VACATION HERE WE COME....

Wow, it has been so long since I have had a vacation. Of any kind.

My daughter, SmartA** has tickets for Dragon Con in Atlanta this week end. She was going alone until I convinced her that it would be nice to have someone to help drive and navigate Atlanta. She absolutely hates to drive on the interstate. Panic time. Me? I could care less.

So off we go on today. Her boss won't let her have off but half a day today, even though she has the time to use. Some dumb personal rule about not taking the day before and the day after a holiday off. But there are so many things that she wants to do today at the convention. Some of the things last until 4 AM!

I hope we make it in time for her to do something today.

I am going THRIFTING while she is at the convention.
Three glorious days of shopping for stuff.
Old stuff, new stuff, good stuff. Hopefully no bad stuff.
I've done my homework.
I've got my lists, my phone, hopefully enough dough.
I just hope my feet and back can hold out for all the fun.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!

Do you ever get tired of it all?
Shopping
Cleaning
Photographing
Listing
Packing
Mailing

I bet you are just as tired as I am. Of course the rewards are pretty good.

Until you get that jackass that you sold something to and they expected something that was fresh off the shelf of their local museum. And no amount of anything will comfort them, short of refunding everything and maybe kicking in another $10 so they leave great feedback.You know the one. We all have them. Sometimes more than one...on the same day or week or lifetime.

Well sometimes there are the ones who make it worthwhile. I recently picked this at my favorite thrift. The opposing side is a gray blue color.
 To tell you how much I know about chess sets, I had to call my daughter to ask how many pieces are in a chess set. That's how much I know.

It sells in 3 days. I mail it and this is the email I received today.
 
Wasn't enough room in the feedback box to express my thanks.
Just wanted to convey my gratitude for a noteworthy transaction.
I collect chess sets and I buy and sell over 100 chess sets a year on Ebay and I've never seen one quite like this one. It is unique, attractive and exceptional.
You did a nice job on your listing but if I had known how sharp this little set was gonna be I would have bid even higher than I did.
Also, this set looks like it could have easily gotten damaged in shipping if you hadn't gone out of your way to properly pack and package it. It made it 100% intact without so much as a scratch to a single piece. After seeing how neat it is I would have been devastated if it had shown up damaged like many do.
Again, thanks for a wonderful and noteworthy transaction.
I would buy from you again and would highly recommend you to others as well.

Well, I have had to deflate my head after that. And just one thing, it was a buy it now, not auction.

I'm thinking that I probably under priced the set ($25 + shipping)since it sold so quickly and the guy said he would be willing to pay more. But I was happy. If I had priced it at $99 it would have probably sat until forever.

Emails like this one make it all worthwhile.

WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND DOES STUFF LIKE THIS?

Am I in my right mind? As, am I sane? Well the answer is NO.

I am busy trying to get my s*** together to go on vacation/thrifting and I go to the thrift store and purchase 55 items of clothing? (but they were only 20c and 80c each who could pass that up?)

Now I have to deal with those plus all of the crap sitting in totes all over the place before I leave for vacation.

It's a good thing there is booze in the house. I may need an IV of booze to keep me going. (not really, but a pleasant thought)

I'm trying to get things together and get a bunch of things scheduled for listing while I am away and for a few days after I get back so I can keep my listings on view on ebay. It seems like if you miss listing for a few days that you disappear and sales drop.

And for a nice relaxing change of pace I think I'll go make laundry detergent. Seems like someone has use up all of my detergent and my emergency stash. How dare me!!

No soap+extra loads of thrifted clothes=disaster!!

Every blog needs a picture. This is Sweetie Pie, the famous "cat hater"

FREE GROCERIES...SORTA

On the way to the post office yesterday we passed a house that was recently sold and the new neighbors had moved in over the weekend. Apparently they unpacked everything and got all  the packing materials to the curb for trash day.

I sweet talked SweetiePie into stopping and letting me pick up the largest plastic bag I have ever seen...and it was half full of packing peanuts. I filled 2 1/2 garbage bags full to make them easier to store.

Score!!! I love free.


I recently listed a whole bunch of patterns. Some were Vogue Couturier which are high dollar if they are the right ones. I am still learning which are the right ones. I found several of the  patterns that the previous owner had removed from the original envelope and wrapped the pattern in the original sheet from the pattern catalog. I didn't know how that would affect price but I just pretended it didn't matter because most of the couturier patterns were very desirable and none were on ebay. As I was taking pictures I found something even more interesting with this pattern.There were two complete, uncut patterns wrapped up with the photo. Size 10 and 12. Double score. I boogied on down to Staples and got a color copy of the original catalog page and <POW> I had two couturier patterns. Sold one today for $50.  So I'm trying to decide now if I sold the free one or the one that cost me a quarter.;)

I wish I had this problem more often.

FRIDAY YARD SALE---OH SHEET

Haven't been yard sale-ing too much in the past month or so. Too hot. As in hot as blazes.

We have a little church nearby that has beautiful stained glass windows. It is an old church from possibly the 20's or 30's. They are raising money to put protective glass over the stained glass windows. To do this they have been holding lots of yard sales with donated stuff. You never know what you will find because it keeps changing.

Normally they are held on Saturday. But this week I happened to go by and they were set up on Friday. Of course I had to stop. Well, actually it was SweetiePie who suggested we stop. I only had $1 cash and he had a few bucks to spare.

I loaded up on sheets. 

No litter box required.

Charlie Brown and the Gang

Sesame Street and the Gang.....before Elmo

Disney Dalmatians

Holly Hobbie

I'm the favorite, I have a pillow!!

I think I did pretty good on the sheets. The kitty is a fun thing. When you stroke its back it purrs and when you rub its head it meows and then it goes back to sleep.The other cats seem unimpressed by the whole thing.

I researched the sheets and it looks like close to $100 for the batch of four twin sets. Oh, Sheet I like that kind of return!!

THINGS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT .... BUT WILL SELL ANYWAY

I told SweetiePie the other day that I really enjoy learning new things. Well, I guess he had already figured that out a long time ago. Before kids, I would devour books weekly. A trait that was passed along to our two girls. They both love to read.

Why did I tell him that particular day that I loved learning new things? This is the reason
I went to my favorite thrift store on Wednesday. Because that is the day they do a BIG purge of the racks and the cheap-o bins are full of new stuff.
I found this in the ladies lingerie section, not in the bins. Now, at first glance it may look like a girdle or body shaper of some kind. But no it isn't.

Research. It has a brand name. It lists for $129 on that brand name web site. Care to guess?

It is a Hincapie bib cycling shorts thingy. Dare I say outfit? And, it is new.  Yeah!!! And another added bonus is that ladies clothing was 50% off on Wednesday. Double Yeah!!!

Yes, I had never heard of that brand before either. I have purchased cycling apparel before but never this brand. You can bet that it will be on my radar from now on.
Yes indeed.

It would be so nice to sell this before vacation. I hope to get it listed for Friday or Saturday.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT STUFF.....MESSIN' WITH YO' STUFF

What have I been doing? Where have I been?

For those of us who sell stuff online the job is never ending.
Go shopping
Buy good stuff, not junk
Clean good stuff
Start pile of junk stuff to go back to thrift store
Put stuff in box
Take pictures of stuff
List stuff
Put stuff in box
Wait for stuff to sell
Put stuff in another box and take to Post Office
Lather, rinse, repeat

That's a lot of stuff

In July and August sales are typically slow and it's time to get your store inventory pumped up to get ready for the selling season from October to December. That takes a lot of time messin' with yo' stuff...

Some stuff you pay too much for. Like the vintage dresses I purchased last year from an estate sale for $7 each. I have sold exactly ONE. And what to do with the other 6? I hate to donate them but I can't afford to list them forever. (Note to self: admit you goofed and move on)

Some stuff you feel guilty buying because the price is so good. Like the vintage dressing gown I bought with tags still on it for 74 cents and flipped for $125. Or the Baby Gund Cow Lovey that I picked out of the free box that was NWOT and flipped for $45.

Awwwwh, she's so cute

I may have felt guilty, but I accepted the money. Some stuff you shouldn't sweat.

I have been trying to get my stuff in a row to go on vacation Labor Day week.

I have been trying to get stuff ready to list automatically every day so that I can get ahead and not have to do that particular "fun" stuff while on vacation. As most sellers know you have to list stuff to keep selling stuff.

And because stuff keeps on happening I am busy day and night.

Stuff like laundry, cooking and cleaning need to be done. Stuff that you have to do is not as much fun as stuff that you want to do.

And so, like the old saying.....Stuff Happens.

I'll try to keep you abreast of the stuff that is happening more often