My Top eBay Moments Last Week

I missed my Top eBay Moments post again. It was a hectic weekend around here :)

My eBay week was very slow. I have been riding a very high sales wave for a couple months now, so I'm not going to complain about one slow week. I sold 51 items. A LOT of them were very low dollar. So not only did I not sell as much as I usually do, but I had to work harder for less money this week. But I'm clearing out some of my lower-end inventory, so I guess that's good.

I am SOOOO glad to be rid of this thing. My sister-in-law picked it up at a yard sale for a quarter, a really long time ago. It's really big and bulky, and I just wanted it gone, so I auctioned it. Not surprisingly, it only went for my opening bid. Have I ever mentioned how I hate auctions? But whatever. It's gone.

• Acquired On: 12/4/2010 (yes, 2010) from my sister-in-law
• Listed On: ???
• Sold On: 4/7/12
• Paid: .25
• Sold For: $6.99 + shipping (woot!)

I sold this 2 quart Ball jar for a friend of mine. After researching it, I set it at what I thought was a fair-to-highish price, but it sold within 2 or 3 days. I wish I knew more about these things, and what made this one go so quickly.

• Acquired On: 3/23/12 (friend in Harrisburg)
• Listed On: 3/2/12
• Sold On: 3/5/12
• Paid: -0-
• Sold For: $14.99 + shipping

Another denim skirt. My denim skirt collection is shrinking. I need to get out there and find more, but I'm on a thrifting fast. *whimper*  This one is Tommy Hilfiger.

• Acquired On: 2/17/12 (Harrisburg road trip)
• Listed On: 2/19/12
• Sold On: 4/6/12
• Paid: $1.00
• Sold For: $16.99 + shipping

This was my sister-in-law's Boy Scout leader shirt. Scout stuff sells well. I sold her pants very quickly. The shirt took a little longer, but that's probably because I didn't bother to take any of the patches off.

• Acquired On: ? February?
• Listed On: 3/9/12
• Sold On: 4/9/12
• Paid: -0-
• Sold For: $19.99 + shipping

These Jeanstar jeans sold this week. I was getting them ready to ship when I realized they had been cut off and hemmed. I had included the correct measurements in the listing, but they were obviously hand-hemmed and didn't look very professionally done. I contacted the buyer and explained what happened and offered to cancel. She decided to cancel. Now I can't decide whether I should relist these (mentioning the hemming) or if I should just redonate. I'm leaning toward redonating, because I seem to get a lot of buyers who can't (or don't) read. No sense borrowing trouble.

• Acquired On: 2/21/12 (Goodwill)
• Listed On: 3/8/12
• Sold On: 4/7/12
• Paid: $4.99
• Sold For: $25.00 + shipping (cancelled and refunded)

It's not often that Clarks sell super-quickly. They are a slow and steady seller. But these sold quickly. These were from the Artisan collection.

• Acquired On: 2/17/12 (Harrisburg road trip)
• Listed On: 3/31/12
• Sold On: 4/7/12
• Paid: $4.99
• Sold For: $25.00 + shipping

I finally auctioned these Doc Martens. I've had them forever with absolutely zero interest. I started them at a price I would be content with, and again, they sold for my opening bid. But I'm fine with that. They're gone. Good riddance.

• Acquired On: 3/12/11 from my sister-in-law
• Listed On: ??
• Sold On: 4/7/12
• Paid: $3.97
• Sold For: $29.99 + shipping

I love finding Ariats! Even these older styles sell well for me. I have had 2 or 3 pairs of Ariats similar to this Western style, and they've all sold within the first 2 or 3 months, and for pretty good prices. Ariats are ridiculously expensive new!

• Acquired: 10/20/11 (ok, maybe these didn't sell in 2 or 3 months...) (Harrisburg road trip)
• Listed On: ?
• Sold On: 4/7/12
• Paid: $4.99
• Sold For: $39.00 + shipping

I hope this week picks up a bit! How was your week last week?

American Girl Jackpot!

I have never in my life owned, touched, or held an American Girl doll, nor have I ever personally known anyone who has. I know. I was a poor, deprived child. <eyeroll>  But today, I struck AG gold at a yard sale! I found 3 American Girl dolls and 2 boxes of outfits. I really hate yard sales that don't have anything priced, and I usually just leave without asking how much stuff is, just on principle. But this was my first yard sale of the season. I was so desperate for yard sale shopping that I didn't even care. I asked how much the dolls were. The sale was being run by 4 or 5 teenage girls and a younger sister. Nary an adult in sight.

The youngest girl said the dolls were $10 each. I know NOTHING about these things, so the very first thought that flitted across my mind was: "Is it worth it? Will I be able to turn a profit if I pay $10 each for these?" I decided it probably was. Then I spotted the boxes of outfits. I asked the youngest how much for all of it. She said, "Let me get my sister. They aren't mine." So the older sister came over and said, "Well, the dolls are $10 each. You can have the outfits for another ..... ummm .... "  and I'm thinking she's gonna charge me another $10 for the outfits, when she says, "another .... dollar." Wow! Ok. Sold!

So I bought 3 dolls (Kaya, Kirsten, and Nellie) plus 2 boxes of outfits for $31. I spent two hours researching this evening, and yes, it was definitely a good investment, and I now feel silly for even hesitating. Goodness gracious, the prices that these things sell for!

I had a fun time sorting through the clothes. I came across a coat that was dry clean only! A DOLL coat that was DRY CLEAN only! Seriously?? This is such a foreign world to me...

I've identified most of the outfits, and I will be selling them individually. I'll be doing another box lot tracking, like I did with my play food. I'm so excited to see how well I do!

Three of these outfits are definitely NOT American Girl. I will probably try to sell them anyway. There are also a few outfits and pieces that I haven't identified yet. I'll probably start listing this stuff tomorrow. I'll be sure to post back with any updates.

Listing Odds and Ends

I really like listing big piles of like items:  5 denim skirts at a time, 10 pairs of Clarks at a time, a stack of Pyrex bowls at a time ... you get the idea.  This evening, I am listing a really bizarre pile of miscellaneous stuff. I don't really love listing odds and ends, because it takes significantly longer. It's all stuff I don't know much about, either, so I'll have to research each item individually before listing it. It's slow going, but it adds interest to my store.

Here's what I'm up to tonight:

I haven't researched this Pyrex cake pan and carrier yet. It could be totally worthless, but it was given to me, so I thought I'd check it out. I do know that the carrier is vintage. Much research needs to be done on this.

I had this listed quite some time ago. I sold it, in fact, but the buyer never paid, and apparently I never relisted it. I came across it the other day and was surprised that it hadn't sold yet. I double-checked my listings, and sure enough - it wasn't even listed. Oops!

I have NO idea about this. It's a Kodak instant camera. I have had great luck selling Polaroids. My phone battery was dead the day I bought this, so I wasn't able to look it up first. My preliminary research doesn't look too promising for this though. I hope that my unspent flash bulbs will help increase the value. If not, I paid way too much for it.

This scanner is my brother-in-law's. He asked me to sell it. I know nothing about them. Not much else to say about that.

These Blackberries belonged to him too. Something else I don't know much about. See what I mean? This is all stuff I know nothing about. No wonder it all gets stuck in a box until that's all I have left and I have to face it...

Pyrex bowls I do know about. I know this is the Autumn Harvest pattern. They have some color loss around the edges, so I won't be able to get top dollar for them, but again - they were given to me, so I'll give it a shot.

I posted a picture of one of these guys a couple weeks ago, looking for information on them. I got a little information (thank you, readers!), but not as much as I was hoping for. I'll list them with the information I know. I'm planning to price them high with best offer and see what happens. I'd really love to sell them as a set, but if I still have them in 2 or 3 months, maybe I'll split them up.

**********

I just haven't been terribly motivated to list lat

Going With Your Gut

I mentioned the other day that I sold a pair of cedar shoe trees to a buyer in Taiwan. After checking the International Mail Manual, I discovered that shipments to Taiwan require the buyer to have an import license. Also all dutiable first class parcels are required to be registered. I don't even know what that means - who do I register it with? So I sent the buyer a message, asking if she had the proper paperwork, and if she knew who I was to register the package with. A couple days went by and I didn't hear back from her, so I wrote her again to let her know that I needed to either ship the item or cancel the transaction. I still hadn't heard from her this afternoon, so I refunded her money, sent the cancellation request, and relisted the item. A couple hours later, they sold to a U.S. buyer :)

I also mentioned that I was expecting a return on a pair of shoes because they didn't fit. The buyer wanted me to refund her original shipping since she was paying to return them to me. I stuck to my guns, pointing out that my return policy states that the buyer pays the return shipping. I didn't hear back from her, which made me nervous. The shoes arrived today, I issued the refund (purchase price only), and sent a cancellation request. Shortly thereafter, she agreed to the cancellation and left me a glowing positive feedback.

So you see, sometimes it's good to follow a gut feeling. Both of these stories ended well. I think I was lucky :)

**********

I reached an exciting milestone today!

**********

I only had 3 sales today, but that's okay. My sales have been the highest they've been since last winter. eBay has really been keeping me hopping. When I'm not packaging, I'm listing. So I have welcomed the slower day today.

I sold another item from that big yard sale back in September. I'm surprised this didn't sell sooner than it did. I guess it needed just the right buyer.

This is a toddler Calvin Klein winter coat. It has a retail price of $90, so I had it listed pretty high for quite awhile. I finally found the right price though. It sold today for $50.

**********

And this Gap dress came from my daughter's closet. It just never looked right on her, so I decided to throw it in my store for a month or two and see if it sold. It sold in less than a month, so I'm glad I gave it a shot.

**********

That's pretty much it. Personally, this is going to be a really weird week. My husband has been home on a seasonal layoff since October. It's always nice to have him home over the winter, and it REALLY stinks when he goes back to work in the spring. He was able to put off going back for a couple weeks longer than he usually does, so that was nice. But this year he is also in nursing school. So several days a week, he will leave here at 6:30 in the morning to go to work. He'll have to go straight from work to school, and then he'll get home at 11pm. I have no problem waiting up late, but on the days where he has both work and school, the kids won't see him at all. Unless of course I turn into a total softie and let them wait up for him. Like I did tonight. :-\

**********

I was going to spend the next hour or so taking pictures to list tomorrow, but I'm exhausted. Off to watch some tv!

My Top eBay Moments This Week

I had a mixed week this week. No problem buyers, but I did have another pair of Clarks break. That is a brand that is officially OFF my BOLO list. I will keep the ones I already have listed, and I went ahead and listed the last few pairs I had lying around, but I won't buy anymore for resale. They just aren't well-made anymore, and the old pairs that were well-made are old enough that they keep dry rotting.

I also have a pair of Ferragamos coming back (whimper). Fortunately, they were my one pair of women's ones that I finally sold for $45 + shipping. I won't bother picking up women's Ferragamos in the future either. I've got my fingers crossed that this buyer isn't going to be a problem. She wants me to refund her original shipping. I pointed out my return policy, which states that I don't refund original shipping. I also pointed out that I include measurements in my listings in order to cut down on returns for fit. She wrote back, "But I am paying to ship them back to you. Please refund my original shipping." Sigh. I'm not going to. Hopefully it doesn't earn me a negative.

And I have a pair of jeans coming back, also for fit. I was thrilled that they sold, because they were a brand I had never heard of. Hopefully I can resell them quickly.

I sold 72 items this week. My shoe sales have picked back up some, so that's good. But I am loving selling clothing more and more. They're super easy to find, photograph, measure, list, ship. Everything about them is great. And my profit margin is better on clothing too.

My favorites:

After the consignment sale I participated in last weekend, anything that didn't get picked up was a part of the Dollar Dash. Everything that was $1-$19.99 was $1. $20.00-$29.99 was $2. $30.00-$39.99 was $3. And so on. I got this youth Under Armour shirt there. Once I got it home, I realized it had a pretty noticeable snag on the front. I disclosed that in the listing and priced it on the low side. It sold overnight.

• Acquired: 3/25/12 (consignment sale)
• Listed On: 3/26/12
• Sold On: 3/27/12
• Paid: $1.00
• Sold For: $12.99 + shipping

This is one of the last pairs of Clarks I had lying around. I scrubbed and scrubbed them, but there was still some sort of residue on the insole. I asked my husband, "What's a less-disgusting word for 'residue'?" We tried really hard but couldn't come up with anything. I went with: "There is something on the insole." I priced these on the low side too, and they sold later the same night. I was double surprised by that quick sale, because these are a size 6.5. Size 6's and 6.5's just do NOT sell for me.

• Acquired: 2/17/12 (Harrisburg road trip)
• Listed On: 3/31/12
• Sold On: 3/31/12
• Paid: $3.99
• Sold For: $20.00 + shipping

These Columbia shorts came from the yard sale I have mentioned several times. To date, I have sold just about 3/4 of the items I bought there, and I have more than tripled my investment. Yay!

• Acquired: 9/?/11 (yard sale)
• Listed On: 10/26/11
• Sold On: 3/31/12
• Paid: $6.25
• Sold For: $21.24 + shipping

I've never had any luck with Izod, but this shirt was new with tags, cute, and perfect for spring, so I took a chance on it. It sold fairly quickly, and for my full asking price.

• Acquired: 2/29/12 (Goodwill)
• Listed On: 3/8/12
• Sold On: 3/27/12
• Paid: $3.19
• Sold For: $24.99 + shipping

I love this skirt, but it wasn't my size, so I listed it. I thought for sure it would sell quickly, but it took a little longer. It sold for my full asking price, so it was worth the wait.

• Acquired: 2/17/12 (Harrisburg road trip)
• Listed On: 2/19/12
• Sold On: 3/29/12
• Paid: $1.00
• Sold For: $29.99 + shipping

This Wrangler shirt didn't last long either. I wonder if it's because it's short-sleeved? I haven't sold a whole ton of western shirts, but this is the first short-sleeved one I've ever had. I had someone offer me something like $12 for it. I counter-offered, but in the meantime, someone else bought it for my full asking price.

• Acquired On: 2/21/12 (Goodwill)
• Listed On: 3/22/12
• Sold On: 3/27/12
• Paid: $3.99
• Sold For: $29.99 + shipping

I was very excited to find this shirt for 3 reasons. #1) It's Quacker Factory. #2) It's a 1X. #3) Wild cats! I listed it pretty high with best offer, figuring I could decide as offers came in if they were prices I was happy with, rather than just setting a price. I got a lowish offer pretty quickly. I counter-offered and didn't hear back from her until a week later. I accepted her second offer.

• Acquired On: 2/29/12 (Goodwill)
• Listed On: 3/8/12
• Sold On: 3/27/12
• Paid: $3.19
• Sold For: $30.00 + shipping

I LOVE these Banana Republic boots. If they were my size, and if I ever had any reason at all to ever need rain boots, I'd have kept them. They were like new. The paper price tag was still on the sole of the boot, and didn't look as if it had every gotten wet. There was a little bit of dirt in the tread though, so I know they were worn at least once. They sold pretty quickly.

• Acquired On: 2/17/12 (Harrisburg road trip)
• Listed On: 3/3/12
• Sold On: 3/30/12
• Paid: $6.97
• Sold For: $35.00 + shipping

I listed this for my mother-in-law. The grandkids pretty much quit playing with it, so she asked me to try to sell it. I told her it would probably take awhile, and that she could probably expect about $60 for it. I listed it high - $99.99 or best offer. Imagine my surprise when it sold the other day for my full asking price!!

• Acquired: ?
• Listed On: 12/31/11
• Sold On: 3/30/12
• Paid: -0-
• Sold For: $99.99 + shipping

What were your favorite sales this week?

Paperwork

I am so far behind in my Dome book, it's not even funny. I bought the weekly version of the book this year, thinking I would be able to stay caught up a little better. How wrong, how wrong, how wrong. The last date that I have any records is February 18th. Yes, a month and 11 days ago. Let me tell you ... it is SO much easier to spend 5 minutes a day on recordkeeping than it is to spend 3 hours trying to get it caught up. Ugh.

**********

Hey guess what I sold today? I bet you'll never guess .... Actually, you probably will.

I have sold 16 denim skirts since the beginning of this year! THAT is a consistent BOLO item.  I really liked this one, but it wasn't quite the right size. Close, but not quite. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect denim skirt for ME for this summer. I have one that I really like, but it's got a shockingly high slit in the front that makes me uncomfortable if I wear it out of the house. Especially on a windy day.

**********

I get SO SICK of picking up the gazillion videos we have in this house. I reached a boiling point 2 weeks ago. I went through them and put the vast majority of them in my eBay pile. I got all of our Veggie Tale videos listed. I wasn't expecting to get much for them. I just wanted them gone. They were in pretty bad shape. Well, not the videos. They all work perfectly. But many of these videos were from my husband's first marriage and kids. They've been around for over 10 years, handled by 5 kids. They weren't pretty. But they sold anyway! I got $19.99 + shipping for 13 of them, which is more than I'd have been able to get at a yard sale, so I'm happy.

**********

Remember when I mentioned the other day that I keep buying Sag Harbor, even though it never sells? This was one of the earlier SH pieces I bought. It's a size 14 (pretty common size), new with tags, nice wardrobe staple. My problem is that black garments are SO hard to photograph. This jacket is truly gorgeous. But can you tell that from this photo? No, of course not. I priced it for $39.99 or best offer, and I sold it today for my full asking price!

**********

Thanks to Becky, I picked up these cute little owl chalkware bookends a month or so ago. I didn't really look over them closely at the store. I got them home and discovered a couple chips in them. I also discovered that they had scratched into the back of them: "Merry Christmas! Love, Mom"  You gotta wonder what made the kid donate these... Anyway, they were listed less than a month. I accepted a $20 offer on them today. They are going to Australia, so the buyer paid an additional $24 for first class international shipping. Yikes! I sure hope she loves them. That's a LOT of money to pay for some bookends...

**********

I got a request for a return today. I sold a pair of shoes a couple weeks ago that ended up not fitting right. The buyer requested a full refund. I wrote her back and gave her my address. I told her that once I received them back, I would refund her original purchase price, but not her original shipping. She wrote back that she was paying for the return shipping, so I should refund her original shipping. I was able to quote her my refund policy, which is clearly stated in all of my listings. I haven't heard back from her. I'm a little nervous. I was hoping she would threaten my feedback, so I would for sure be able to get it removed if she left me a negative. It always amazes me that buyers seem to feel that WE should pay for THEIR mistakes. I include several measurements in all of my shoe listings, for exactly this reason. She knew the measurements. If they didn't fit her, that's not my fault. Why should I be out any money at all?

**********

Ryan at Terapeak is still looking for user success stories to post on the Terapeak Blog. There have been a lot of great stories posted already. Do you have a success story that you'd like to share and have posted on the TP blog? If so, tell your story in the comments and I'll forward it to Ryan.

Welcome! (Again!)

Grr. I'm really sorry about this. Hopefully this is the last time I have to move blog content.

This past weekend was the kids' consignment sale. I am pleased with how I did. I ended up with over $200, and I sold at least two-thirds of my stuff. Yay! I'm already looking forward to shopping at yard sales this summer for consignable clothes.

**********

I had a crazy sales weekend this weekend. I have 25 packages ready to go to the post office this afternoon. I sold 19 items yesterday alone!

I sold 3 denim skirts over the weekend:

Sonoma (19.99), Levi Strauss (24.99), and Villager/Liz Claiborne (19.99)

I think I'm pricing them too low. I research each one individually. I do not have a set price for my denim skirts, because I know all brands and styles are different. And yet, they are still selling so quickly. I buy them at a low enough price though, that I am still perfectly happy with quickly turning them over for a decent profit.

**********

I had two sales in a row the other night for two pairs of Clarks sandals. It was about 2 or 3 am when I saw the emails on my Kindle. The pictures for both listings were the same. Imagine my horror when I realized I had not changed the photo for the second one. Yikes. But I wasn't about to get up out of bed at 3 in the morning to double check. I was SO relieved to discover in the morning that I had two pairs of the same sandals - a black pair and a dark blue pair. The small pictures on my Kindle looked like the same pictures to me, but they were in fact two different pairs of sandals. So yay! I love shipping more than one item to the same customer!

**********

These books were given to me a couple weeks ago. They sold surprisingly quickly. They're older editions, so maybe that's why. Again, I didn't see this particular lot anywhere to get an idea on pricing, so I just guessed. Guessed to low apparently. Isn't it nice of me to give so many books away lately?

**********

I made my husband several pairs of shorts and pants from this pattern. It's a great pattern - a favorite of his and mine. But I just don't have time to sew anymore. Fortunately, I hadn't cut this pattern. I just traced all the pieces onto tissue paper. So I was able to sell this one as uncut. It sold in 3 weeks!

**********

This sale surprised me. I bought 2 pairs of Ferragamos last summer at an out-of-town Salvation Army. The cashier started to take the shoe stretchers out of them, and I asked if I could have them. She said, "We usually keep them and sell them separately." I said, "oh, ok." But I was buying a TON of stuff that day, so she said, "Actually, here, I'll just throw them in your bag." I thanked her profusely, knowing I would get lots of use out of them. Well, I used them a grand total of once in all that time. I was clearing out the other day and decided to see if they would sell. I was really surprised at the completeds for cedar shoe trees. I listed both pairs the other evening and sold a pair yesterday already - for $19.99 + shipping!

**********

I bought these jeans in Harrisburg last month. I had never heard of the brand before - Z Cavaricci, but I got them cheap, and they were new with tags, so I figured they were worth a shot. I also sold them yesterday for my full asking price of $29.99.

**********

I've had so much going on the past few days. I've sorely neglected my blog. It's so much easier to post short posts every day, rather than big long catch up posts every few days. I'll try to remember that :)

**********

Remember to spread the word about my new blog address!