Forced Closet Rehab

 Don't you hate to screw up right in the middle of something?

I had been putting off getting all of the winter coats and stuff that I have picked up since January moved into a place for storage until time to list for the fall. Those heavy wool coats are too much for plastic totes. I have a closet in the bedroom that I am now using for ebay photos, prep and shipping. It is a good sized closet with the ever popular Closet Maid wire shelving system. I have never been fond of the way this one was arranged. The long area for dresses and coats was way up high and the short area for blouses and slacks was way too low and the shelves were totally useless because a 12" wide wire shelf that is about 5" tall is only going to hold so much stuff and not 5" tall worth of stuff.

So, you can imagine what happened. I had it loaded, not fully loaded I thought, and it came crashing down. Almost broke my fingers on my left hand when the thing collapsed. Not to mention the tangle of stuff and holes in the wall. Sorry, but I didn't get any photos. Believe me it was a big mess.

I let it sit for a day before I had the courage to dig everything out and see what needed to be done. Holes in the wall from pulled out hooks and supports. Nothing bent or damaged but the walls.

I decided to just put a shelf across the back with a real wood closet rod that would support the Titanic. But because I didn't want to waste the shelves I tried to come up with a solution for how to best use them. The closet is 35" deep and the wire shelves were 36" long. Finally something working in my favor. So I think I have fixed the problem and now have lots of storage.
The right side of the closet with the floor and one shelf for shoes and another shelf and the tall shelf and hanger rod for short things, blouses and pants.
Above the hanger rod for short things I put another shelf to help use some of the space that 10' ceilings create. No one could stack something on those two lower shelves tall enough to use the excess space. Now you could put blankets, suitcases, Christmas stuff or anything you want to store. Just a step stool and you can reach it.
And I put the other shelf that I had on the other side of the closet just above the door for storage. All set except for the closet rod and support brackets that go under that wooden shelf across the back of the closet.

I didn't set out last week to totally remodel a closet but that is what I did. I took everything out, fixed the holes, painted the walls, reassembled the shelves, added a sturdy closet rod and hopefully made it better. Now all I need to do is find that dang stud finder so I can get the rod supports in place and fill up the closet again.

More trash talk...and a kitty

Well, from e-trash to hand written notes that trash my merchandise. I really don't understand why people feel the need to trash talk items. I failed to catch the missing snap back, it came off in the wash. I apologized and accepted the return and would have licked his boots.

Well, everything but the boots part.

Here is the note, misspelling and all.

"Tried to not go thru with this broken snap. also way to close for the rag bile. Very fair from excellent snap"

Did he mean rag pile and very far? Who knows. Glad that is done with. Not worried about feedback since he already implied that he would leave negative and ebay said I can get it removed if he does go thru with it.

Tuesday is bag day at my favorite thrift. A large garbage bag full for $10. Don't these folks know how much I can stuff in a garbage bag?

I can stuff exactly 83 items in a large garbage bag, and still tie the top as required. That is about 13c per item. Not bad. I found a pair of RL tartan plaid pajamas, gold crest, in the bins and those alone will more than double my investment. All of the 82 other items will just be more gravy.

I passed by a GW that I haven't been to in several weeks. It was late in the day and they usually aren't too  busy at that time of day. Didn't find much. An overpriced Vera Bradley bag that I passed on, new Land's End swim tops and a little kitty.
Well maybe, not a little kitty but same family. I debated about this item because of all of the recent negative publicity connected with the football program.I still picked this up and put it in my basket so I could check it on my phone. Check out the completeds and I think you will agree it was a good purchase.

Update:  3 hours and 18 minutes!!! thats how long the little kitty took to sell. I can't believe it went so fast and predictably it sold to someone in PA.

March sales have been so crappy that I cleaned it up and it will be up on Thursday. When I make that sale it will help to soothe the pain from the trash-talked shirt.

Happy hunting

The good...The bad

I am always amazed at sales on ebay. The things I think will sell sit and sit and sit. The things I really don't know why I bothered to purchase them much less list them go flying out the door. Like I tell SweetiePie, you never know what you will have to pack up on any given day. Eight inches of snow on the ground and I sell swimsuits, shorts and sun tea jars. Wool hats to Maine and Florida...on the same day.

The Bad
Everyone gets one of these on a regular basis."I want to return this". I know I will get returns. I try to deal with them as efficiently as possible. No emotion, just part of business. I had one last week that tested my intestinal fortitude severely!! A western shirt, missing the back of a snap on a pocket. I know I inspected the shirt before running it thru the laundry and it was fine. Everything was there. I didn't inspect after it came out of the dryer. Well, I guess I should have because apparently the back of the snap came off. No biggie, if I had found it I could have replaced with no problem.

This is the back, cool shirt

This guy had to trash talk the shirt and suggest that I was charging him $6 (return postage) to look at the shirt and said (twice) I deserved negative feedback  What? I explained that I had sent a return label thru ebay and all he needed to do was print it out and return the shirt at no additional cost to him. No problem, right? Finally after several heated emails from him (I was calm and professional) he grasped what he needed to do and has been silent. Gee whiz, it ain't rocket science just read your email and follow directions. So he finally printed the label and ebay tells me its on the way back. I hope that is the end of the story.

I think I'll make a new word: E-Trash, when someone describes the "terrible condition" of an item that they have purchased on ebay with repeated insults thru email

The Good
But there is always a silver lining. I sold a set of vintage king size sheets with pillowcases. Cotton blend percale from JC Penney, and a plus since they had the pillowcases included. They sold within a couple of weeks from listing them and I was happy to see them out the door.

But....I got them back last week. No notice that they were coming back from ebay or the buyer. Just this note in the package:

"I am returning this to you to re-sell. I do not need a refund. This is my own fault. I should have read the listing better! I love the texture of "vintage" sheets, I just don't love that they don't fit on my bed! They are beautiful, and I am sure someone else will love them. Your packaging was beautiful, as well as the presentation.
You obviously have a way to sell them, and I would rather that than my donating them to Goodwill. Thank you so much for your prompt delivery, and if I can figure out how to rate your service on EBay, I will, In the meantime, please re-sell them. Sincerely,"

I had to pick myself up off the floor. This has never happened in all my 15 years on ebay. So there are really nice people who purchase things on ebay. This return came right in the middle of the nasty, and unnecessary, emails from the shirt guy.

I have had these sheets for a week and have not relisted them. I don't feel comfortable doing that. I know what she said but I feel like I should send her some sheets that fit.

Should I contact her and ask what size she does need or just relist?

 My conscience says to contact her but I also don't want to offend her because she obviously wants to do a good deed. But what to do?

So there you have my good and bad week. Sales have been in the toilet, along with the bad weather. I did get to shop on Wednesday when the 99c racks were 2 for 99c. I was able to get winter things. But I really need spring and summer stuff.

Oh.....that means I get to go shopping again....right?