Back in the Saddle--Picture Heavy

I really mean to blog more often but lately life has reared its head and demanded attention. I have been super busy trying to clean out my piles of stuff and maintain sanity. Most days I don't think I have done a very good job. But I have found the bottom of a couple of tubs so I must be doing something.

It's hot here in NC and if you don't have air conditioning you really suffer. Especially when you are ...ahem...in the senior sector. We had our 24 year old furnace quit, die, give up and refuse to produce another BTU. Get estimates, talk to the different companies, get more estimates, talk again and finally make the choice. First, the a/c unit was working but the gas furnace died. What to do? Replace just the furnace or furnace and a/c? What brand? How big? Efficiency? I learned more about furnaces and air conditioning than I really wanted to know. Finally made our decisions and got the new units in and working great just days before it was in the high 90's. We squeaked by on that one. It's good to have ebay money in my stash to help with the new furnace/ac.

So...shopping trips have been scarce around here. Between my SweetiePie being sick and all the furnace details I have been limited to my sourcing. Which was a good thing. I got a lot of the piles of stuff sorted and lots of pictures and lots of listings up and even more scheduled.  I have been able to go yard sale-ing the past 3 week ends and found some amazing things.

Each day we have a doctor's appointment I have to get listings up for the next day because we are wiped out after a day of hurry up drive there and wait and wait and sometimes we have to wait for meds and just a hundred different things going on. But hopefully we have a diagnosis and that will mean that we can start with something to get things controlled. Since the end of February we have been to 6 different specialist and finally today I think we are at the right place. More when I feel that this is the right diagnosis. Light at the end of the tunnel.

YARD SALES are great!! I picked up a tote full of camera stuff 3 weeks ago. I walked up to the sale about 8am, it started at 7am, and the guy said, "Oh, I forgot that camera stuff" and he brought out a whole tote of camera stuff. I was the only one there. I was stoic on the outside but on the outside I was singing "Happy Days are here..."

The tote held an Olympus OM1 camera with 4 different lens, case, and the original box. Also in the box were 2 NIB Vivitar electronic flashes, an Olympus flash, a Nimslo 35mm 3D camera NIB, a Nimslo Opti-flash NIB, a Celestron C90, 1000mm lens(for photographing stars or anything from a distance) and the set up for the Celestron to use the OM1 to take the photos. I paid $40 for the cameras plus $2 for the tote. I estimate $500-600 if I list some things by themselves and bundle some items. SCORE.

I keep finding boots, shoes and purses. I wish I could find enough of just that type of things to fill my store. When you pick up a belt for $1.39 and sell it for $35 in a day its a gooooooo day. A pair of UGG boots for 50 cents and the soles show no wear,  Life is good.

Of course I have my share of duds, just like everyone else. I found a Living Italian Language course with I thought everything but ended up book 2 of the set was missing. There was another book in the box and I didn't look good enough. In a hurry...kick myself....move on.

I found part of an old photo album. The covers were missing and just the middle part, with the pictures mounted on black paper there. Family photos from 1941-42. Someone had a pet possum and it was forever memorialized in photos.
They name the goat Ruthie but there are no names of any of the people in any of the pictures. That's a snowman next to the possum.

This was a cool page with the airplane and the original tickets. The cost of a flight from Hickory NC to Knoxville, TN on 10-5-1941 was $15.93. A lot of money for the time.

Today after we left the dr's office we needed to make it a "business trip" so I stopped for a quick run thru of a church run thrift. They have added a section with laundry baskets mounted on a rack (someone who was handy with the hammer and nails made it) and filled it with $1 reject items. I found 7 pair of Bruno Magli women's shoes in the bins. $1 each, of course they are 7.5 AA and I don't know if they will ever sell, but into the pipeline they go. They are all cute and well maintained.

After going for over 2 months with no returns. I had two tonight within minutes of each other. One, I had shipped the wrong swimsuit. Both were black, new with tags and of course I shipped the wrong one. But she opened a return request and then emailed me to tell me that it wasn't a normal return but a wrong shipment and she needed the correct one. We worked it out and I'm sending the right one, a return tag and hopefully it will go smoothly.Grrrrr. About 5 minutes later a buyer who bought a NEW Tusk wallet wanted to return it because it wasn't as described. Then she went on to explain,"Doesn't match description or photos. The wallet is very light. Seems small. It looks more impressive in the pictures. I would like to return it." I had measurements in the listings. I called ebay and they found the case in the buyers favor so she would pay shipping and when I receive the item I can call and get the case closed in my favor and prevent a blemish on my account.

I need to get more than 5 listing a day up if I want to grow my store but I am struggling. When you have to do it all and your SweetiePie is sick the days are just not long enough. And I know it isn't going to get any better for him or me. But I think I'll just go make some lemonade...

Happy thrifting and keep listing those treasures. It will pay off.