What Have You Been Up To?

Please allow me to explain my absence ....

#1) My sales have been pathetic, so I haven't had any exciting sales to blog about.

#2) I have been feverishly getting caught up on my unlisted inventory. My store inventory had dropped from about 900 a year ago to around 450 a month ago. I am just above 500 right now. I wish I could find the time to list more regularly, but our homeschool is back in full swing, and we are trying to enjoy these last few days of nice weather before the winter arrives. I also have gotten back into running, and my husband has a lot of schoolwork that has to be done on the computer, so I have had to share :( 

#3) In addition to getting as many new listings up as possible, I have been editing current listings to take out all of my SSB templates. At eBay on Location, we learned that listings with 3rd party templates, photos, and HTML in the body of the listings really deter mobile buyers. I had heard this before, but listings look perfect on my phone, so I thought it was just another conspiracy theory. But then I saw a listing on Tina's Android (I have an iPhone), and it was an absolute mess on her phone. If I had that phone and I had opened that listing, I would immediately have backed out to find one that was easier to read. With mobile commerce on the rise, I am aiming to target those buyers more, so I need to get all of that coding out of my listings.

Each morning, I take a look at the listings that are due to end that day. If I recently listed it, I just revise it to take that coding out and make it text-only. If it's an older listing, I end it and relist it using Sell Similar, and take all the coding out that way. I'm also tweaking my pricing and keywords, and adding free shipping to all my first class items. My Shipping DSR has been steadily slipping, so I'm trying to bump it back up before it becomes a problem.

I am now officially moved into my building. I am set up to take pictures out there now. I absolutely love it. That's my peaceful time at the end of the day. I slip out there in the dark, lock the door, and blast my iTunes while I work. Sometimes I do packaging, sometimes I rearrange, sometimes I just look and smile :)  That has been the best move for my business. I really enjoy working out there.

I can't end the post without just one or two sales from the last couple weeks. Let's see which ones were my favorites...

This is a Faded Glory (Walmart) skirt. It always makes me laugh when I sell a FG skirt for good money, but it has happened enough now that I won't hesitate to pick them up in the future, *IF* it's a cute one. I think all the FG denim skirts that I have sold have been seamed like this AND have been plus-sized.

• Acquired On: 8/30/12 (Goodwill)
• Listed On:  9/17/12
• Sold On: 10/15/12
• Paid: $2.99
• Sold For: $24.99 - $4.99 shipping

My Miche items are still selling well. This purse sold VERY quickly, with free first class shipping, on a Monday. My buyer immediately messaged me offering to pay extra if I would ship it express mail because she needed it by Saturday for a wedding. I messaged her with a shipping quote for Priority and Express, with instructions to send whichever total she chose to my Paypal account. A few minutes later, I received a payment for Express mail. Now, I live in Pennsylvania. She lives in Ohio, right next door. The purse would easily have made it in time with just the free first class shipping option, but I wasn't about to take the chance that some freak occurrence would make it late, so I got it packaged and made the special trip to the post office to ensure that it would get there the next day.

• Acquired On: 9/19/12 (Facebook Yard Sale)
• Listed On: 9/27/12
• Sold On: 10/15/12
• Paid: $6
• Sold For: $26.99 + $21.95 express shipping

Road Trip Goodies, Batch #2

Before I show you batch #2 ... an update from batch #1 already!  I sold my Nightmare III game! When I actually sat down to list it, I decided to aim high with a best offer and see what would happen. I was stunned when it sold for my full asking price a mere 26 minutes after I listed it! So add this one to your BOLO list:

Now, on to today's goodies...

NEW Wilton Comfort Grip Tulip Cookie Cutter

I saw this on the shelf at Goodwill and walked right by it, but a few steps later, a memory triggered. I vaguely remembered someone somewhere saying that some of these do well, so I looked it up. And then I snatched it up and threw it in my cart. This particular cutter recently sold (USED) for $30 + shipping. This one is new, so I'm going to aim high. I paid 97 cents for it :-D

12" Talking Buzz LightYear

I haven't researched this one lately, but I remember looking it up once before and seeing that it does pretty well. I will add a video to my listing, showing that it does work. I hope that doesn't end up backfiring, once the buyer realizes how annoying this toy is and decides not to buy it after all.

Balderdash board game

This is my mom's. She asked me to list it last month, and if it didn't sell, she was going to put it in our yard sale this weekend. I completely forgot. Here it is yard sale week and I forgot to list it, but I'm going to anyway. It's not a high-dollar seller, but I'm confident I can get more on eBay than she would get for it at a yard sale.

Leap Frog Alphabet Go Fish and Math Rummy

I still haven't decided whether I'm going to sell this or keep it for my preschoolers. I haven't researched it yet, so that will be when I decide.

NEW Pixos Ocean Set

I don't know anything about Pixos. I don't know what they are or what you do with them. But Rachel from The Selling Sisters has mentioned them a couple times, so I texted her from the store to see if I should buy these. She said to go for it, but that they might sit until closer to Christmas. I'm okay with that.

TI-83 Graphing Calculator

I couldn't believe my luck with this one. It was in my favorite huge dirty, unorganized thrift store that doesn't price their stuff. I asked how much it was. He said, "That's the TI-83. That's a really expensive one new, so ... how about $2?"  Um. Yeah, okay! There's no cover or manual, but I should still be able to get a minimum of $60, and probably fairly quickly, since it's back-to-school time right now.

Horse etched roly poly glasses

I took a chance on these. They have silver bands around the center. There are equestrian scenes etched on the silver. I wasn't able to find this exact set listed currently or in completeds. I will have to do more research before I list them, but I'm hoping for at least $20-25 for the set.

Towle silver mother-of-pearl chips/veggies and dip tray

I overspent on this. I couldn't find this exact tray listed, but there was a divided vegetable serving dish with the same mother-of-pearl design that recently sold for nearly $90, so I decided to take a chance on it. I paid $12 for it, which is more than I usually spend on something I know nothing about. But I knew I could at least double my money, but I'm hoping for closer to $50.

8 quart Revere Ware stockpot

I always have pretty good luck with Revere Ware. I only paid $3.97 for this one. It does show some wear, but I am still hoping for around $40-50.

16 quart Revere Ware stockpot

This one, on the other hand, should fetch me a pretty penny. I've never seen a Revere Ware stockpot this large. And it is in excellent shiny condition. It is absolutely gorgeous, and if it wasn't such a good reseller, I would be tempted to keep it for myself. But I need the cash more than I need an extra-large stockpot that I would use twice a year. Hoping for closer to $100 on this one.

And as usual, I found a bunch of denim skirts. The brown one in the top center is a name I've never heard of, but it had a high retail price tag on it and was only $2, so I bought it. The bottom left is a Ralph Lauren golf skirt. Its retail tag said $98, so I'll hope for $40-50 on it. I only paid $3 for it.

This should be plenty to keep me busy tonight :)

Catch Up Sales (A Dump and Run Post)

Well! I'm not too sure what happened, but something on eBay is working right for me again! My sales have really picked up! I have been running 50% off clothing sales, and my clothing has been flying out the door! No, the prices haven't been what I was hoping for, but I buy my clothing at low enough prices that I am still at least doubling my investment on them. I'm glad to see a smaller clothing stack to transfer to my building and put on hangers :)

Here are a few highlights of the last 2 weeks:

I've sold a good bit of Miche over the last 2 weeks. I sold 2 bags and 4 shells. That lot has more than paid for itself, and I have a lot more of it to sell!

$29.99 + shipping
The same buyer bought the coral colored shell below.

$34.99 + shipping

$25.00 + shipping
The same buyer bought the black shell below

$25.00 + shipping

$29.99 + shipping

$29.99 + shipping

Some more denim skirts:

$29.99 + shipping

$29.99 + shipping

Some clothing:

Christian Dior blouse
$24.99 + shipping

NWT Talbots dress
$49.99 + shipping

I had someone make me a ridiculously low offer on the Christian Dior blouse not long before it actually sold for a good price. And the Talbots dress had a $120 price tag. I have had it since February with no interest. Last week I got a low offer on it, and then a few days later it sold during my 50% off sale.

Some shoes:

Converse - $25 + shipping

I have had these Converse listed for quite awhile. I had 13 watchers on them at one point. I don't know why they took so long to sell!

SAS - $35 + shipping

SAS are good, reliable sellers!

Wile E. Coyote Keds
$36.66 + shipping

I sold a pair of red Looney Tunes Keds high-tops before, but for only about $15. These were just too cool to pass up though. I only paid $3 for them, and they sold pretty quickly!

Dansko Mary Janes
$65.00 + shipping

These Danskos sold the morning after I listed them!

Salvatore Ferragamos
$65.00 + shipping

I'm so glad these finally sold! I have had them since last August. I sold them in March for $45, but they were returned for fit. I was pretty thrilled to sell them for $20 more the second time around!

And lastly, 2 odds 'n' ends:

2 qt. Revere Ware saucepan
$20.00 + shipping

 My Revere Ware always sells pretty quickly. This one has sat for a VERY long time, and I could never figure out why. I finally realized it's because I called it a 2 qt. in the title, but a 1 1/2 qt. in the description. I changed that and it sold within 2 days.

NEW The Clapper
$29.99 + shipping

 This one made me laugh. I bought it during one of Tina's and my shopping trips. Paid $5 for it. It immediately got watchers. I got an inquiry from Australia, but it turns out it's the wrong voltage or plug or something. Sold it to Canada about a week after listing it.

Now that THAT song is stuck in your head ..... I apologize for the quick dump post. I'm spread too thin! Can't keep up with blogging!

Have a great selling week!

What a Weekend!

Well I'm back! My husband and I drove out to Indiana over the weekend to visit my dear friend Tina. It was absolutely awesome to finally meet in person and get to spend the weekend shopping together!! We had a blast!!

We shopped, we yammered, we ate, we giggled. And I can hardly wait to do it again!


I had put my store on vacation the first day I was gone, and then took it back off of vacation Friday afternoon. I'm not sure what happened, but my sales have significantly improved since then. I'm still nowhere near my first quarter average, but I'm doing much better than I had been. Thank goodness.

Some noteworthy sales from the past week:



My hard-won Miche lot has been treating me well. This discontinued Cori shell sold for $29.99 this weekend.

• Date Acquired: 6/28/12 (yard sale)
• Date listed: 7/2/12
  
• Date Sold: 7/7/12
• Paid: $2
• Sold For: $29.99 + shipping
  

My Facebook yard sale group has been treating me well too. I bought these toddler Keen sandals on there recently. They sold fairly quickly.

• Acquired On: 6/11/12 (Facebook)
  
• Listed On: 6/14/12
• Sold On: 7/2/12
• Paid: $4
• Sold For: $25.00 + shipping
  

Another Facebook find. I'm amazed at how often people sell Converse on that group for dirt cheap!

• Acquired On: 6/14/12 (Facebook)
  
• Listed On: 6/26/12
• Sold On: 7/8/12
• Paid: $5.00
• Sold For: $25.00 + shipping
  

More Miche from the yard sale lot. This is a petite bag, only about 6"x8"

• Acquired On: 6/28/12 (yard sale)
• Listed On: 7/3/12
• Sold On: 7/7/12
• Paid: $5, but it had a shell on it too
• Sold For: $19.99 + shipping

And more Miche. This is the classic size bag. It also had a shell on it (which I'll be able to sell for $25-30), and the second set of straps you see in the picture.

• Acquired On: 6/28/12
• Listed On: 7/3/12
• Sold On: 7/7/12
• Paid: $10 (that included the other shell)
• Sold For: $29.99 + shipping

More Miche. Y'all are gonna get so sick of hearing about this lot. These 5 were stained, so I was going to throw them away, but I decided to put them in a lot with Best Offer, just to see what would happen. Imagine my surprise when they sold 2 days later, for 75% of my asking price!

• Acquired On: 6/24/12 (yard sale)
• Listed On: 7/3/12
• Sold on: 7/5/12
• Paid: Approximately $2 each
• Sold For: $30.00 + shipping
  

My sister-in-law brought me this denim skirt recently. It is a really dark blue wash with red stitching down the sides, so I wasn't surprised when it sold quickly.

• Acquired On: 6/25/12 (sister-in-law)
  
• Listed On: 6/25/12
• Sold On: 6/30/12
• Paid: $7.90
• Sold For: $29.99 + shipping
  

Remember how terrible my Kaya doll looked when I bought her? I got a really low offer on her last week. I counter-offered, but as usual, never heard back. I was thrilled to accept an offer yesterday from someone else.

• Acquired On: 4/6/12 (yard sale)
• Listed On: 6/7/12
• Sold On: 7/8/12
• Paid: $10.00
• Sold For: $75.00 + shipping

My American Girl lot has performed stunningly well! To recap, I paid $31 for 3 dolls and a ton of accessories. I have my Kirsten doll left, as well as 5 outfits. To date, I have sold $564.26 worth!!

Walmart Special

Just a quick post tonight. I actually had a REAL sales day today!!  I had, I think, 7 sales! How encouraging :)

I had some SERIOUSLY AWESOME yard saling adventures this morning, but that's going to have to wait until Monday. I don't have time to get into it tonight, and I'll be away from a computer for the next few days... Sorry!

I just wanted to talk a little more about denim skirts. I was running low on denim skirts and hadn't been out shopping for awhile. My sister-in-law saved the day and brought me a bag full of them the other day. There were 7 or 8 skirts in there. Some great brands, some not-so-great brands. My heart sunk just a little when I saw a Faded Glory skirt in the bag. Blech. Walmart?? Who's gonna pay good money for a Walmart denim skirt? But it had 2 things going for it:  it was plus sized, and it had interesting seaming. When I asked my SIL to start watching for denim skirts for me, I specified that they MUST have interesting seaming. I guess I forgot to mention not to get Walmart brands. lol. 

But anyway....I listed them the other day, and wouldn't you know it - the Walmart one was the second one to sell!

Don't be afraid to list Walmart brands. But do NOT put the brand name in the title. You want your buyer to see the photo and fall in love with it. Then, once they open the listing and realize it's a Walmart brand, they'll have already fallen in love with it, so they won't care so much about the brand name. On the other hand, if you put the brand right in the title, that's the first thing they'll see, even before the photo. They'll be turned off immediately and won't even bother opening your listing.

This didn't sell for huge bucks, but I was pleased to get $19.99 + shipping out of it - especially considering the brand!

My Streak Continues! :)

Yay! Someone bought a denim skirt at 11:30 last night! So my sales streak lives on. Still no $0 days in 2012.

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My husband and I decided today that this business has likely given me the beginnings of carpal tunnel syndrome :(  I'm on the computer most of the day, but it has never really bothered my arms. Then about a month ago, I was clipping last year's dead flowers from the flower garden. Even that didn't bother me, but the next morning I woke up and could hardly move that hand without excruciating agony. I took some Motrin and thought that would take care of it. It's been more than a month and my wrist STILL isn't right. I can go most of the day without it bothering me, but then I'll forget and lift something wrong and re-injure it. When I roll over in bed at night, because I'm not completely awake, I forget and use that hand to push myself over, and I hurt it again. And every time I re-injure it, it takes that much longer to heal. So I guess I'm going to have to be more careful with how I spend my computer time. Less time browsing and Facebooking, and more time actually being productive with listing and photo editing.

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I was out shopping most of the day today. Retail shopping. Not even clearance. Current season, retail prices. And I lived to tell the tale. Not that I care to do that often, but once in awhile it's okay. My daughter was desperate for clothes that fit her properly, and Goodwill just wasn't cutting it anymore. I'm excited about her new outfits! She's almost never had a new-clothes shopping spree. I've always either sewn her clothes or gotten them at Goodwill or yard sales. She had fun too, I think.

**********

About a month ago, my brother-in-law asked me to try to sell his old analog police scanner. He said he wanted $75 for it. I took one look at active and completely listings, laughed, and told him that wasn't going to happen, but that I would list it for $74.99 for a month. After a month, I was going to raise the price a bit and add Best Offer to it.

I also posted it to my local Facebook selling group. Someone immediately posted that it was useless because it was analog, and that our county had recently switched to digital. It annoys me when people interfere with Facebook transactions.

But wouldn't you know - it actually sold today for $74.99. So I had to humble myself and tell my brother-in-law that he actually got his asking price for it. It was a fun surprise. I never dreamed! I was also sure to comment on the ad on my FB selling group that it had indeed sold. So there. :-P

**********

Sold another American Girl outfit today. Time for an update! Initially paid $31 for the lot 15 days ago. Currently up to $358.91 in sales from it.

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That's pretty much it for today. I am clearly in a sales slump, so I don't have a whole lot of eBay activity to talk about...

Success Is Mine!

... for one more week anyway. I didn't do it. I didn't shop. Instead, I came home and took pictures to list! The more I see my unlisted inventory pile shrink, the easier it is to avoid shopping and making that pile grow again. I'm getting there. Slowly but surely.

Some fun sales today:

Even American Girl dolls lost a shoe now and then. I had only 1 of Kirsten's meet outfit shoes, but ones I realized that a pair sells for almost $25.00, I decided to list this one by itself, just in case someone else needed one. It sold a lot faster than I expected! It went to Oregon for $9.99 + shipping.

These Dockers shorts are going to Greece for my full asking price of $29.99 + shipping.

My microwave turntables sell in spurts. I hadn't sold any for about a month, and now I've sold 3 in the last week or so. I have Best Offer on all my turntables, but all three of these have sold for my full price. This one was $29.99 + shipping. It was a big one - 16"!

I had this skirt listed pretty high ($39.99) because it was different - not your ordinary denim skirt. I had several watchers on it, but no bites. Someone messaged me last night, asking if I'd consider an offer. I added the Best Offer option, and woke up this morning to a $32.75 offer. Good enough!

These are Worishofers. I've never heard of that brand before. I found a pair of their sandals back in November. They looked like they were a quality sandals, so I bought them and have gotten zero interest in them. For some reason, I decided to pick these up anyway. I just got around to listing them 2 days ago, and they sold the next morning for $35! I'm not convinced that's an official BOLO brand though.

I have had this frog forEVER. That blue ruler is a 12" ruler. This thing is enormous, which is why I put off listing it for so long. I think I had it for 4 or 5 months before I finally decided to list it. I just couldn't figure out how I would ship something like that. I finally bit the bullet and listed it in November. There was only one other one that had recently sold for around $90, so I priced mine at $129.99 or best offer. That first week, I got several offers:  $10, $1, another $10, and $25. lol. No.  I recently reduced the price to $99.99 or best offer and finally accepted an offer for $50 yesterday. Plus $16-something shipping to Ohio. I had only paid $1 for it, so I'm quite happy with that profit margin. The thing takes up half a shelf and is just plain IN the WAY, so it was time to send him on his merry way.

**********

I'm listing some more odds 'n' ends tonight. Those always take me forever, because I have to research each item. And then I stop in between listings to write a blog post (ahem). Back to the grindstone! Can't sell it if it isn't listed!