WHAT DO YOU DO WITH...?

I am often asked "What do you do with ALL that money you make selling on ebay?"

After I recover from ROFLMAO I look the person straight in the eye and say, "gold, loose diamonds, and groceries"
And when I am feeling really WILD and reckless I go out an buy a super cheap printer so I can keep selling on ebay. Because when people buy things they expect to receive them at some point and you need a printer to print out packing slips and labels and all sorts of things.

Its kinda sad when the printer cost $29 and the print cartridge cost $15. Do you think HP knows they have you hooked when you buy the printer because you will need ONE printer and DOZENS of ink cartridges? Don't get me started on that.

What do you do when you find lots of great things in your favorite thrift store and then they don't sell?
Do you have a yard sale and sell them to recover some of the money?
Do you re-donate the items to the thrift store? (I secretly re-donate to a different thrift store, just to make it more interesting!!)
Or do you hold on to the items and keep paying to relist them until the cows come home?

HERE I AM......BURIED UNDER THE STUFF!!!

Whew....I gotta come up for air once in a while.

To say that I have been busy would be quite an understatement. As everyone knows who lives in shops thrift stores January is THE month for shopping. Everyone is cleaning up for Christmas and after Christmas they are making room for their "new stuff" so things end up at the thrift store.  (Gotta get that tax deduction)Yeah for us who buy thrift store stuff when there are no yard sales. I have tried to restrain myself, but that is next to impossible with all of the good stuff out there.
I have picked up a few plush animals...
I think that is all, but who knows what is hiding in the closet...

I also picked up a few items of clothing...

I think I have counted at least three more piles of clothing in various locations around the house. I have listed lots of clothing, but I still have a lot more to go.
I also like to hit the housewares section. And of course I picked up lots of stuff there but didn't get any pictures before I listed and boxed the stuff. 
And don't get me started on shoes....I picked up a bunch of those also.
Got a pair of Harley boots and bunches of children's shoes. My daughter Smarta** picks things up also and I list and sell for her and get a % of the profit. She found a pair of Triumph motorcycle boots and asked if I wanted them. They were not in my budget for the day so she paid $8 for them.

Triumph on left, Harley on right,

This particular store does not have access for my new smart phone so I couldn't check them on ebay. After we left the store she checked and found out they go from $50-$150. I have kicked myself several times over those. Oh well, I still get a % of the profit.

Here is hoping that your new year has started out with a bang.
If not, find a spark and get that fuse going.

WOULD YOU BUY THIS?

Thrift Store pickin' has been great this past week.
The stores are packed with things people are getting rid of because of holiday gifts, change of season or just plain stuff that is in the way and needs to GO!

LOVE IT!!!!

Went out twice this week "a pickin'" and found some good things and some just ok things. I guess you can't have all good stuff.

I have been having good luck with the 4/$1 bins at the really big thrift store lately. I picked up these jeans and looked them over for holes and checked the zipper, button and all of the regular stuff. How could I have missed that BIG ink stain on the pocket?

That's okay. Cause I just sold them for 32 times what I paid for them.(listed less than 5 hours!!) I know, I know....it takes just as much time to list something for $8 as it does to list something for $50.
But, let's face it more of us have $8 than $50 to spend on one item.
Got this on the same trip and listed it for a bit more than the jeans because there is nothing wrong with it, well it does have wear. But don't we all?

I feel so good today that I might just have to hit the store again and again and again........

DIGGING IN THE BINS

Have you ever gone to a GW outlet? I have been to one in Lancaster PA and to one in Charlotte NC. It is so much fun.

Don't be afraid to get down and dirty or you will loose out. The one we went to in Lancaster PA one summer during vacation was by accident. There was a regular GW next door and we had finished there and decided to see what the outlet was all about.

Well, we were flabbergasted!!! Bins and bins of stuff everywhere. We went crazy!!! Everything was price by the pound. It was a few years ago and I think it was like 69 cents a pound. We went crazy!!!

More recently during a trip to IKEA in Charlotte we happened to find a GW outlet. We went crazy!!! The prices were higher, I think about $1.39 a pound. Books were 25cents, record albums were 25cents and household was half price of the marked price. I purchased quite a few things (we'll just leave it at that).

I am making plans to go back to the GW outlet in Charlotte before long. Now that I have an ebay store I have an outlet for different things than before. Before I was searching for vintage things to paint. Now I am searching for stuff to sell. I have begun laying the groundwork with SweetiePie for a trip to Charlotte. It is a good  3 1/2 hour drive and I would need to make it round trip in a day. Don't want the expense of an overnight stay. We have the time, just need to have the money.

In the meantime I have been digging in the bins at my favorite big thrift. They have about a dozen bins in the back of the store piled high with stuff. Everything is 4/$1.00. Like most thrift stores you have to look things over carefully. Most just need a good wash.Yesterday I came home with over 75 items, some I splurged on the dollar racks, but most came from the bins. I got all weather coats, hoodies, jeans, shirts, sweaters, pants, skirts and plush for 25cents each. I was in heaven.

Now today the washer is running overtime trying to get it all washed and sorted. As with most things, some will be good sellers and some will be low end stuff. Abercrombie hoodie, Hollister hoodie, LLBean coat, London Fog Ladies coat, Joseph & Feiss mens coat all purchased for the sum of 25 cents each!!!. I got so carried away that I didn't even take time to go through the "full price" racks. I had a 20% discount card that I didn't even use because everything I bought was on clearance.

Hey, I need to go back and use that 20% discount card!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.....

Where has all the time flown?
It was just spring not long ago and then summer and then Halloween and Thanksgiving and now
Christmas is here.
Have you been as busy as I have been lately?
Grandchildren tracked out of school, Christmas shopping, Christmas listing and selling on ebay and finally the big day.

We have our family on Christmas Eve.
Give the kids some food, lots of candy and send them home!!
Works for me.
Not so good for their Mom and Dad!!

Some of us didn't get too stressed

I don't know about all of you out there in cyberland, but I don't like the rush and stress of Christmas. Get this, buy this, go here, do this, do that. I wish we could just take it easy and not feel so stressed to do EVERYTHING perfect.

I didn't have time for a big tree this year. But at least I finally got one up. Small, but it does the job. And the cats have inspected it and it passed.

Our meal of choice for Christmas is lasagna. After the super huge feast at Thanksgiving with all of the rich and bad for you stuff we started having lasagna several years ago.I don't make lasagna very often and we tend to dig in. It is much easier than planning and fixing 7 or 8 different things for the family. Lasagna, fruit platter, veggie platter, salad and bread. And of course dessert.
The princess' don't particularly like lasagna. Don't like the ricotta and all the cheese. Daughter Smarta** came up with this for the princess dining pleasure.

Gingerbread spaghetti!! Got these little dishes at Michaels
one year after Christmas. Perfect for a meal for one.

They liked them, after we peeled the cheese off

 Fun and food was had by all. Of course I needed a nap after they went home, and I just sat down and got one!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
AND TO ALL A GOOD......YEAR





I have a new plan for thrifting next year that I will share soon.
Don't make too many new year's resolutions......

WHAT IS WITH ALL OF THE LISTS?

Every time I log on to ebay (or any other website this time of year) I am hit with a list of some kind. Electronics...games...gifts for him...gifts for her....gifts for your dog...gifts for your iguana...you get the idea.

Why? To get you to shop, of course.

But I have a question.

Am I not smart enough to think of something for my personal friends and family all by myself? Am I not the person who knows them best?

I don't need someone sitting in an office staring at a computer trying to make people BUY more of their stuff!!!

SO THERE....take that you list makers!!!

Oh, if you do need something for your iguana they have a list of sizes over at O.com....seriously!!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?..... BUSY

Has it been Thanksgiving since my last post?
My, how time flies when you are having fun!!!

It has been a whirlwind of activity at our house. Well, for us a whirlwind. We tend to lead a much to sedate life and it doesn't take much to make a whirlwind.

I have been busy on ebay. That puppy just sucks the life out of you.
You need to list to sell.
When you sell you have to ship.
When you sell you need to acquire inventory.
When you acquire inventory you need to list.
One vicious cycle.

It has been fun trying to guess what will sell and what will sit forever. Sometimes I guess right and sometimes I watch something sit forever until the right person comes along.

Take these surprises for example.

1992 Hasbro Pony Surprise...guess what the surprise is

1992 Hasbro Kitty Surprise

My girls were too old in 1992 for this kind of toy so I completely missed these. I was at the GW this week and found these. When I picked them up I thought they were unusual because they have vinyl faces. But that isn't the surprise. Their tummy's have a velcro pouch with the babies inside. I know that kitties have multiple babies, but I think it is kinda rare for ponies to have triplets!! My daughter said they were creepy. Well apparently creepy sells. The pony sold in 14 hours and the kitty was sold in 25 hours. Now that was a surprise!! A nice one.

This was another surprise I found the same day. Who would have thought that women would want to relive the torpedo days. But these were new and still in the package. After checking ebay, apparently there is a market for them.

Madonna, eat your heart out

I can't wait to see what I'll find at the thrift store next week. You find something every time you go that you didn't know you needed.