Estate Sale Update

Almost two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to attend an estate sale at my church. The estate sale was that of a member who has been getting older and not doing well and she went to live with her family. It was her wishes that whatever her family didn't want to save and keep, that the church have a sale and benefit from whatever was sold.

I am happy to report that I have sold enough items to break even on my investment of $50.00.

The first sale of $37.19 was the vintage Penguin ice bucket. It went to England.

The next sale was the Regalware Dutch oven for $23.24 shipping paid by buyer.

And now whatever sells from this lot will be profit ( minus fees.etc.). In fact this morning, the lighthouse cookie cutter sold for $17.59 f/s.

I haven't had any hits on the dinnerware or glassware, I suspect they will be slow to sell. But,that is okay. I am confident they will their way to just the right buyer eventually.

Have you had any experiences buying from Estate sales?

Money Monday: A Slight Improvement

Last week was definitely a little busier on eBay. There were sales almost daily. Woo Hoo! That has not happened in a long time.



I was hoping to get my listing up past 600 this last week but that did not happen. What I did work on was my bookkeeping. For the last four months all I have done was collect receipts and write down mileage. It took me about two afternoons to get it all together. I hate bookkeeping :)
But Lorraine at Clamco inspired me to get it together. Here is her post on how she keeps track of her numbers. I fell so much better about that. Whew!!

Here are a couple of my sales from last week:

I saw on one of the Facebook groups that this cooler could be profitable. I paid $4.99 and it sold for $37.19, shipping paid by customer.

 

I paid 0.99 cents for each mug. The pair of these Disney mugs sold for $89.99 f/s

I was running a sale in my store,the original price was $99.99.

 

 

Here are the numbers for last week:
Active listings: 579 (574-last week)

Cost of items sold: $20.00
Number of sales: 15
Total sales: 500.00

Amount spent on new inventory : $25.00
Average selling price: $33.00

International sales:1
Returns:0
Feedback: all positive this week

I am still listing my Fire King collection. I hope to get most of the jadeite listed this week. It will be a relief to get it all listed. I never realized how much I had accumulated.

 

Hope your weekly profits were awesome!

 

Money Monday: Slow.....but Steady

I have been steady listing, but I know I can do better. I have about 120ish free listings left for this month and I am going to try like heck to use them all up. That will get me pretty close to 700 items listed.

In order to work eBay more like a business than a "hobby" I will be keeping track of my actual eBay time I spend listing, packing and cleaning. Trying to avoid the distractions of working from home is not always so easy.

My plan is going to be to document by signing in and out on a piece of paper ( just to keep me honest) when I am working and when I am at lunch, etc.

This morning was moderately successful. After a two mile walk at 6:00 AM, I came home, fixed breakfast and started to work at 8:00. I finished out the morning with listing and packing until 12:00.

Then is was time to get cleaned up, load of car to go to post office and run a couple of other errands too. I think I can get in another solid hour this evening.

I think this little experiment will help me be better organized and more productive.

My sales for the last two weeks are slow but consistent. There were a couple of good sales. I posted pictures below.

Here are the numbers for the last two weeks:

Active listings: 574 (512-two weeks ago)
Items listed last two weeks :62

Cost of items sold: $13.00
Number of sales: 14
Total sales: 353.00

Amount spent on new inventory for two weeks: $75.00
Average selling price: $25.00
International sales: 5
Returns: 1
Feedback: all positive this week

Who knew Bicycle shirts were so valuable? Goodwill for $2.99. Best offer of $80.00 FS

 

I found this Chinese dictionary at GoodWill for $1.99. It sold for $93.99 buyer paid shipping. I estimated the price. I saw some on Amazon for about 60.00 bucks. I just decided to go for it and list it high. You never know....

 

 

Mug flip of the week. I found this Dracula mug at a local Thrift for 0.50 cents. Sold for 24.99 FS

 

And yes, another $1.49 care bear sold. And now it is on its way to Norway!

 

 

Hope you all had a great week of sales!

 

 

Friday This and That

A few things to finish out the week.

I have just about finished listing the items from the estate sale. There is a copper cookie cutter, one of the Revereware pans, the ice tongs which are Bakelite, a Vera scarf, a lil oscar cooler, the westmoreland plate and the line dance videos.

 

Yesterday I had a mini-meet up with with an eBay specialist and for me meet-up coordinator from New Hampshire. She moved to Florida in January and is going to start her meet-ups again.

 

I missed her first one which was the same day I had the new windows installed. So through Facebook, we agreed to meet at a local Goodwill and thrift it up! Bobbi is a wealth of information and such a sweet lady! We had a great time exchanging ideas and info over dinner.

We both had a blast!

 

Today I called eBay to request an increase in my listing limits. It was getting to the point where I was about to reach my max. The call went well, and the CS rep increased my dollar amount and my listings amount. Have you had to call to increase your limits lately?

 

Happy Friday and I hope your weekend is full of sales!

 

 

Estate Sale: How I Spent $50.00

This weekend, our church had an estate sale in their basement. The belongings were that of a member who recently went to live with family members and Maine. Her family had already gone through everything that they wanted and decided to donate the rest of the items to the church and all proceeds from the sale will go to the church.

Last thing I need to do is to go to an estate sale, thrift store, or Goodwill and spend more money. But, I am weak, I admit it. I had to go.

I went Sunday after church and pick the items that I wanted. I put them in the cleaning closet so I could pick them up later on this week and that was yesterday.

Here are a few pictures of the items that I picked up at the estate sale. I was able to get most of them listed yesterday. This was made easier by the fact that they were multiples. The blue glasses each design had 12 and a set. So there were 12 cordials, 12 sherbets, 12 goblets, and 12 tumblers.

The pattern is Indiana teal blue king crown thumbprint glassware.

I have them listed in sets of two with prices ranging from $19.99 to $24.99 with free shipping.

Next I listed Warren Kimble coastal breeze by Sakura dinnerware.

These are listed BIN with prices ranging from 19.99 to 29.99 includes free shipping. The prices might be a bit high, but the dinnerware is heavy and I need to make sure I can cover the shipping.

Of course ther are mugs. I think the most interesting one is the National Security Agency one. I priced that higher at $34.99 as it is a bit unusual and hard to find.

The needlepoint is beautiful, and then there is the vintage ice bucket! I love it, it's round and has penguins on it.

There are a few more items to get listed. Several Revereware pots and pans and about three really heavy forks. I have no knowledge on flatware so this will take some research. A couple of vintage scarves and a cross stitch table cloth. I will get those listed and share with you. **Here is the last bit of the haul**

Over all, I think it was a pretty good haul for $50.00!!

Under construction

Yesterday and today have been chaos around here. Old windows have been pulled out......

 

And new ones have been going in.

 

It will be nice when it's done. But right now....

 

It's loud and it's messy.

Will return to normal soon. I hope. :-)

 

Central Florida Thrift Store Crawl: The Village Thrift Shop Orlando

Greetings Thrifters! Welcome to my second in the series of "Central Florida Thrift Store Crawl".


The Village Thrift Store in downtown @ 888 E Michigan St Orlando 32806. It occupies the same building as an automotive repair shop. In fact, they are husband and wife. How cool is that? They get to work side by side everyday!


I have lived in Orlando since 1970 and attended the church next door to this business. As far as I can recall, it has been operational for at least that long.


This particular business is a consignment thrift. You can sign up, agree to the terms and then schedule a day to bring your stuff in. I use to do this a couple times a year. It was good for a few bucks here and there.

Warnng: there is a LOT of stuff in this store. If you are claustrophobic, you might want to avoid it.
When you enter and look to the left, you will see housewares,glasses, and knickknacks. Tons of them.

And I just noticed, is that an Easter basket on the ceiling??

There are layers and layers of things to go through.

When you look to your right upon entering the store, there are racks and racks of clothes.

The back wall beyond the clothes has lamps.

There is also a toy section in the middle of the store. I didn't get any pictures, but you get the idea....

As you can see, this thrift store is packed to the gills. You will need to allow yourself at least an hour to dig through all that they have.

I have on occasion found some decent items there. Their prices are average on most items. Some are a little high, but remember it is a consignment shop.

When I have Appts in Orlando, I always try to leave enough time to visit this little thrift store.

Money Monday: The Summer Blues

Following along with Kim from Garage Sale Heaven, I wanted to keep track of my weekly sales,weekly listings and challenge myself to get both my profits and listings up.

Active listings: 512 (last week- 468)
Items listed this week: 44
Value of items listed this week 998.00 (lots of Fire King)
Cost of items sold: $5.00
Number of sales: 7
Total sales: 155.00
Amount spent on new inventory: $9.50
Average selling price: $22.00
International sales: 1
Returns: 0
Feedback: all positive this week

Sales this week were SLOW. Very SLOW. I am betting that July Fourth had a lot to do with the lack of sales. At this rate it will be a miracle if I even get close to my July goals!

On the plus side, I had a chance to get my listings up to 512 from 468 last week. There were a bunch of listings that I re-did the photos and cleaned up the listing a bit. There were also some items that I ended and took them to the Goodwill.

Here is what sold this week: 

Nice Hawaiian Shirt: $24.99(f/s)

Fire King Milk Pitcher $64.99 (fs)

Two of these suckers sold this week! $1.49 each, buyer pays shipping. 

This is a bank. $24.99 (fs)

Vintage Fisher Price Mickey and Minnie little people $21.99 (fs)

Surprise! A coffee cup sold! This went for 23.99 (fs)

Babbacombe pottery string holder

$20.49 buy pays to ship.

I am glad to have sales, no matter how few. My average selling price is down from $37 last week to $22 this week. That's fine too. I do have many higher value items in my store, but I try to keep it balanced with the lower priced ones. Keeping my TRS is a numbers game. The more sales ( even if they are $1.49 Care Bears) helps dilute the dings I do have.


How were your sales last week? 

Did the July Fourth holiday affect you?

Open Letter to John Donahoe

 Kimberly at Garage Sale Haven posted the following on her blog.  I am borrowing it because it is well written and states my feelings exactly.  I encourage you to read the letter by Danni and if so moved, leave your comment on her blog post/letter.   

"I wanted to share this with all of you in case you were interested. Danni Ackerman has posted an open letter to eBay president John Donahoe on her blog. I am no Danni Ackerman apologist. In fact I'm one of the ones she talks about in this letter that thinks she drinks the "eBay Koolaid." That being said, I agree with everything she wrote in this letter, and I added my comment for support.
 Danni is well-liked by eBay and is often called upon to speak at their conferences. Even she is set to lose TRS status in August under this new system. I don't know if this will help at all, but I think she might have eBay's ear, and if there is any chance at all of getting things changed, this might be it. I encourage you to read the letter and if you agree with what she is saying and/or wish to add anything, make your voice heard in the comments section"

Thanks! 

Working on eBay Store Categories

The last two days, I have been working on my store categories and making subcategories. I pretty much have my women's wear category where I want it. It has the following sub-categories or (level 2) categories.

 

I am pretty happy with the Women's Wear Category for now.

	Category: All Categories > Women's Wear

Select all categories	Category (level 2)	# of Subcategories
	Category name: Blouses Shirts	0
	Category name: Dresses Skirts	0
	Category name: Pants	0
	Category name: Purses	0
	Category name: Shoes	0
	Category name: Lingerie	0
	Category name: Plus Size	0
	Category name: Scarves	0

 

 

What I am working on now is the mug cup category. I love to buy and sell coffee cups and mugs! No real reason why, I am just drawn to them.

 

Here is a list of my mug categories:

 

So far I have about 149 mugs listed. There were some auctions that recently finished, most of which were mugs. The pictures of them are really crappy, so will be taking "new" and hopefully better pictures of them.

They will be relisted. Again. Having to re-take photos will put me behind in increasing my listings. But that is okay. There are more listings that need to have better pictures besides just my mugs.

 

I have been listing my Fire King Collection. I have tons of it. Talk about OCD! I had to have every piece of that stuff!

When my mom passed, she had so much glassware that she collected,the prospect of selling it overwhelmed me. I ended up donating it all to Goodwill. So, I am trying to NOT burden my family with all my Fire King. And I can spend that money now :-)

 

Here is a screen shot of some of the Fire King I have listed. The plates are multiples. Some styles have 15 plates, some have 6, and so on. So one listing pretty much take care of it.

Some of the listings are best off, and some are not. I think by Christmas it will all be gone. Fingers crossed!

 

Time to take more pictures......

Hay Thrifting!

 

Central Florida Thrift Store Crawl: Thrift Mart Ocoee

This is my first in a series of the "Central Florida Thrift Store Crawl". Kinda like a pub crawl, but no alcohol ;-).

It is an opportunity to share the wide variety of thrift stores in my local area. Every other week or so, I will document a local thrift store and share it with you all!

First up is Thrift Mart. It is in Ocoee Florida and occupies a former big box hardware store.

Here is a little history on the store from their website.

" Central Florida’s newest “upscale” thrift store in Ocoee is the brainchild of Jacqueline Siegel. Aptly named Thrift-Mart, the store features both new and used clothing, household goods, appliances, furniture, electronics, toys, tools and more. Some of the store sales will be donated to Locals Helping Locals, a tax-exempt (status pending) non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

“Thrift-Mart’s motto,” according to Jacqueline “is locals helping locals. The decline in our economy has severely impacted the financial support that charities are receiving. We think this is a good way to raise money to help people in need, right here in our community. It also gives our customers very reasonable prices for many household goods and clothing so it’s a win-win. Our mission is to raise funds through reducing, reusing and recycling gently used donated items. We turn the donations into cash which can be given to charities that help local people in need. We are here to make a positive difference in or community.”

Thrift-Mart is located in the Westgate Resorts facility at 10770 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761 (on the corner of W. Colonial and Bluford.) The public is welcome to drop off donations at Thrift-Mart during regular business hours – Monday through Saturday, 10:00 am until 6:00 pm or to leave contributions in the outdoor bin. In addition, pick-up of large items is available (within a 10 miles radius of the store.) All donations are tax-deductible."

The inside of the store is roomy considering all the stuff they have in there. The clothes occupy a large portion of the right side of the store,

Everything is priced with easy to read tickets. The prices were okay, and the day I was there it was 40% off of all their clothes.

What was nice is that the dressing rooms were daily roomy and easy to find.

To you left as you walk in is the big furniture and they had a lot of it. I was here a month ago and everything pretty much looked the same. Maybe their furniture doe not move very quickly.

Or it is from the resorts that the Siegels own and it all looks the same.

 

They have a lot of glassware,but I did not find a lot of what I usually buy. I picked two mugs the day I took these pictures.

The toy area was a mess and kinda junky.

Another part of the store was specific to higher price and a little better quality items.

This is a sucky picture ,but the price tag on the TALL vase is $899.00. Yeah....that might be there a while.

 

I have visited this store twice in the last two months. They have a lot of bigger ticket items, things that I don't typically thrift for. Their selection in cups, mugs and vintage is rather stale. I did not see that they had a good turnover in that kind of stock.

 

This is what I found my visit, a Dooney & Bourke cell phone case. A little beat up, but I went ahead and put it up for auction.

 

Overall,the store is well stocked, it has big spacious aisles and the items they have are well displayed.