 ahead!

Believe in yourself and prosper! Happy saling and selling!

Thrifty Treasures Thursday

2011-09-29T22:30:00.001-07:00

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to an estate sale, but this morning DS#2 and I ventured out to one in a nearby community. Don’t know how I managed to get him to come along, but I was happy for his company.

We got to the sale about 10:00 a.m. so everything was pretty much picked over. But we managed to find a few things, like the vintage Polaroid camera pictured above. It not only had its case but also had an unfinished pack of film. And, it’s in great working condition. Too bad I couldn’t find any more packs of film.

These metal kitchen canisters appear to be vintage. They’re in pretty decent condition, although one of them has a minor dent and a couple of scratches.

I also found a boxful of vintage maps circa 1960s-1970s from across the country. Most of them are from gasoline companies so there is that collectible connection. I read somewhere that vintage city maps are valued for their historical data. Even so, they don’t seem to sell for really big bucks so am not sure if I’ll resell them or use them for crafting.

The lady who used to live there was an artist and there were tons of her paintings for sale. I can only imagine how many there were when the sale first started. She also had a ton of frames for her paintings. I picked up this oval frame for a special project I have in mind. Her paintings were reasonably priced but none of them really “spoke” to me.

These are two credit-card size Casio calculators. I picked them up because I’ve read that vintage calculators are collectible. By the time I found these, I was pretty much ready to leave so I just grabbed them without even checking to see if they work. Really, how much could they cost?

We found a few other knick-knacks; so between the two of us, DS#2 and I had a small pile of stuff. Nothing was priced, and the folks running the sale took a quick inventory before charging me $15 for the lot. Not the greatest bargain, which is why I’m not a big fan of estate sales. You really do have to be first in line to get the best stuff. But even so, I think I can make a nice profit …

…especially when I discovered that the two little credit-size Casio scientific calculators may be VERY hard to find and very collectible. I read that one sold in March for $485!! I’ll definitely be listing these very soon, so we shall see how well they sell.

Linking up to Thrifty Thursday @ Bloggervitaville and Thrifty Things Friday @ The Thrifty Groove. Be sure to check them out for more great thrifty treasures!

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-09-28T21:37:00.001-07:00

Seems like forever since I’ve had a Cash for Trash update. Things have been jumping on eBay, and I’ve been spending every spare minute listing as much as I can. I’m averaging about 50 sales a week, and I’ve already passed the $2,000 mark for September – that’s two months in a row! I have a new monthly goal of $3,000 – it’d be awesome if I could reach that before the end of the year.

So, what have been my best sales during the past 6 weeks? I previously posted here about the cross stitch kits that sold for over $600, but here are my other top sellers:

Doc Dr Martens Brown Chunky Oxfords UK 6 US 8 EUR 39/40 – sold $55.99 – paid $5

NAT NAST Men's Black Green Silk Long Sleeve Shirt Sz L – sold $36.01 – paid $2

Diane von Furstenberg Black Taffy Eyelet Wrap Dress 4 – sold $36.00 – paid $7.00

OBERMEYER LADIES TEAL SKI BIB SUIT OVERALL PANTS SZ 8L – sold $34.99 – paid $2.37

NINE WEST Pardon Women's Black Leather Boots Sz 7.5 M – sold $35.00 – paid $9

WITCH DRESS COSTUME Women's Black Gold Plus Sz 16W-24W – sold $30.00 – paid $2

BellePointe Women's Fourth of July SS Hand Knit Cardigan Sweater Sz L NEW – sold $30.00 – paid $2

Vintage ST. JOHN MARIE GRAY 2-PIECE BLUE SKIRT SUIT 12 – sold $29.95 – paid $4.73

I.B. DIFFUSION SPORT Women's Funky Colorful Hot Pink Neon Green Sequin Sweater S – sold $29.95 – paid $2

Adorable Rubies SUPERGIRL Toddler Dress Costume Sz 2-3 – sold $24.99 – paid $1

GUINEVERE California Costume Girl's Dress Costume Sz M – sold $24.95 – paid $2

CLAIROL KINDNESS DELUXE 3-WAY HAIRSETTER HOT ROLLERS with WAX CORE PAGEANT – sold $24.95 – paid $4

Killtec Litorio Level 5 Men's Black Ski Snow Jacket L – sold $75 – paid $10

And, this high seller has been in my garage for a few years. It was another item that our neighbor gave us when he moved. Sold for $79.88 – that’s what I call “money in the garage”!

Nikko Tec RC Radio Controlled Submarine Shark Hunter – sold $79.88 – paid $0 (freebie)

I started listing the few costumes I had at the end of August. That’s paid off cuz people start serious buying for Halloween right after Labor Day.

I’ve also been listing those Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Whoa! Have you seen for how much some have sold? I’ve been buying these sweaters since Spring and have a few bagful’s. I bought the two listed in this post as “ugly sweaters” but didn’t list them as such – after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

And I’ve ventured into selling shoes thanks to We Sell on Ebay. I was thrilled when the Doc Marten’s sold, but I’m not having much luck finding many deals on shoes to resell. I’ll have to keep searching for a good source.

Don’t you just love getting cash for trash? Hope your sales have been jumping too. Happy sales to you!

Never Too Late To Learn … Or Is It?

2011-09-17T08:35:00.001-07:00

"Just drop your dress a little bit, and you'll see your boobies."

This is way too funny! But I know exactly how they feel. Have a great day!

Selling on eBay: International Shipping with Stamps.com

2011-09-16T21:03:00.001-07:00

First, I want to thank you for your kudos and comments on yesterday’s post about the cross stitch kits. And, I also want to emphasize that not all needlework kits sell for that much. I agree with Jennifer B. who commented that most cross stitch kits sell for an average price of $15, although I’ve had a couple of needlepoint kits sell for $20-$25. Jennifer provided great additional information and I recommend reading her comment here.

I am still at a real loss as to why these kits sold for so much, but I did have a few clues that these might be good sellers:

They were complete kits and were brand new.
They appeared to be European.
Instinct told me that the names Eva Rosenstand and Clara Waever were better than Leisure Arts.
The kits were vintage from the 70s and 80s.

I also find it interesting that four of the five winners were Japanese; and in fact, I believe most of the bidders – even non-winning – were from Japan. I can only speculate that needlecraft is highly prized in Japan; and perhaps with the horrific devastation, they are now trying to replace their losses. I am glad Japan is making a comeback!

A couple of you also commented that you don’t normally offer international shipping, although you will ship international if requested. I cannot emphasize enough the big loss in sales when you do not offer international shipping. It is as easy as domestic shipping!

I know you can now print international postage directly from eBay*, but I prefer to use Stamps.com. Not only is it FREE, but they will also give you a FREE scale (just pay s/h)! I get by just fine with the free version.

*Correction: eBay does offer flat-rate international shipping. Not sure why I thought it didn’t. I still prefer using Stamps.com simply because I can print on a 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 adhesive label which I also use for domestic shipping. And I don’t have to sign the label as I do when I go thru eBay. Not a big deal but it keeps it simple, as in KISS!

I linked my PayPal and eBay accounts to it and now print all my international shipping labels with Stamps.com. No more waiting in line! And, I go to the post office anytime and just drop the package in the chute. Have been doing this for over a year and have NEVER had a problem.

Here’s a quick pictorial tour of how it works for me:

Step One: This is the first screen you will see after clicking on the BATCH tab from the home screen. You can hit the refresh button to make sure your imported sales are up-to-date. In this screen shot, I have one international order from Canada. I can select (check) this one order to edit and proceed to the next screen.

Step Two: In this second screen, I can confirm the address, make changes if needed, enter the weight, select the shipping method and even buy insurance if I choose. From this screen, I can also click SELECT to update the customs form, which will take me to another window.

Step Three: This window is for Customs Information. I fill-in a few simple boxes, agree to the the terms, and hit OK. This will take me back to 2nd screen, where I click on the SAVE button. I will end up back on the first screen.

Step Four: Now that the information is updated, I am ready to print postage for my Canada sales order. Not enough money in my postage account? No problem, I can easily buy more postage using my PayPal account. I then slip a shipping label into my printer, and hit the PRINT POSTAGE button. This will take me to the next screen.

Step Five: Hit the PRINT button and before you know it, you have an international shipping label:

This is a First Class International label, but I also use this for Priority Mail. You’ll notice that I don’t even have to sign the label since all my information is already on record:

I can request a Carrier Pickup, but I prefer to take my packages to the post office. No waiting in line … just drop them in the mail chutes. I can even go after hours … whenever it’s convenient for me. How much easier can that be?

By the way, USPS now offers free padded envelopes for priority mail shipping. I use these to mail bulky clothing items, like jeans and overalls. You can see in the picture above how great they work. I order them online and within a few days, they arrive at my door. These free FLAT RATE padded envelopes are only $4.95 to ship and you can fit so much more into them. I’ve even mailed flat shoes and sandals in them.

Whether you use eBay or Stamps.com, it is now so easy to ship internationally. Why are you waiting? Do not hesitate anymore and you’ll definitely see an increase in your sales! I hope this post has encouraged you give it a try. Check out the Stamps.com website for more info. I think you’ll be glad you did!

Cash for Trash: Cross Stitch Kits Net Over $600

2011-09-15T14:23:00.001-07:00

Eva Rosenstand Clara Waever PORK Cross Stitch KIT 1979 – Paid $2.35 – sold $270.00

Remember the men’s kilts I bought for $2 each that netted over $1,000? Or the Reyn Spooner Disney Pixar shirt that sold for over $155? Well, these cross stitch kits were just as much a surprise!

A couple weeks ago I was at the SA for my weekly Rag Day adventure. On these days, I don’t normally browse the rest of the store because items are not on sale. But on this particular day, I decided to quickly look around to see what else I could find.

I found a stack of cross stitch kits; and knowing that needlecraft kits can be good sellers, I grabbed all of them. I was unfamiliar with the brand name and had no idea of their worth, but at $2.35 each I knew I could make a profit.

There wasn’t much information on eBay on this particular designer, but the few items I found sold for about $50-$60. I had six vintage kits by Clara Weaver and listed them between $9.99 and $24.99. Imagine my surprise when I checked my listings a couple hours before ending and saw that one kit was up to $182! I couldn’t believe my eyes; I was so excited that I almost hyperventilated!

The listings ended yesterday; and when all was said and done, the six kits together sold for a total of $629.87! Two sold for $270 and $177.50. The rest sold between $29 and $58.77. It’s interesting to note that 5 kits sold to buyers from Japan who paid the most for the kits. The 6th kit sold to a buyer from Canada. Not bad for an investment of $14.10!

Now THAT’S REALLY CASH FOR TRASH! Hope your sales are going strong now that the summer slump seems to be over.

eBay’s Shopping Cart Eliminates Bid Commitments

2011-09-11T14:04:00.001-07:00

eBay rolls out its new shopping cart checkout just in time for the holidays. Although the shopping cart has been around since earlier this year as an option, it is now the standard way to shop on eBay.

There is no way for sellers to opt out of having their items added to the eBay Shopping Cart. Buyers who have voluntarily opted in can opt out at any time by going to their cart and clicking the "opt out" link near the top right of the page.

The good is:

Buyers can use the cart for both Auction-style and Fixed Price items.
For sellers, the eBay Shopping Cart is a great way to up-sell and cross-sell. Buyers can easily add more of your items to their cart.
The eBay Shopping Cart eliminates virtually all unpaid items for Fixed Price listings. Fixed Price items added to a buyer's cart but not paid for remain available for other buyers to purchase—your listing stays active until payment is sent.

Sounds pretty good, but how does this work for Auction-style items? Not so good, if you ask me! When a buyer bids on your auction, they are NO LONGER committed to buying the item. When a buyer places a bid, the item goes into their shopping cart. However, there is a REMOVE button, allowing them to retract their bid if they change their mind.

The following is directly from eBay’s FAQs. Read it very carefully as it is very cleverly worded:

There is a "Remove" link below each item in the cart. Buyers can click this link to remove items. Any item can be removed except completed successful Auction-style listings and Best Offers that have been accepted. These can't be removed because buyers have already committed to pay for them.
Auction-style listings are automatically added to a buyer's cart once they place a bid. The winning bidder pays for the item from their eBay Shopping Cart at the end of the Auction-style listing, just like a Fixed Price item.

What this says, without actually saying it, is that a bid CAN be removed unless ii is the winning bid. A listing with a bid is no longer a sure sale.

I first noticed this when my number of listings with bids kept changing. I had a couple of listings with bids then suddenly – poof – the bids were gone. When I finally figured this out, I was not a happy camper! However, I realize it’s better to have a person retract their bid than to have an unpaid item. So, this becomes one more of many changes to get used to …

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-08-17T17:35:00.001-07:00

Looks like the summer slump may be over! Last week was a fantastic week – no small thanks to my kilt sales. I also took advantage of eBay’s 1-cent insertion promo, which again paid off for me. I had 43 sales, with the highest of $232.50 for a kilt and the lowest of $0.99 for a vintage crochet book and vintage glass reamer.

Aside from the kilts, here are my other top clothing sales:

MILLY NEW YORK WOMEN'S BLACK SHEER LACY TOP SZ 10 – sold $19.99 – paid $1

MERONA Women's Navy White Faux Wrap Dress Sz M – sold $21.50 – paid $2

The North Face Women's Black 1/2 Zip Pullover Top Sz M – sold $24.50 – paid $2

FIRENZE SANTA BARBARA Black Leather Straight Skirt Sz 2 – sold $39.99 – paid $1

And my other top sellers, listed during the 1-cent insertion fee promotion:

THE THREE MUSKETEERS Alexandre Dumas Easton Press MINT – $27.99 – paid $3.99

Vintage Coke Coca Cola Soda Yellow Wooden Box Crate – sold $18.99 – Paid $0 (free)

The vintage coca cola box above was a freebie from a neighbor who was moving. We’ve had it in the garage for a few years and I finally got around to listing it. Glad it sold and will be gone!

BUFFET CRAMPON PARIS COOPER SCALE FLUTE IN CASE – sold $51.00 – paid $0

This flute belong to DS#2 when he was in junior high, 6 years ago. He quit his lessons almost as soon as he started, so the flute was hardly used. He recently finally cleaned out his room and this flute was in the “no longer want” pile. It sold to a buyer in India.

And, this was my best sale … well, sorta:

LITTLE TIKES TYKES FOOTBALL TOY BOX ICE CHEST COOLER – sold $74.99 – paid $14.99

I was really, really excited about this item because I had just read a blog post about these football Little Tikes toy chests. They are no longer made; and apparently, football fans who use them as ice chests are willing to pay good money for them. Lo and behold, just days after reading that post, I found this one at a Savers thrift store. It was priced at $14.99; but if I could get $75 for it, I would still be okay.

The thought of mailing it, however, was a put-off and I considered selling it on Craig’s List. But when the 1-cent insertion fee promo came around, I threw caution to the wind and listed it on eBay. I provided calculated shipping for 8.5 lbs. I was thrilled when it sold for $74.99 plus a shipping cost of $16.03 … but my thrill was short-lived.

It took a couple days, but I finally found the perfect box, which measured 24” square. The toy chest fit right in. Then I went to print my shipping label … and that’s when I discovered it was going to cost me $107.16 to ship by parcel post! UPS would be even more!

The one thing I didn’t remember was that a package with any dimension over 12” is considered a “large package” and is subject to different postage rates that are considerably higher. So at the risk of receiving negative feedback, I emailed my buyer to inform her of the revised shipping cost and that I could cancel the transaction if they do not wish to pay the higher cost.

Even after all these years, I can still screw up on shipping costs. This is one time, however, I’m not willing to cover the difference! I suspect that other sellers who are selling this same item are going to be in for the same shock. This is one lesson I will not forget!

This was an awesome week for sales – the best ever! Total sales for the week? A whopping $1862.47. Even if the sale for the Little Tikes football is cancelled, it’d still be a fantastic week. Now THAT’S REALLY CASH FOR TRASH!

UPDATE: The buyer of the Little Tikes toy chest was very understanding. She agreed to cancel the transaction and agreed not to leave negative FB. Whew! That’s still over $1700 in sales for the week!

Hope things are looking good and you’re sales have picked up!

Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay ~ #20 Lenox Magic Garden Temper Ware

2011-08-12T21:53:00.001-07:00

Thank you all for your great comments in response to yesterday’s post on the kilts! I’m still walking around in disbelief. I’m sure finding those kilts was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and the odds of finding another one, let alone eight, for the price of $1.25 are nil.

So, I paid my car registration and tomorrow we’re leaving for San Francisco to pick up DS#1 from Berkeley. He’s got a one-week break between the end of summer session and the start of fall semester. He should be done with classes end of this year and should be graduating with a B.S. in Mathematics in June 2012. I’m trying to encourage him to study abroad for his last semester, Spring 2012; but he doesn’t seem too interested. I’ll keep working on him!

I mentioned in my post that I used my android smart phone to research the kilts. I love my phone!

Last August, my old razor phone died, and DH bought me a Samsung Vibrant Galaxy Android phone to replace it. I had a love-hate relationship with this phone, but I’ve learned to love it! It has been one of the best tools for buying inventory. It has not only saved me money, but also made me money.

I’d only had the phone a couple of weeks, and was still learning to use it, when I stopped by the GW. I found several pieces of this Lenox Temper Ware. The casserole and a couple of other pieces were priced between $7.99 and $9.99. Normally, I would have passed up on these.

But, now that I had a smart phone, I was able to do some research. I found out these pieces can fetch some pretty good money. So I bought all 10 pieces and paid $33.99. Without my smart phone and research, I never would have spent that much on an unfamiliar product.

Listing Price: $267.79	Best Offer: $150.00
Paid: $30.95	From: Goodwill
Ended: 10/31/10	Winner: Tomball, TX

Listing Price: $23.99	Final: $23.99
Paid: $2.99	From: Goodwill
Ended: 10/14/10	Winner: Ft Worth, TX

Within a month of listing, all the pieces sold. The two dessert plates sold first for my full asking price. And I was thrilled when I was offered $150.00 for the remaining pieces. That $33.99 turned into $173.99, netting me $140! Thank you smart phone!

Thrifty Treasures Thursday: Best $10 Flip Ever!

2011-08-11T15:07:00.001-07:00

UTILIKILT SURVIVAL Style Tan Men's Cotton Kilt 38 S – sold $232.50 – paid $1.25

UTILIKILT WORKMAN Style Tan Men's Kilt 38 S – sold $222.50 – paid $1.25

A couple weeks ago I found these men’s kilts at the SA (read my previous post here). They were mixed in with the women’s skirts, and at first I also thought they were skirts. They were very heavy, and I thought maybe they were part of a costume.

I quickly pulled out my handy-dandy android smart phone and checked the Utilikilt website. Holy moly, these men’s kilts retail for $200-$300! And, there wasn’t just one, but eight of these. I paid $10 for the lot of 8 … or $1.25 for each!

When I got home, I checked the eBay listings. There were only a handful of active listings and most had bids. Good! Then I checked the completed listings. There were also a handful, but best of all? They had all sold! I knew then I had stumbled onto a “goldmine”.

I also discovered an upcoming event called The Burning Man. Excuse my ignorance about this event, but apparently kilts are popular among participants. This event takes place end of this month and is already sold out. So I knew I had to list my kilts pronto in case anyone attending was looking for a kilt.

The auctions ended last night and the GRAND TOTAL … drum roll please:

$1346.49

Yup, that’s over $1,000, folks, for a $10 purchase! They sold between $117.50 and $232.50 each. The two pictured above are the highest sellers.

AND, that’s not all: they are ALL PAID! Eight different buyers paid within 24 hours! I packed them up this morning and delivered them to the post office earlier today. How about that?!

Now, I wait and hope everyone’s happy with their purchase. I was very specific that there would be no returns on these, but ya never know.

This by far is my best flip ever … even better than the mother lode of vintage high school yearbooks that netted almost $300 (read my previous post here). Now I can pay my car registration! Yippee!

Linking up to Thrifty Thursday @ Bloggervitaville and Thrifty Things Friday @ The Thrifty Groove. Be sure to check them out for more great thrifty treasures!

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-08-10T15:45:00.001-07:00

EBay must be feeling the summer slump, too, because they had another 1-cent listing promo yesterday. They don’t give much notice so the best I could do was take items out of my store and relist them at auction. I did manage to list several new items, and I think in all I listed 60 items for 60 cents! I made them 5-day auctions so they could end Sunday evening, a much better day for bids.

Last week was so-so for sales. Better than it’s been but still feeling the summer slump. Here are my best sellers:

CABi Women's White Stretch Long Sleeve Zipper Blouse M – sold $8.99 – paid $0.50

Dr Seuss Scrub Top Pediatrics Size Medium Excellent – sold $8.50 – paid $1

TOMMY HILFIGER Women's Black Stretch Casual Skirt Sz 16 – sold $10.50 – paid $1

Catherine Coatney Goth Lolita Cosplay Sheer Satin Skirt – sold $19.03 – paid $1

REYN SPOONER DISNEY MICKEY MOUSE HAWAIIAN SHIRT MEN MED – sold $21.50 – paid $1

NORMA KAMALI Women's Stretch Knit Bubble Dress Sz S – sold $24.99 – paid $2

I also sold two more Hallmark ornaments from my store for $25.98:

HALLMARK ORNAMENT REEL FUN SANTA FISHING 1999

Hallmark HOME SWEET HOME PEANUTS SNOOPY 2008 NEW

Does this happen to anyone else? For the past several years, I’ve noticed a certain phenomenon, like the Penguins ornament that sold 2 weeks ago and now this Snoopy ornament. They have been in my store for over a year; then, bam, they sell within a week of each other. Or, I will have a set of plates that have been sitting around for months; then, one plate sells and bam! within weeks, even days, the rest of the set sells – all to different buyers. This happens a lot! Kinda weird, huh?

Sales for the week totaled $255.44. Now THAT’S cash for trash!

UTILIKILT SURVIVAL Style Tan Men's Cotton Kilt 38 S – starting bid $160

I mentioned in last week’s Cash for Trash post that I bought 8 men’s kilts at the SA for $10. Well, I listed them that Wednesday evening and the auctions are due to close later today. All but one have bids, and I anticipate that all 8 will sell before the end of the day. You can see my listings here. Come back tomorrow to see how these ended!

Happy sales to you!

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-08-03T22:28:00.001-07:00

Wow, this past week turned out to be a pretty good week for sales! It put my month-end sales at over $1,000, which surpass my June sales. Moving items out of my store and listing them at auction for 1-cent seems to have paid off. I had 57 sales!

Here are my top clothing sales from last week:

WHITE HOUSE BLACK MARKET Women's Black Knit Dress Sz XL – sold $17.50 – Paid $1

DANA BUCHMAN Women's Blue Silk Sheer Flowing Dress 10 – sold $19.99 – paid $2

MONTGOMERY WARDS Vintage 1970s Black Knit Jumpsuit 12 – sold $24.99 – paid $2.50

OBERMEYER LADIES RED SKI BIB SUIT OVERALL PANTS SZ 10R – sold $40.00 – Paid $2.36

REYN SPOONER MEN’S HAWAIIAN RESORT SHIRTS – LOT OF 8 – SOLD OVER $75 – PAID $8

Remember the Reyn Spooner Hawaiian shirts I bought at a garage sale and posted here? Five listings have ended and one current listing already has a bid. So far, those $8 have turned into over $75! Three of the shirts – including the one above – were sold to a buyer from Japan. I also had another buyer from Japan buy a dress. Glad to know Japan is making a comeback!

Here are my top sellers that were in my store and sold at auction:

Hallmark COOL TREATS PENGUINS MOTION ORNAMENT 2008 NEW – SOLD $14.99 – PAID $0.84

I was visiting DD in Texas for the Christmas holidays; and on the day after Christmas, we went to Walgreens. We were thrilled to see they had ALL their Hallmark ornaments on sale! At less than $1 each, we scooped them all up. We then went to another Walgreens and did the same. When I got home, I promptly listed them in my eBay store. Some of them sold quickly, but most of them have not been the hot sellers I thought they’d be. I’m down to the last few so was glad when this one sold.

Danbury Mint Snowy Owl Family Figurine Katsumi Ito 1989 – sold $39.99 – Paid $0

After I retired, I sorta started collecting owls. My collection pretty much ended as soon as it started, although I did get an owl tattoo on my right arm – and that’s a whole ‘nother story! Anyway, this owl statue – which I bought years ago at the thrift store – had been gathering dust when I decided to sell it. Much better to gather money than it is to gather dust!

Clairol Kindness 3 Way Hairsetter HOT ROLLERS Pageant – sold $19.99 – paid $2

I’ve known hot rollers are very saleable to pageant moms, but hadn’t given it much thought until I started reading We Sell on EBay! I found this set of vintage rollers at the SA and quickly picked it up – thanks to this post by Jessica. I probably could have gotten more but the hinges to the cover are broken.

All in all it was a pretty good week with over $500 in sales! Now that’s cash for trash!

As usual, I was at the SA this past Monday for their Rag Day. I bought my usual assortment of dresses, skirts and pants, but I also found this in the women’s skirts:

Turns out this is not a skirt after all, but a men’s kilt. Not just any kilt but a Utilikilt. Brand new, these men’s kilts retail for over $200. Even better, they are reselling for over $100 on eBay! Check out these completed listings.

The same person must have donated all their kilts because I actually found 8 of these kilts – all same size. Since the women’s skirts were on sale, I paid $2 for each “skirt”. Actually, less because the cashier was nice enough to charge me for only 5 – so $10 for the lot. I’ve listed them today with a starting bid of $99 and one at $160 … and they all already have multiple watchers! Ka-ching!

Looks like things are finally picking up! Hope y’all are doing great!

Thrifty Treasures Thursday

2011-07-28T12:08:00.001-07:00

Finally got out this past Saturday to hit the garage sales. The weather was beautiful and best of all, had a ton of fun with my BFF Viv!

Bought a bunch of name-brand clothes for $0.50-$1 each. At one garage sale, I ended up with at least 15 items, including eight Reyn Spooner Hawaiian shirts, all for $1 each. They’re currently listed, and except one, all have a bid! Still have more clothes to list which should bring in a nice profit.

Found these plush animals, plus a couple of Smurfs from the 80s, for 25¢ each. I was hoping to find more but the pickin’s were pretty slim.

This 4-piece luggage set from Jordache is in pretty good condition. It was only $5! Thinking I may resell it on Craiglist.

And THIS was my last purchase of the day … and the best:

This solid oak roll-top desk was only $20! We’d been saling since 6:00 a.m and it was already 9:00 when we got to this garage sale. This desk had a sign with $40 crossed off and replaced with $20. I didn’t see anything very wrong with it and couldn’t believe it was still there. For $20, I knew I could sell it for a profit on Craiglist. Ka-ching!

It looks a little wonky in the picture because we had to take it apart to bring home so it’s in 3 pieces. The surface needs cleaning and polishing; but once I clean it up, it’ll look awesome!

I always say that cheap is good, but free is better! How about this solid wrought iron chandelier lamp from Home Depot?

This was another end-of-day find, one last stop before we call it a day. Walking up to the driveway, I saw this lamp with a *FREE* sign on it. I immediately grabbed it and claimed it as mine. My BFF bought a couple of things so I didn’t feel so bad walking away with this. Another Craiglist item! P.S. The cute kitty is not included!

I just love saling! Wish I could get out there every weekened. Linking up to the following, so please visit them for more thrifty treasures:

For more great finds, check out Apron Thrift Girl’s blog for Thrift Share Monday. Also linking up to Thrifty Thursday @ Bloggervitaville and Thrifty Things Friday @ The Thrifty Groove. Be sure to check them out for more great thrifty treasures!

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-07-27T23:12:00.001-07:00

Did anyone else take advantage of eBay’s 1-cent insertion fee yesterday? I was already creating listings to list today when I saw this announcement. Woo hoo! I took a lot of old stock and higher-priced items from my store and relisted them at auction. Plus I added some new listings so I currently have 245 auctions. I made them 5-day listings so they’ll end on Sunday evening. Also, Monday is the 1st of the month which is *payday* for many folks. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

So glad we’re at the end of July. Really looking forward to August and hopefully more sales. Here’s an interesting article about the July slump from the eBay Selling Coach. I’m sure July has always been a slow month; but it’s never been an issue for me in previous years. This year it just seems to be *in my face*. Glad to know it’s not just me!

Here are my best sales from last week:

REYN SPOONER Women's Rayon Undersea Print Dress Sz L – sold $10.51 – paid $2

TALBOTS Women's Pink & Green Retro Lined Shift Dress 6P – sold $12.62 – paid $2

ANN TAYLOR LOFT Women's Black Blue Floral Dress Sz 0P – sold $16.50 – paid $2

FLAX ENGLE Women's Floral Rayon Romper Sz S – SOLD $17.00 – PAID $2

FABRIZIO GIANNI Womens Beige Stretch Skinny Pants Sz 10 – SOLD $29.95 – PAID $0.50

This is another example of an unfamiliar brand that just felt like *quality*. At only 50-cents, I figured I couldn’t go wrong so I bought 2 pairs of Fabrizio Gianni pants. This brand retails for over $100 so I listed them at $44.00 with free shipping and a best offer. After deducting shipping costs, I made a $25 profit on these! Ka-ching!

This Hall Pot was my top seller from last week:

Jewel Tea Autumn Leaf Hall China 8 Cup Coffee Pot & Lid – sold $35.99 – paid $2

I spotted it at a garage sale and couldn’t believe it when the lady said she wanted only $2 for it. These are hard to find, and this one was in excellent condition.

These Taylor & Ng mugs are very collectible and always sell well. If you look closely, you will see why.

Taylor & Ng COFFEE MUG • Lapin RABBIT ORGY • Win Ng – sold $10.99 – paid $0.99

VINTAGE TAYLOR & NG BROWN BEARS COFFEE MUG JAPAN WHIMSY – sold in 2010 $9.99 – paid $0.99

I discovered Taylor & Ng mugs quite by accident. Last year, I bought the mug above at GW because I thought the cute bears were playing.

When I got home, I set the mug on the kitchen counter because I was going to wash it. In walks DH, takes a quick look at the mug, and asks me with a smirk *why* I bought the mug. DH then pointed out to me the bears were doing the *nasty*. I thought he was pulling my leg, but upon closer look I noticed he was right. Since then I have found a few more and always bring them home with me.

TAYLOR & NG BLUE WHITE ELEPHANTS MUG JAPAN WHIMSY 1979 – sold 2010 $9.99 – paid $0.25

From Wikipedia:

Taylor & Ng was originally a very popular department store of handcrafts that operated in San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded in 1965 by artists Spaulding Taylor and Win Ng (d. 1991).

The department store was known for the signature designs by the sculptor, ceramicist and designer Win Ng. Many of these products are still prized by collectors.

The company also published a number of popular cookbooks which also featured the artwork of Win Ng.

The department store closed in 1985. An online retailer with the same name features reissues of old company designs.

Happy sales to you!

Top Rated Seller – Another Obstacle in the Road

2011-07-20T14:59:00.001-07:00

Almost two months ago, I posted here that I had finally gotten my TRS status again, only to lose it 3 days later. Well, during the short period I had TRS status, not only did I receive a 20% discount on my eBay fees but I also noticed a slight increase in my sales. The benefit of being a top-rated seller became more obvious when I lost it and noticed a downturn in my sales. On top of that, I received my most recent invoice which included NO discount. Ouch!! (BTW, this invoice still does not include fees on shipping.)

I’ve been doing my best to avoid those horrible 1s and 2s and checking my dashboard everyday. Thinking that I qualified again for TRS, I was looking forward to my next evaluation. TODAY was that day! But, wait …

I checked, and double-checked, and even triple checked. Something was wrong … no TRS! Instead of being evaluated for the past 3 months as I had been, I was being evaluated for the past year! What’s up with that?

Well, I finally found the *fine print*. Okay, it wasn’t that fine, but here it is:

Sellers with 400 or more transactions over the past 3 months are evaluated on their transactions with US buyers from the last 3 calendar months. For all other sellers, the rate is calculated from transactions with US buyers over the last 12 calendar months.

Yup, I had less than 400 transactions over the past 3 months. Since I had 7 low DSRs in the shipping/handling category during the past 12 months, I did not qualify for TRS. But in the past 3 months, I had only 1 low DSR and would have easily qualified.

This also means that I will not qualify for TRS for my next evaluation either … that is, unless I make about 160 sales over the next 11 days to meet that 400-sales-in-3-months mark! Ha!

This is going to bite me in the butt … or rather my pocketbook since the next couple invoices will also have NO discount and my listings will continue to have low visibility. That really sucks!

I guess I’d better get cracking with more listings since the more you list, the more you sell. Just not sure at this point, if I’m working for myself or eBay!

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-07-20T09:53:00.001-07:00

Sales continue to trickle in and this past week was a touch better than the one before. Here are my best sellers:

HOT COTTON Women's Pink Floral Linen Long Dress Sz XL – sold $13.55 – paid $2

BAMBOO CAY Men's Gray Silk Hawaii Resort Shirt Sz XL – sold $14.50 – paid $2

BAMBOO CAY Men's Black Embroidered Hawaii Shirt Sz M - sold $20.50 – paid $0

TORI RICHARD Men's Hawaii Resort Camp Shirt Sz 2XL – sold $26.52 – paid $2

ELEVENSES Anthropologie Women's Linen Slacks Pants Sz 8 – sold $9.99 – paid $0.50

I was a little disappointed these Anthropologie Elevenses brand pants didn’t sell for more. I paid only 50-cents for them so I guess a $10 sale isn’t too bad. But Hawaiian, resort shirts have been selling well. Bamboo Cay is a new-to-me brand, and I’m pleasantly surprised that all 3 Bamboo Cay shirts sold. The Tori Richard shirt was my top seller, although I’m not sure why it sold for over $25. Maybe it was the sea turtles in the print.

GUND Disney CLASSIC POOH Plush Teddy Bear 11" with Tag – sold $14.99 – paid $0.50

This cute Classic Winnie Pooh bear has been in my store since October. I’m surprised it took 8 months to sell, but he finally sold and is on his way to a new home! I think he may have sold sooner if I’d included “Winnie” in the title. The right search words in your title make all the difference, so I’m glad that eBay will be increasing the number of title characters from 55 to 85.

Happy sales and hope ya’ll are doing better!

Cash for Trash Wednesday

2011-07-13T14:58:00.001-07:00

I’m still in a selling drought, and I am so thirsty! Some folks seem to be doing okay, but my sales this past week were pathetic. And, this week isn’t proving to be any better …

Here’s my top clothing sale from last week:

Columbia Titanium Royal Trek Women's Black Knee Pant 10 – sold $12.99 – paid $1

I had only 12 clothing sales and then one buyer backed out of a transaction. Sigh …

I did have two sales from my store. First, this lot of model trains and tracks, which have been in the garage for a couple years. A neighbor, who was moving away, gave us a bunch of stuff from his garage, including these. I put them in my eBay store and they sold in less than 2 weeks.

Ho Model Power Train Set Santa Fe Locomotive + 4 Cars + tracks – sold $19.99 – paid $0

Okay, so this is not exactly *trash* but it sold last week after being in my store since December. I was happy for the sale!

Scrappy Christmas Quilt Northern Lights 47 x 60 NEW – sold $55.00

That’s it for last week! Looks like July may turn out to be even slower than June. I think, like me, most folks are just not in the mindset of buying. It’s the summer, the days are longer, school’s out, and folks would rather be outside enjoying the warm weather.

It was not a stellar week for sales, but it was not my worst week of the year – that dubious distinction goes to the first week in January. Maybe next month sales will improve as folks start thinking about the year-end holidays.

Happy sales and hope ya’ll are doing better!

The Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay ~ #19 Court Reporter Stenograph Machine

2011-07-12T20:56:00.001-07:00

Starting Bid: $9.99	Winning Bid: $51.00
Paid: N/A	From: Personal Item
Ended: 08/24/08	Winner: Albuquerque, NM

After graduating high school and like most teenagers, I had no idea what I wanted to do. When my cousin told me she was taking classes to be a court reporter, I thought that sounded interesting so I convinced my dad to finance my schooling.

Long story short – you know what’s coming next – after two years, I lost interest when I reached a plateau and couldn’t get to the next level. I always thought I’d go back, which is why I kept my machine. But as the years went by, technology advanced and my steno machine became a dinosaur.

Still, I kept my machine, probably more for sentimental reasons than for anything else. One day I decided it was time to let go of this old relic and sell it on eBay. The machine was still in very good condition, but I had no idea if anyone would be interested. So I was happy when it sold for over $50! And to think that I almost donated it to the thrift store. Better $50 in my pocket than in their cash register, don’t ya think?

The Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay ~ #18 Hand Painted MILDA Pansies Collector Plate

2011-07-08T10:46:00.001-07:00

Starting Bid: $4.99	Winning Bid: $16.50
Paid: $0.99	From: Goodwill
Ended: 8/24/08	Winner: Indianapolis, IN

Way back then, I would buy most collector plates – unless they were overpriced – that I ran across at thrift stores and garage sales. I did sell a few; but for the most part, I had trouble selling them. Now, with few exceptions, I don’t bother with them.

I do currently have two beautiful owl plates in my store that have been in my inventory for awhile. I originally bought these plates for myself at a garage sale for $5 each. No luck selling them so I think I’ll remove them from my inventory and just keep them.

I also recently bought a couple of Star Wars plates at an estate sale for $4 each. With the recent hoopla over Disney’s Star Wars ride, I thought they might be good sellers. But my research showed they don’t sell for much more than I paid, so I may just keep them (DS is a big Star Wars fan). Or I may decide to sell them just to get my money back. If I do, I won’t be listing them on eBay!

Back to the plate pictured above, I have no idea why it had multiple bids and sold for over $16; but I was thrilled to make 15 times what I paid!

Rags to Riches Challenge–Final Round

2011-07-07T12:05:00.001-07:00

Sales continue to be lukewarm. Too bad they don’t match the sizzling hot weather we’ve been having! If your sales have been slow, you’ll be happy to know “it’s not yoooooooouuu …”. Here’s a great post by Late Night Coffee with some ideas on how “to survive the selling drought.”

The final week of my Rags to Riches Challenge ended without much of a bang. I had a total of 84 auctions listed; of these, only 15 were new listings. I had 17 sales for the week. My best sellers were:

NEW GLORIA VANDERBILT Women's Denim Jeans Shortalls 3X – sold $9.99 – paid $1

I was hoping these would sell for more not only because they are brand new by Gloria Vanderbilt but also because they are plus-size. Just glad they sold!

NEW DENIM & CO Women's Blue Denim Pull-on Jeans Sz L – sold $9.99 – paid $1

… and my top seller for the week:

FLAX ENGELHART Women's Cream Linen Pull-on Pants Sz M – sold $29.00 - paid $1

I’d never heard of FLAX (or Fresh Produce) until I read about it on My Dear Trash, but am so glad I did. This was my first FLAX item and can’t believe these pants sold for $29! Awesome!

Here’s the final update:

Auction Sales #23:	$187.23	Total: $6507.82
Cost of Goods:	$96.33	Total: $1277.03
eBay & PP Fees:	$32.02	Total: $1182.81
Total Net:	$4047.98	GOAL REACHED!!

Hard to believe that half the year is already gone. It always amazes me how fast time flies … especially when you’re having fun! And fun it’s been *experimenting* with reselling clothes online. When I started my Rags to Riches Challenge way back in February, I was skeptical but was excited to see how successful Laura and Kelly from My Dear Trash were.

I gave myself until July 1 to reach a goal of $4,000 and am thrilled that I was able to reach my goal even with the slow summer weeks and with, really, not too much effort on my part. Read my previous post here. With the extra income, not only was I able to pay for expensive auto repairs and dental work, but also pay bills, buy gifts and go on mini-vacations!

Since my two original projects are still pending (also, not to forget the holidays will be here before we know it!), I plan to continue reselling clothes; and am now adding shoes to my inventory!

I want to thank Laura and Kelly from My Dear Trash for inspiring me to resell clothes. And, to Jessica from We Sell On eBay for the great series on reselling shoes and the eBay Underground Facebook Group for great info! I also want to thank all the other bloggers who freely share so much information about selling online. Some are listed on my side bar so check out their blogs when you get a chance.

No more Rags to Riches Challenge updates, but please do come back for weekly posts on Cash for Trash, Selling on eBay, and Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay.

Online sales for Week #23, including eBay store, totaled $265.95. Now THAT’S cash for trash!

Linking to My Dear Trash for their Trash to Cash Party!

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Selling on eBay: New eBay Fees

2011-07-01T17:10:00.001-07:00

I’ve been getting reminders from eBay and others that eBay’s new fees are just around the corner for store subscribers. So, I thought I’d do some number crunching and create some comparisons with the existing (old) fees and the new ones.

I took a random invoice from a couple months ago and plugged in the new fees to see what I would have paid if the new fees and discounts were already in effect. Here’s a breakdown of the original invoice:

	Original Invoice
Insertion Fees	$113.95
Final Value Fees	$167.82
Subscription Fee (Store)	$49.95
Discount (Bronze)	$(8.39)
	$323.33

The table below shows what my fees would have been with the new fee structure, with and without the 20% TRS discount.

TABLE 1 – New Fees	SCENE 1	SCENE 2
Insertion Fees	$ 113.95	$ 113.95
Final Value Fees	$ 240.00	$ 240.00
Subscription Fee (Store)	$ 49.95	$ 49.95
20% Discount (TRS)	$ -	$ (48.00)
	$ 403.90	$ 355.90
Difference	$ 80.57	$ 32.57

If the new fees had been in place I would have paid $240 in FV fees instead of $167.82. Without the 20% TRS discount, I would have paid an additional $80.57. Ouch!! But the 20% discount means a discount of $48 … and that’s a good chunk of change that I would get to keep!

Table 2 shows what the fees would be if I eliminated auctions and instead used Fixed Price listings. Each fixed-price listing costs 5-cents vs. 25-cents for an auction listing.

TABLE 2 – New Fees -Fixed Price Only	SCENE 4	SCENE 5
Insertion Fees	$ 36.90	$ 36.90
Final Value Fees	$ 316.33	$ 316.33
Subscription Fee (Store)	$ 49.95	$ 49.95
20% Discount (TRS)	$ -	$ (63.25)
	$ 403.18	$ 339.93
Difference	$ 79.85	$ 16.60

Wow, my insertion fees would drop dramatically, from $113.95 to only $36.90! However, FV fees would go up because eBay charges a higher percentage for fixed-price listings. Without a discount, there is hardly a difference.

But, with the 20% TRS discount, I would only be paying an additional $16.60 with the new fee structure. Although FV fees would be higher, the 20% discount would be applied to those higher FV fees and result in a $60+ discount!

If I continue as I have, I estimate that over the next 6 months I will be paying an additional $400-$500 with the new fee increase. Clearly getting Top Rated Seller status is more important than ever before. Obviously, the only way eBay will continue to work for me is if I qualify for – and maintain – that 20% discount.

I’ve been scrutinizing my product line. Heavy items and items with low profit margins just aren’t going to work anymore. It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next few months and how all this will play out, especially when eBay introduces their new shopping cart later this year. eBay’s new fees for store subscribers become effective on Wednesday, July 6.

Rags to Riches Challenge #22

2011-06-29T22:31:00.001-07:00

Things have picked up, although I’m not sure if it’s because I’m listing more new items. Whatever the reason, it’s very motivating.

I had a total of 83 auctions listed; of these, 35 were re-listings. I had 29 sales for the week; and here are my best sellers:

FRESH PRODUCE Women Black Cotton T-Shirt Shift Dress XL – sold $10.50

COLUMBIA Sportswear Men's Black Waterproof Ski Pants M –sold $15.99

Fresh Produce Women's Aqua Floral Knit SL Dress Size M – sold $17.50

GARLO Women's Black Full Length Hooded Open Front Coat L – sold $19.99

FRESH PRODUCE Women's Cotton T-Shirt Shift Dress Sz XL – $20.50

EILEEN FISHER Women's Brown Linen A-line Skirt Sz M – sold $25.25

EILEEN FISHER Women's Cream Linen Pants Sz XL – sold $31.99

… and my TOP seller was:

TIBI HYLAND Women's Silk Art Print Shift Dress Sz L – $41.00

I’d never heard of Tibi Hyland when I bought the dress for $2.50 at the SA, but it was 100% silk and it just *felt* like a quality item. There are many high-end designers whose designs sell at high end boutiques or department stores, but I am not “in the know” and am totally unfamiliar with their labels.

So when I run across an unfamiliar label, I know the item will be from either a cheap discount store or a high-end boutique. This TIBI dress was gorgeous and it just exuded quality. A quick Google search proved I was right!

From Internet

Designer Amy Smilovic started her label in 1997 while living in Hong Kong. Her penchant for bold color prints in easy to wear styles soon took off. What began as four easy styles in hand printed fabrics quickly turned into a full collection that now sells in nearly every destination around the world. Amy and her husband left Asia in 2000 and relocated Tibi to a loft space in Soho, New York. (From Tibi.com)

The white TIBI label above is the current label, which includes the words “New York”. The green TIBI label in the previous picture is the one that was on my dress, which I believe was pre-2000 before Amy moved to New York. I just LOVE finding great treasures at the thrift store!

I still had a couple bags of clothes to list so I didn’t make my weekly trip to the thrift store. Here’s the bottom line for Week #22:

Auction Sales #22:	$399.05	Total: $6320.59
Cost of Goods:	$0	Total: $1180.70
eBay & PP Fees:	$63.50	Total: $1150.79
Total Net:	$3989.10

Online sales for Week #22, including eBay store, totaled $437.31. I hope to meet my $4,000 goal next week! Now THAT’S cash for trash!

Two-Year Blogoversary!

2011-06-24T18:03:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Teena in Toronto for wishing me a happy blogoversary and letting me know it was today!

Wow, I didn’t even know it until I read her comment. What a surprise!

It’s been two years since my first post, but it seems like yesterday. I think it’s customary to celebrate by doing a giveaway … especially since I didn’t do one for my first blogoverary. Although I’ve never done a giveaway, I will think of something before the end of the month next week.

Blogging has been so much fun and I’ve learned SO MUCH from everyone! I look forward to many more years …

The Best Things I’ve Sold on eBay ~ #17 Desuir For Vietri Fish Pitcher

2011-06-24T16:13:00.001-07:00

Item #17: Desuir for Vietri Hand Painted Fish Pitcher

Starting Bid: $9.99	Winning Bid: $32.69
Paid: $1.99	From: Goodwill
Ended: 11/16/08	Winner: Oak Ridge, TN

This pitcher was one of those “wild card” purchases. I was shopping the GW with DH, which can sometimes be a good thing, but not always. As we walked around, I saw this pitcher, picked it up, and looked underneath. It was marked “Handpainted Desuir for Vietri, Made in Italy”. DH had that look on his face that said “ugly, cheap junk” so I put it back.

We were standing in line to pay for our other items when I remembered reading something that said if something is marked made in Italy be sure to buy it. I knew that if I didn’t buy the pitcher, it was going to bug me. I figured for $1.99 I didn’t have much to lose. In spite of a skeptical DH, it came home with me.

I researched it and found hand painted Italian pottery with this mark is a good seller. This pitcher had a small chip on its nose, but it still sold for almost $33.00 … 16 times what I’d paid!

I bought this in 2008 when prices were still reasonable at GW and SA. Today, I’m sure it would be marked $5.99 or even $7.99, if not more. But, then again, three years ago who would have thought we’d be paying $5 for a gallon of gasoline?!

Rags to Riches Challenge Week #21

2011-06-23T13:43:00.001-07:00

Sales for June continue to be slow, but I have started to list more so my sales for this week have improved. Last week’s sales, however, are a different story.

Had I sold that one Diane Von Furstenberg dress for $90, I would have had something to crow about! (Yes, I’m still lamenting. Read my post here.) It was my top seller of the week:

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG Women's Black Silk Wrap Dress 8 – sold $24.50 & Free shipping

The shirt below had been taking up space in the closet for a couple years. DH received it as a gift but never wore it … just not his style. The buyer was from Discovery Bay, CA, which I’d never heard of. It’s located about 60 miles from San Francisco and is a waterfront community of 3,500+ homes with private docks. The buyer was thrilled with his new shirt so this was definitely a win-win situation!

NEW BAMBOO CAY Men's Blue Embroidered Resort Shirt M – sold $9.99

These maternity shortalls were already on their 4th week of listings when a bidder from Canada had the winning bid of $2.99. However, they never paid so I relisted it … and they ended up selling at a higher bid.

MOTHERHOOD Maternity Beige Short Overalls Shortalls M – $9.00

A couple weeks ago, eBay had a promotion of 25-cent listing for any starting price. I use this as an opportunity to list things at auction that I price over $9.99; and I may also take things from my store and relist at auction.

I’ve always been a collector; and 25 years ago, I collected these Disney Musical Memories Music boxes. I think I may have bought 14 out of the 20 figurines they offered. I’ve given 6 of them to my kids, but the rest have been sold on eBay.

Here is one of the last two that I put up for auction:

MUSICAL MEMORIES DISNEY COLLECTION LE LADY & THE TRAMP – sold $29.99

I don’t remember how much I paid for them originally, but they’ve been on display, mostly collecting dust, so I decided to sell them. I have the last one listed (Mickey Mouse Fantasia) in my store; and it won’t be long before it, too, sells.

I’m including the music box in my weekly update since it was an auction sale (and sales have been so BAD), so here’s the bottom line …

Auction Sales #21:	$149.53	Total: $5921.54
Cost of Goods:	$81.79	Total: $1180.70
eBay & PP Fees:	$27.71	Total: $1087.29
Total Net:	$3653.55

Online sales for Week #21, including eBay store, totaled $170.96. No matter cuz that’s STILL cash for trash! Next week’s report should be better.

UPDATE: Linking to My Dear Trash for their Trash to Cash Party!

Selling on eBay: DO YOUR RESEARCH … I BLEW It!

2011-06-19T10:18:00.001-07:00

See my listing here.

I KNOW better! I KNOW Diane Von Furstenberg dresses are high sellers! So how did I blow this one?!

This past Thursday I went to the market next to GW and I decided to stop in for the heck of it. I was happy to see that they had all their dresses on sale for $5.99 (regularly $7.99). I found a few dresses that I thought would be good sellers and I could triple what I paid. This Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress was one of them. Last night, I finally listed them on eBay.

Two BIG things I did wrong on this dress: (1) I DID NOT DO MY RESEARCH and (2) I DID NOT LIST IT AT AUCTION. Two things that I ALWAYS do and didn’t do. It cost me at least $65!

No excuse, but in my defense, I was tired and distracted. I was anxious to list the dresses and get them sold so I could recoup my money. DS#2 was in the room with me; we were watching a DVD we’d just rented; we were talking; and I was just not totally focused on what I was doing.

I’ve also been experimenting with free shipping and decided to list the dresses at a fixed price of $24.50 ($18.00 plus $6.50 for shipping) in my store, instead of doing an auction. I always list auction first, then I do fixed price. Why, oh why, didn’t I do that this time? I lament!

This morning I woke up to find that my Diane Von Furstenberg had sold … yup, at $24.50 with FREE SHIPPING, no less. I knew then I could have sold it for more, but how much more? So I did a search for completed listings, and this is what I found:

Look familiar? Yup, that’s the exact same dress I sold this morning. The only difference is that IT sold for $90!!! Click here to see the listing. Wow, that additional $65 would have been a nice chunk of change for a Father’s Day dinner at a nice restaurant. Okay, I’ll stop kicking myself … for now!

We’re still going to have a nice dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate not only Father’s Day but also DH’s birthday today!

Wishing all the fathers out in blogland a wonderful Father’s Day filled with fun, laughter and love!

Rag to Riches Challenge Times 4: Weeks #17-#20

2011-06-17T01:30:00.001-07:00

This update has been long overdue! I kinda took a break from eBay when DS#1 was home last month for a one-week spring break. Then, there were weekend trips to San Francisco and San Diego, plus the Temecula Balloon Festival … not to mention a day at Disneyland a week ago. Whew, it’s been a whirlwind of activity that has totally distracted me from eBay!

I know the summer months are normally slow and my sales have been REALLY slow this month. I relisted about 39 auctions that just ended with only 7 sales … that’s pretty depressing. Guess I’d better get back on track PRONTO with more listings! Hope y’all are doing better!

Here are my best sellers from the past four weeks:

COLDWATER CREEK Women's Linen Red Dress Sz 6 – sold $9.99

LEVI'S 560 Loose Fit Straight Leg Denim Jeans Size 10 – sold $10.99

NEW GLORIA VANDERBILT Sage Green Belted Capri Pants 18 – sold $13.06

NEW ROFFE JETT PANT Black Ski Pants Stirrups Sz 10 Long – sold $34.99

Nothing spectacular … no Disney Pixar shirts! Most of my listings were items that were relisted as auctions at a lower price. I’ve also been relisting some items in my store at regular price, like the brand new Roffe Jett Ski Pants. This was the second pair of ski pants I’ve sold; paid fifty-cents each. Who would have thought these would sell during the warmer weather?

I’ve also been offering free shipping on some of my clothing items. If an item doesn’t sell at $2.99, then I’ll relist it in my store between $9.99 and $12.99 with free shipping. This actually seems to be working. Take these Ann Taylor pants, for example:

ANN TAYLOR Women's Ann Brown Lined Slacks Pants Size 8 – sold $12.99

I listed these pants at auction 4 weeks in a row, each time discounting the price, all the way down to $2.99, with no sale. I was about ready to donate them, but they’re REALLY nice pants so I decided to give them one last chance. I listed them at $12.99 with free shipping; and they sold within 24 hours. My profit was actually more than if they had sold at $2.99 plus shipping. Free shipping + the right buyer = a winning combination!

So, here’s the bottom line … bleak as it is:

Clothing Sales #17-#20:	$288.92	Total: $5772.01
Cost of Goods:	$109.61	Total: $1098.91
eBay & PP Fees:	$62.76	Total: $1059.58
Total Net:	$3613.32

Only 4 more weeks left of my self-imposed challenge. I’m hoping for better sales! Online sales for the past four weeks, including eBay store, totaled $614.52. That’s STILL cash for trash!

Another One Bites the Dust … eBay Continues Its Purging

2011-06-11T11:24:00.001-07:00

I'm outta here!

I hadn’t visited Robin’s site or eBay store for awhile, so today I decided to see what she’d been up to. I was a little surprised to see no items in her store and only 3 recent sales completed this month. Hmmm?

This is what I found on her “About Me” page:

Well I'm done here. I just received an email from the powers that be, that all of my listings have been cancelled and my account has been suspended. "Wow you must have really done something bad?". I wish I knew what it was! No explanation, no timeline, no reason at all. Despite constant hard work and repeat business, paid in full accounts and positive feedback, I apparently am not up to snuff. From now on, please contact me directly on Twitter and Facebook...would love to hear from you. Oh, and all that great vintage that won't be here anymore? Please find me on etsy....same name, same quality, different address …Thanks for being such great customers over the years.

What a difference to what she wrote just two years ago in 2009:

Well here we are in 2009...this officially marks the beginning of my 11th year selling on eBay! I've seen the economy at its highest and now I'm seeing it at its lowest.

Recession, depression, call it what you will...we're all broke!

There has never been a better time to buy vintage and buy eBay where you're guaranteed a unique, fun and economical experience.

I'm not going anywhere...I'll continue to bring you beautiful auctions each and every week. I hope you'll bookmark my auctions and check back often...customer service continues to be a priority…

Robin had been a loyal eBayer for 13 years (since 1998), with a store since 2006; and was obviously excited and upbeat about her eBay experience. She had over 4,000 feedback ratings and a 99.3% feedback percentage.

So what’s the deal?! I’m speculating that she was not selling enough and eBay considered her a “hobby” or “casual” seller. Her feedback profile shows 314 transactions over the past 12 months ... or about 26 transactions per month. I’m sure she’d had more transactions since not everyone leaves feedback, but apparently not enough to satisfy eBay.

Looks like eBay is also putting selling restrictions on long-time sellers similar to those for new sellers. Here’s the full article by Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes.com.

“No explanation, no timeline, no reason at all.” This says it all from Robin. The good thing is that Robin had another option … she opened her own Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ivegonemod.

* * Don’t put all your eggs in one basket * *

Hot Air Balloon Adventure – Part 2 – Video

2011-06-07T16:23:00.001-07:00

In my previous post, I wrote about the great time DH and I had at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival this past Friday and Saturday. But the REAL adventure took place on Sunday …

We realized we didn’t really need to buy tickets to see the balloons so early Sunday morning we returned to the same vacant lot in Temecula. There were already about 3-4 balloons preparing to launch.

One pilot in particular was struggling with his balloon. Turns out his crew had not shown up. Although he had no clue what to do, DH offered to help him out.

It’s a lot of hard work getting these puppies up! Double-click on a picture, and you’ll see DH struggling with the rope as Panda bear becomes upright.

If you look closely at this last picture, you’ll see a group of folks standing around the basket, which sports a “Happy Birthday” sign. It is easy to assume this group is preparing to board the basket for a fun-filled experience.

Imagine his surprise when the pilot Tim told DH to jump in for the ride of his life! Turns out the group was only there taking pictures and not there for a ride. DH was so excited, as much as any child visiting Disneyland for the first time!

Up, up and away in my hot air balloon!

Here is a slide show of some great pictures he took.

Hot Air Balloon Ride

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

They rode for about an hour before landing in another vacant lot.

I drove to the landing site where I picked them up and took the pilot back to his original launch site to retrieve his vehicle.

Deflating the Panda is almost as much work as inflating it! Here’s a short clip …

DH is still walking on air!

DH and Tim

www.panda-moniumballoonflights.com

Next … Albuquerque, NM for the International Balloon Fiesta in October!

Ballooning vs Saling and Thrifting

2011-06-05T18:02:00.001-07:00

It’s been a great weekend, with cool but sunny weather. Garage-sale season has definitely started, and there were several advertised sales in my community plus TWO rummage sales. But instead of saling or thrifting, I was ballooning!

DH and I spent this weekend at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival. This was our first ever hot air balloon festival/experience, and we had a great time watching the balloons and taking photographs.

The festival had four main components: wine tasting, food court, entertainment (concerts) and hot air balloon rides. Unfortunately, at $200 a person, a balloon ride was a *little* out of our price range.

The festival started Friday evening and included a “balloon glow”. To create the glow, balloon pilots ignite their burners simultaneously which causes the colorful balloon envelopes to glow against the dark skies. We’d never been so close to a hot air balloon so this was really exciting.

Saturday morning we arrived just before 6:00 a.m. with excitement and anticipation, expecting to see a mass ascension of balloons. Unfortunately, the weather and wind were not cooperating and the launch was cancelled … sort of.

This annual festival takes place on Lake Skinner which is part of the Riverside County Regional Park, a habitat conservation area for the Stephens’ Kangaroo Rat. The direction the wind was blowing would require the balloons to land in this protected area, so the launch from the county park was nixed.

We knew something was up when we saw a mass exodus of "balloon” vehicles. We quickly left the park area and discovered the balloonists were launching off-site from nearby vacant lots or one of the many wineries in the area.

It was awesome to see the balloons and pilots up close and personal! It was so exciting to see the balloon take shape from a flat envelope to a beautiful globe, and slowly float into the sky … so soft and gentle.

By 9:30 a.m. most of the balloons had landed and it was time for breakfast! Since we’d bought tickets for the festival thinking we had to pay admission to see the balloons, we went back to walk around, visit with the vendors and listen to some music.

They also had a “petting zoo” (more like an exhibit), with some very interesting residents. Here I am with Mabel the baby camel … love her big brown eyes and long lashes!

My favorite, however, has to be this albino baby wallaby. She’s only 3 months old and as cute as a button! She’d just been fed her bottle so she was very sleepy and oblivious to the commotion around her.

As much fun as we had yesterday, the REAL adventure took place this morning. It was a once-in-a-lifetime RPRT adventure … one that can only happen when “you’re in the right place at the right time”!

Part 2 to be continued tomorrow …

Memorial Day 2011: Today We Honor Our Heroes

2011-05-30T19:32:00.001-07:00

Today is the day we honor our heroes. Let’s remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and for the freedom we enjoy every day.

Let’s not forget that there are still tens of thousands of our young men and women who continue to be in harm's way in Afghanistan and Iraq. Let us pray that they come back home soon.

DH and I spent Saturday and Sunday in San Diego, just a 2-hour drive from our home. Yesterday, we visited Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma. We were there in the morning and not many other folks were around.

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery includes those Veterans of WW I, WW II, Korea, VietNam and the Gulf wars. Also here are those who fell in the battle of San Pasqual in 1846, as well as victims of the USS Bennington explosion in 1905.

And except for the wind, it was a beautiful sunny day. Because of the strong wind, many of the flags had blown down to the ground. I could not in good conscience let this go. So DH and I spent a few minutes going up the rows picking the flags off the ground and reinserting them in the proper sites.

The rows of white headstones that mark the gravesites make their way down the 77.5 acres of gentle grassy slopes on both the ocean and San Diego Bay sides, with stunning views.

Please enjoy this short video and let us never forget.

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery–Memorial Day 2011

eBay Selling: New Communication Manager

2011-05-27T11:35:00.001-07:00

Have you heard about eBay’s new Communication Manager? eBay is now automatically sending emails to buyers without any input from sellers. A surprise to me that it was already in effect.

One of the emails eBay sends is a Feedback Reminder. If a buyer has not left feedback after about 30 days, eBay will contact them.

I’m not sure this is a good thing as this can work against you. If an unhappy buyer has not left negative feedback, that is good. But s/he may decide to do so after receiving a Feedback Reminder from eBay, as I believe was the case in the transaction from my post yesterday, which ended in April. A buyer has 30 days to leave a rating, and a transaction is not finalized until then.

I am now including the following message with my packages. I hope this will encourage a buyer to contact me first with a problem before responding to eBay’s email:

I strive to provide great customer service, and your satisfaction is important. I want you to be 100% satisfied.

A 5-star rating is also important to me. Before leaving negative feedback or a 1 or 2 rating, please give me an opportunity to make it right. Contact me if you have any concern with your item and I will do my best for a favorable resolution.

Thank you for your purchase and hope that you shop with us again!

Top Rated Seller – Easy Come, Easy Go!

2011-05-26T13:28:00.001-07:00

So I got my Top Rated Seller status back this past Friday. By Monday, it was gone! When I think about it, all I want to do is laugh! Item as Described seems particularly subjective for sellers who sell clothing.

The buyer who purchased the pants pictured above is an eBay newby – this was her first transaction. She didn’t bother to read the listing and didn’t bother to contact me to let me know she was unhappy with the pants. She instead left negative feedback and a low DSR.

This highlights the flaw in eBay’s DSR system. Right or wrong, a buyer can leave low DSRs even if the seller does everything right to resolve a problem. Sellers feel discouraged, frustrated, demoralized, and even depressed. Sellers may even feel blackmailed by buyers. If you don’t do what I want to make me happy, I will leave you low ratings. How can these atmosphere be good for anyone? eBay needs to change their policy!

Everyone knows eBay is struggling to stay competitive in the online marketplace. Because of the many changes they have put into place over the past couple of years, they have lost many good sellers. I read this article from AuctionBytes.com about a seller who was selling $70,000-$110,000 on eBay, paying them about $13,000 a month in fees. After his sales plummeted due to eBay’s Best Match, he closed his eBay account and built up his own website. He now projects sales of $2-$3 million. eBay recently contacted him to lure him back. His answer: NO THANKS!

Due to eBay’s new fee structure which goes into effect in July, no doubt many more sellers will leave before the end of the year. Many sellers, like me, are playing a wait-and-see game.

In the meantime, I have my booths with Bonanza and Etsy; and I’m looking into eBid and eCrater. While neither of these have the number of buyers as eBay, I suspect (hope) this will change in the not too distant future, especially because consumers are now using Google to search for product and finding it on other sites.

I recently sold this retro Rubbermaid canister set from my Etsy booth. The buyer had never heard of Etsy, but found it after doing a Google search. Many of my Bonanza sales are also from first time buyers. Hmmm, I see, I see … I see the writing on the wall!

Top Rated Seller Status and Excellent Customer Service

2011-05-20T14:43:00.001-07:00

Happy dance! A few days ago, I checked my Seller Dashboard and knew I’d once again qualified for TRS status. I also knew that eBay would evaluate my seller performance today, so I was glad to log on and see the TRS icon back on my listings.

EBay’s Top Rated Seller Program went into effect in December 2009. I kept my TRS status for about a year. Then one day it was gone. I’d received one too many low DSR ratings.

Truthfully, I didn’t have a good grasp on these programs. My focus was on avoiding negative feedback, although I did know losing TRS status meant higher fees. It was not, however, the end-all for me. Like many, I’d been cruising along as I’d always done. But I’ve worked hard to improve my customer service and get my TRS status back.

I’m still not out of the woods. My TRS status is at risk for next month because I have 2 low ratings in 2 categories so I know I have to keep on top of things and continue to provide excellent customer service. I like having TRS status because of the 20% discount, especially now that eBay will be charging a final value fee on shipping. It’s also more important now because eBay is eliminating the Power Seller Program with its 5%-15% discount.

I will continue to do my best, but I will not stress over it … well, okay, at least I’ll try not to stress out too much!

Detailed Seller Ratings: What Are They?

2011-05-19T21:32:00.001-07:00

DSRs were introduced in 2008 but many sellers failed to see their true impact on their eBay business. Sellers continued selling on eBay as they always had – until one day they woke up and found their eBay store had been shut down. Whoa! Turns out they were paying more attention to their Feedback and ignoring their DSRs. I, too, had read the announcements from eBay but never fully understood their importance – until now!

So what are Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) and why are they so important? In addition to leaving general feedback, buyers can rate a transaction with detailed seller ratings (DSRs). The detailed rating consists of a 1- through 5-star score, with 5 stars being the best rating. Low DSRs are 1s and 2s – the worst rating. Sellers are rated in each of several categories:

Accuracy of the item description
Seller communication
Shipping speed
Shipping and handling charges

For a seller, the importance of DSRs cannot be overstated. Because eBay uses DSRs to evaluate a seller’s performance, a rating of less than 5-stars will affect your seller status, your fee discount, your search ranking – and even your ability to sell on eBay. Receive too many 1- and 2-star ratings and you can be permanently banned from selling on eBay.

I truly believe there are buyers who don’t fully understand how harmful their less than 5-star rating is to a seller. Before leaving a detailed rating, buyers should keep in mind that anything other than five stars actually penalizes the seller. Therefore, it's best that buyers give full marks (5 stars) to any seller with whom they are generally satisfied. Buyers should reserve less-than-five-star ratings for sellers they are truly upset with and would like to see restricted on eBay.

Now eBay is preventing sellers from making certain statements about feedback in their listings or encouraging buyers to leave 5-star ratings. Pop-up messages began appearing last month when some sellers tried to relist items. Read the entire post by AuctionBytes.com here.

The impact of low DSRs has been so prevalent that, last December, several sellers filed an antitrust lawsuit against eBay over its Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) policy. According to the lawsuit, "Defendant eBay's DSR Policy is destroying the business and livelihood of many well established, small eBay auction sellers.” I couldn’t find any current information on the status of the lawsuit, but you can read more about the lawsuit in AuctionBytes.com.

To make matters worse, a year ago eBay instituted a new policy on Open Cases. eBay counts the number of customer claims that are opened against a seller, no matter how the case is ultimately resolved. It doesn't matter whose fault it is or how the seller responds, any time a buyer opens a claim, it goes on the seller's record as a black mark. Read the entire post by AuctionBytes.com here.

Is eBay’s message to its sellers this: you can't win?

To be continued …

Don’t Get Banned from Selling on eBay ~ Check Your DSRs Before It’s Too Late!

2011-05-18T14:01:00.001-07:00

Just a little over 3 months ago, I took the plunge into reselling clothes on eBay after reading Laura’s and Kelly’s blog My Dear Trash. I learned so much, and their blog became my go-to source for selling clothes.

About 2 weeks ago, I found out Laura was permanently banned from selling on eBay. Without notice, eBay closed her store forever. Read about her experience here, here and here. I could not believe it and was very upset because I realized this could happen to any one of us.

Laura hit the nail on the head when she said selling on eBay used to be a casual experience, fun and full of opportunities. Those of us who have been selling on eBay for years remember those “good ole days”. But times have changed.

Twelve years ago when I started, selling on eBay was like having a virtual garage sale. There were no eBay stores and no fixed prices. Buying and selling online was still in its infancy and people were still skeptical about online commerce.

As wonderful as eBay was at that time, there were many problems, such as unscrupulous sellers and feedback abuse. I stopped buying on eBay because of bad experiences. At the time, eBay had a hands-off approach. Over the past 2-3 years, eBay has made many changes. Most were necessary and some were good.

Fast forward to the present, e-commerce has grown by leaps and bounds, and folks are more comfortable shopping online. The competition is fierce and that means those of us who have been selling on eBay for years have to change how we do business on eBay. It is no longer that “casual, fun experience”. Laura said: It was how I'd worked eBay for over 6 years. She didn’t see the writing on the wall and is now banned from selling on eBay FOREVER.

UPDATE: Laura is working on an appeal with eBay and will keep us posted. I’m rooting for her!

Photo courtesy of AuctionBytes.com

In 2008, eBay introduced Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR), which are feedback ratings left for sellers anonymously by buyers, to influence search results. What I didn’t realized until recently was how important these ratings are. I assumed they were only for search results – the higher your score, the more prominent your listings. NOT SO MUCH! Pay close attention, now …

DSR ratings are used to evaluate seller performance. Not only does eBay use DSRs to determine where to place your listings in search results but it also uses them to evaluate your status as a seller. More importantly, if your performance as a seller falls below a certain level – as determined by your DSRs – you will be banned from ever selling on eBay! This is what happened to Laura. Read more about Detailed Seller Ratings at AuctionBytes.com.

What about Feedback? Feedback is basically a forum for buyers to leave comments and reviews of their experience with a seller. It’s impact on seller evaluation seems to be minimal (if non-existent). A seller can have 100% positive Feedback, but may have low DSRs. I assume that negative feedback will be reflected in your DSR ratings; and low DSRs will get you booted.

I don’t necessarily see seller performance evaluations as a bad thing. What I have a problem with is who is doing the evaluating. Seller performance evaluations are not done by eBay staff; they are done by your buyers. Upset enough of them and you will no longer have a business – at least not on eBay. And there is no appeal process. Right or wrong, doesn’t matter. Enough low ratings (1s and 2s) and you’re out the eBay door faster than you can blink!

I see the writing on the wall. I understand that competition in the e-commerce world is fierce and we must provide the best customer service. I get it. But I think there has got to be a better way than shutting someone’s store without fair warning and at least an opportunity to improve!

Since I don’t see that happening, we need to be proactive to protect our seller performance and status. How do we do that? Laura provided some recommendations in her post, but I would like to add to that in my next post.

To be continued …

Rag to Riches Challenge Times 2: Weeks #15 and #16

2011-05-18T09:37:00.001-07:00

Weeks #15 and #16 began the next 3-month period of my Rag to Riches Challenge. The first 3 months of my challenge grossed almost $4,500 in sales! The summer months tend to be slow for eBay sales, with folks going on vacation and spending more time outdoors, but I hope to do as well if not better during this next 3-month period.

Here are my top sellers for the past 2 weeks. I paid $1.00 for the pants and between $2-$3 for the other items:

MOTHERHOOD Maternity Brown with Dots Sheer Dress Sz S – sold $16.00

MOTHERHOOD Maternity Red White Sleeveless Dress Sz M – sold $18.50

EDELWEISS Women's Black Wool Blend Ski Pants WITH Stirrups – sold $19.99

BRAND NEW CASUAL CORNER Women's Blue Silk LS Blouse Sz 14 – SOLD $20.00

Tommy Hilfiger Men's Cream Linen Drawstring Pants 44x30 – SOLD $31.00

BRAND NEW GAP White Lined Gore Flare Linen Skirt Sz 8 – sold $37.02

BRAND NEW QUACKER FACTORY Jacket Pink Butterfly Wreath Sz 3X – SOLD $41.00

In my last post, I showed you a couple of Reyn Spooner shirts I had up for auction. I shared the link for the listings and some of you already know how much these sold for. Here they are with Final Bid amount … Drum roll, pleeeze!!

REYN SPOONER DISNEY PIXAR CARS Men's Shirt Sz M – sold $66.72

REYN SPOONER DISNEY PIXAR RATATOUILLE Men's Shirt Sz M – sold $155.50!!

Holy smokes! I had no idea how collectible these shirts are. I was at my fave SA store and was already in line to pay when I spotted these shirts in the rack next to me. I paid $2.50 each, hoping to get $14-$20 each on eBay. Within hours of listing them, I knew I had a hot item.

My first clue was an email from someone who was willing to pay $50 for the Ratatouille shirt if I would end the auction early with Buy It Now. My policy is not to end auctions early, but $50 for a used shirt was tempting. My next clue was the shirt already had 3 bids within a few hours of listing it.

I discovered that Reyn Spooner no longer makes the Disney Pixar shirts, and there is a whole group of folks who are avid Disney Pixar fans willing to pay big bucks for these shirts! Definitely grab these if you find them!

Here’s the bottom line:

Auction Sales #15 #16	$935.89	Total: $5483.09
Cost of Goods:	$106.58	Total: $989.30
eBay & PP Fees:	$217.90	Total: $996.82
Total Net Profits:	$3496.97

I’ll continue my recap in future posts by discussing shipping, returns, feedback, customer service plus more. Hope you come back!

Rags to Riches Challenge: 3-Month Recap Part II

2011-05-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

In yesterday’s Challenge Recap-Part I, I shared how selling pre-owned clothing has boosted my sales and finances. In Part II, I’ll share my experiences and what I’ve learned about reselling clothes during these past 3 months.

Before I go on, I want to share a couple of current auction listings that end today. Check these out!

REYN SPOONER DISNEY PIXAR RATATOUILLE Men's Shirt Sz M - click here to see listing

REYN SPOONER DISNEY PIXAR CARS Men's Shirt Sz M – CLICK HERE TO SEE LISTING

I bought each of these shirts for $2.50. The Ratatouille shirt received a $79 bid within 24 hours! The Cars shirt also has several bids and is at $64+. Wouldn’t it be nice if all my sales were this profitable?!

1. Brands: After reading the My Dear Trash blog, I made a list of the brands they mentioned. I also went to eBay’s list of Popular Brands. Some were familiar; but many were unfamiliar to me such as Anthropologie brands, which are highly popular and high sellers. Top sellers for me have been:

St. John Couture & Collection
Tommy Bahama men’s shirts (larger sizes are best)
Reyn Spooner
CAbi
Chico’s (all)
Jam’s World
Fresh Produce
J. Jill
Eileen Fisher
Coldwater Creek
Ralph Lauren
Motherhood dresses
Anthropologie brands
Ski pants

Other brands that may not be high sellers but are consistent sellers. These are my bread-and-butter:

Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft
Avenue
Lane Bryant
Hot Cotton
Studio I dresses (this is a surprise)
Motherhood blouses
Banana Republic
J. Crew
Talbots
White House Black Market
Izod
Bill Blass
Gloria Vanderbilt
Gap

This list is not all-inclusive; there are many other brands not on this list that I’ve sold 1 or 2. But these are the ones that have been consistent sellers for me.

Brands that I do not buy are those sold at Wal-mart, K-mart, Target, etc. I have had a little luck selling certain brands from JC Penney and Kohl’s, usually brand new with tags. The BEST brands are those sold at Anthropologie.

*** FOR A COPY OF THIS LIST, CLICK ON PICTURE AT TOP OF SIDE BAR **

2. Style: I have found that spring/summer dresses sell well. Long sleeveless shifts have sold as well as maternity dresses. Pants have been hit-or-miss. Cargo pants and capris/crop pants are selling, but not all. Corduroy pants are not selling right now. A lot has to do with brand name. When I buy pants, I look for quality and good condition. At fifty cents a piece, I will take a chance on a brand I’m not familiar with.

4. Condition: I always try to find clothing in good to excellent condition. Since I buy most of my clothes at thrift stores, I have to be REALLY careful about condition. Although most clothes end up at the thrift store because someone got tired of it, many more end up because there is something wrong with it. Many times I have come home with what I think is a great item, just to discover it has a hole or rip that I didn’t notice. Sometimes I’ve missed a light stain because of the poor lighting in the store. Hopefully, I’ll notice this damage before listing it and definitely before mailing. These items end up in the “discard” pile and go right back to the thrift store.

3. Pricing: When I first started, I listed most items between $6.99 and $7.99, depending on brand and condition. Certain brands would be listed at $9-$10. Now I start most items at $7.50 and will go as high as $14.99.

4. Auctions vs. Fixed Price: Listing clothes at auction is a good way to see which items would sell for more. Good thing for me, too. One of my first listings was for a Basil & Maude skirt, a brand I was totally unfamiliar with but now know sold at Anthropologie. It was a “wild card” purchase that paid off. The skirt sold for $46.00!

5. Listing Process: When I started, I followed Kelly’s listing process. I have since changed my strategy. First 2 weeks, items are full price and listed as auctions. Week #3 I list as fixed price in my store for 30-days, still at full price. I have sold many items from my store. If an item hasn’t sold after 30 days in my store, then I relist as auction item, first at $5.99 then at $3.99. A few times, these last-chance items will sell for full price when they are relisted at auction. Go figure! I sell about 75%-80% of my inventory this way.

My listing process for non-clothing items is different since I keep those items in my store for at least 6 months. Clothing is not something I want to hang on to for more than 6 weeks.

6. Store Inventory: Auctions cost 25 cents to list vs. 5 cents for store listings. Listing 400 items a month as auctions costs $100. Take those same 400 listings, and it costs only $20 to list for 30 days plus $50 for the store … that’s only $70. So why not just list clothes in your store? Because sometimes I just don’t know what an item will sell for. But another good reason is that I do get more sales with auctions than I do with fixed price. We’ll see over the next 3 months how using both types of listings works.

7. When to List: The MOST important thing to know about listing is LIST, LIST, LIST. Listing something at any time or day is better than not. Having said that, eBay data shows that certain days and times are better than others to end an auction:

Monday	Good	Many folks surf eBay at work
Tuesday	Worst	Receives the lowest # of bids
Wednesday	Fair	Not as bad as Tuesday. I’ve had better sales than on Thursday
Thursday	Poor	Better during spring or summer. Folks may bid before going away on weekend. Has not worked for me.
Friday	Fair	Ending before 6 pm may work, but most folks go out Fri evenings
Saturday	Good	Weekend days are best.
Sunday	Excellent	Sunday evening is the period of highest bidding. Ending your listing between 8-11 p.m. eastern time (5-8 p.m. pacific) is best.

I prefer – and do my best – to start/end my auctions on Sunday evenings between 6-8 p.m. (PST). That means it is 9-11:00 p.m. on the East coast; folks can still bid before ending their day. My next best day is Monday evenings, followed by Saturday evenings. I’ve also ended listings on Wednesdays with some luck. I’ve never tried Tuesday, but Thursday did not work out at all for me.

I know this is a long post with lots of info, and I’m sure I didn’t cover everything. But in sharing this information, I hope I have helped you if you are thinking about reselling clothes or are just starting out. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. And don’t forget to get your copy of Popular Clothing Brands at the top of the side bar.

Rags to Riches Challenge: Week #14 Update & 3-Month Recap

2011-05-10T12:34:00.001-07:00

Week #14 marks the end of the first 3 months of my Rags to Riches Challenge. Total gross sales of auctions (only) to date is $4,491.65! Best sellers for Week #14:

CALVIN KLEIN Women's Navy Blue Stripe Slacks Pants Sz 12- sold $10.50

POLO RALPH LAUREN Men's Buttercream SS Shirt Sz L – sold $10.50

POLO RALPH LAUREN Women's Denim Cotton Jeans Overalls S – sold $11.50

COLDWATER CREEK Women's Long Sleeveless Shift Dress 1X – sold $20.36

Sales have been lukewarm, and I haven’t had any real big sellers; but of the 90+ auctions, 30% sold. Could be worse, although I didn’t reach my $3,000 goal … or did I? See my recap below.

Here’s how we did for Week #14:

Auction Sales #14	$283.90	Total: $4577.65
Cost of Goods:	$77.52	Total: $882.72
eBay & PP Fees:	$48.92	Total: $885.50
Total Net Profits:	$2809.43

Since I retired, eBay has become a way to supplement my income. But selling online has sometimes been frustrating and disappointing; and at times I would take a break … sometimes for weeks. Then I added clothing to my inventory, and it has been a big boost.

I am going to share my numbers to compare how selling pre-owned clothing has become my bread & butter. Here are my sales for 2009 & 2010 for a 3-month period (no clothing sales):

2009	Total Sales	# Sold
FEBRUARY	$639.38	60
MARCH	$1007.74	88
APRIL	$757.57	71
TOTAL:	$2404.69

2010	Total Sales	# Sold
FEBRUARY	$223.23	23
MARCH	$420.28	74
APRIL	$693.44	94
TOTAL:	$1336.95

Total online sales for 2011 for the same 3-month period:

2011	Total Sales	# Sold
JANUARY	$721.26	68
FEBRUARY	$1699.91	125
MARCH	$2273.67	182
APRIL	$1947.36	147
TOTAL:	$6642.20

These numbers are for all online sales, not just clothing, which I started selling in February; but you can see the difference it has made. Selling used clothing is like collecting change: a penny here, a nickel there … it all adds up and before you know it, you have a nice chunk of change. With the exception of high sellers, average sale per clothing item is $7-$9, but it all adds up.

Here’s a different breakdown, only includes eBay auctions:

2011	Gross Monthly Sales	Gross Margin (after fees)	eBay & PP Fees
JAN	$118.27	$98.44	$19.83
FEB	$975.34	$819.07	$156.27
MAR	$2133.56	$1777.80	$355.76
APR	$1264.48	$1123.05	$141.43
TOTAL:	$4491.65	$3818.36	$673.29

The Gross Monthly Sales includes final price plus handling fee. Gross Margin is what I receive after eBay deducts its fees. The difference between GMS and Gross Margin is what I paid in eBay & Paypal fees. I do charge a handling fee, which helps defray some of my expenses, not only fees but also gasoline and office costs.

Taking my Gross Margin of $3,818.36 and deducting the Cost of Goods of $593.48, leaves me a net of $3,224.88. I still have inventory that hasn’t sold, so I’ll round this off to $3,000 … that’s what I call Rags to Riches!

Who can’t use an extra $3,000? I’ve used this money to pay an unexpected $400 dental bill and $550 in unexpected auto repairs. The rest has gone into paying the mortgage and credit card. This was gained in only 3 months … what a blessing!

The work is not complicated or difficult, but it is very tedious and time consuming, sometimes even boring. There are days when I think I just can’t measure another pair of pants or dress. But the pros far outweigh the cons … and what’s better than working from home? Not much.

In my next update, I will continue with my 3-month recap and discuss my experience with name brands, my listing process, when to list, etc. … plus my chagrin at having one of my favorite ladies getting suspended from eBay!

Rag to Riches Challenge Times 2: Weeks #12 and #13

2011-04-29T19:39:00.001-07:00

This week marks 3 months of my self-imposed challenge. I started this challenge in February after being inspired by the wonderful ladies of My Dear Trash, Laura and Kelly. Here is my first post about my challenge.

Kelly is once again doing another BIG challenge. This time she wants to earn $5,000 in 6 weeks to pay for her daughter's wedding. She’s halfway through the challenge and has more than 50% met her $5,000 goal! She is truly awesome. Read all about her challenge here; and I hope it’ll inspire you the way I was to take the leap to sell trash.

Next week I’ll do a 3-month recap of my clothing sales and expenses. Next week’s post will include the good, the bad, and the ugly. Things like what I’ve learned about name brands, sizes, days and times to list, etc. There’s been a lot of trial and error, that’s for sure! But it’ll also show how selling trash has made a difference in my pocket book.

I know I’m behind one week, so I thought I'd just combine the last two weeks into one. Here are my top sellers of the past 2 weeks:

FRESH PRODUCE Women's Coral Casual Crop Pants Sz L – sold $11.17

MOTHERHOOD Maternity Black Sleeveless Dressy Dress Sz L – sold $12.51

OSCAR DE LA RENTA Black Lined Wide Leg Pants 12 – sold $16.25

TOMMY HILFIGER Denim Jeans Cropped Jacket Size L – sold $20.50

RALPH LAUREN White Casual Slacks Pants Sz 12 – sold $26.00

LAPIS Anthropologie Floral Print Gore Skirt M – sold $34.05

Here’s a real wild card that sold the first time … well, sort of:

Groovy Pair Corduroy Bell Bottom Pants Asphalt Blue 5 – sold $7.50

I don’t know what possessed me to buy these pants, but they reminded me of the 60s and 70s. Those hip-hugging bell bottoms were all the rage. And at only fifty cents, I thought I’d take a chance with them. In my description I added they would be great for a costume or dress up outfit. I was really glad when they sold! Only problem is the buyer hasn’t paid and me thinks they’re not going to go through with the sale, especially because they have 0 feedback and this was their first eBay purchase. Oh, well …

On a better note, remember this board game I posted about here:

Cashflow Cash Flow 101 Rich Dad Poor Dad Boardgame Game

I paid $1.00 for it at a garage sale; and it sold at auction for $40.00. Woo, hoo!

So, here’s the bottom line:

Auction Sales #12 #13	$845.29	Total: $4293.75
Cost of Goods:	$95.75	Total: $805.20
eBay & PP Fees:	$148.48	Total: $836.58
Total Net Profits:	$2651.97

With sales from this week, I hope to reach $3,000 in profits from selling trash, just from clothing auctions. Does not include sales from my store, although for the past couple of months store sales have been pretty dismal. I’m sure it’s because I’ve been concentrating on clothing and haven’t been adding new merchandise. Something to work on …

Online sales for the past two weeks, including eBay store, totaled $946.46. Now that’s CASH FOR TRASH!

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Rag to Riches Challenge Week #11

2011-04-20T21:53:00.001-07:00

Another mediocre week but better than Week #10. It certainly does pay to list more. I listed 76 auctions, with 60 of those for clothing. 28 of these ended in sales. Here are my top sales:

HOT COTTON Women's Coral White Print Crop Pants Sz 2X ~ sold $9.00

VICTORIA'S SECRET Women's Navy Blue Sheer Negligee Sz M ~ sold $9.00

TALBOTS Women's Beige Casual Stretch Slacks Pants Sz 14 ~ sold $9.38

J JILL Women's Black Rayon Travel Skirt Plus Size 4X ~ sold $11.05

ANN TAYLOR LOFT Women's Long Sleeve Wrap Dress Sz 8 ~ sold $12.50

AVENUE Women's Purple Stirrup Casual Pants 22/24 Avg NEW ~ sold $12.50

No real big sellers, but I only paid $0.50 for the pants and $1-$2 for the dresses & skirt. I may not be selling high-ticket items, but I make my money in quantity. That’s why it’s important to list as much as I can. Ideally, I’d like to list 100 items per week. The weeks when I do list the most are usually my best weeks. You could argue that it takes just as much time to list an item that sells for $50+ as it does to list one for $9.99. Well, I can’t always find that product and so far reselling clothes has been making a nice profit for me.

Here’s how we did this week:

Auction Sales:	$261.16	Total: $3448.46
Cost of Goods:	$78.10	Total: $709.45
eBay & PP Fees:	$57.19	Total: $688.10
Total Net Profits:	$2050.91

Well, I finally reached and passed $2,000! And although I haven’t been able to save the money for home improvements, I am glad the money was there when I needed to pay the dentist, the auto mechanic, and to make that extra car payment.

Online sales, including eBay store and Bonanza, totaled $429.19. Now that’s CASH FOR TRASH! Come back tomorrow and Friday for more updates.

Rags to Riches Challenge Week #10

2011-04-12T23:07:00.001-07:00

It just seems the days aren’t long enough. Between catching up on my listings and more car trouble, I just didn’t get a chance to post an update last week.

Well, the previous Week #9 was an awesome week, but Week #10 was not so great. I didn’t get a chance to post as many new listings for clothing and that made a huge difference. I had 108 auctions, but half were non-clothing items that had been in my store for awhile. Only 8 of these ended in sales for a whopping total of $31 … disappointing to say the least.

I did have a few clothing sales, but not any real major sales. Here are my two top sellers:

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG Women's Silk Navy Blue Blouse 3X ~ Sold $15.65

I paid $1.00 for it at a small church thrift store. Twice a month they have $12-a-bag sale, and you can really fit a lot of stuff in a bag.

NEW JACLYN SMITH Black Leather Lambskin Skirt Size 22W ~ Sold $21.00

Although this skirt is a Jaclyn Smith K-mart brand, it was really very nice. The picture is not great, but this skirt was brand new with its original tags, priced at $59.99. Someone got a very sweet deal!

And, just for show-and-tell, here’s a mug I sold at auction:

OTAGIRI SLEEPING KITTY CAT & YARN MUG JONAH'S WORKSHOP ~ Sold for $12.99

Last week, I wasn’t able to make it to Rag Day so I missed out on any great buys. Luckily, I still had enough inventory to list for this week. I haven’t found any more Tommy Bahama shirts or St. John knit skirts … but I keep hoping and looking!

The previous weekend was a great day for yard sales and I found some great stuff, which I posted about here. I’ve got a few items currently listed, and I still have some clothing items to list for next week. Maybe it’ll help bring those numbers up. Here’s how we did for Week #10:

Auction Sales:	$201.76	Total: $3185.30
Cost of Goods:	$41.00	Total: $631.35
eBay & PP Fees:	$56.38	Total: $630.91
Total Net Profits:	$1923.04

Online sales, including eBay store, totaled $239.44! Not every week can be great but THAT’S still cash for trash!

Thrifty Treasures Thursday

2011-04-07T21:03:00.001-07:00

The weather was beautiful this past weekend so on Saturday my BFF Viv and I hit the sales in Orange County. I was thrilled to be out saling again! There were quite a few yardies, and I found all kinds of neat stuff, like this gorgeous vintage Hall’s coffee/tea pot (pictured above) for only $2 … can you believe it!

And what about this Cashflow financial board game by Rich Dad, Poor Dad … practically brand new:

Got it plus a vintage Scrabble, Cranium and Scooby Doo Monopoly board games for one dollar each.

Check out this great butcher block cutting board for only $1! I’ve been wanting one for so long and almost bought a smaller and cheaper one at WM for more $$. This one is super heavy and in great condition.

One of my favorite finds is this 2-tier rolling metal filing cart. Another item that had been on my wish list forever. I’ve shopped around at the bigger office supply stores, but the carts were so flimsy and expensive (about $50-$70, if not more). This one is stainless steel, very stable and in excellent condition … and it was only $5.00! Found the exact same one online for $25, but mine is better cuz it was only $5 … happy dance!

Then at a another yardie I found a brand new box of hanging folders for another $1.00 -- perfect for my new filing cart … woo hoo! As you can see, I’ve already started getting organized!

About 10:30 am, Viv and I were ready to call it a day, but decided to make one more stop … and I found this:

Isn’t it great! The lady said she bought it at Home Depot but didn’t need/want it anymore. The price was just right … FREE!

At this same sale, I found this great vintage piece of luggage … I just love it!

The lady said she brought it back from England, which she said was a real ordeal … and was only asking $5 for it. I was already taking the FREE wrought-iron chandelier so I eagerly gave her the 5 bucks … and happily danced my way to my car! Somehow, Viv and I managed to squeeze everything into my little 2-door Civic Honda …

I bought a few clothing items, which I’ve already started listing. We’ll see if I got some bargains … or if it’ll be a bust. Also bought the usual assortment of books, cookbooks, puzzles and CDs. Overall, Saturday was a great day for garage/yard sales!

For more great finds, check out Apron Thrift Girl’s blog for Thrift Share Monday. Also linking up to Thrifty Thursday @ Bloggervitaville and Junkin’ Finds Friday @ A La Carte. Be sure to check them out for more great thrifty treasures!

And don’t forget to come back for an update on my Rags to Riches Challenge. Not every week can be a great week.