Friday, September 30, 2011

eBay Sales

This past week hasn't been a good sales week on eBay for me. But I'm happy with any sale I get. Extra money always helps.

I sold 3 Cabbage Patch Kids outfits I bought at a garage sales. I spent $3 on a doll and several outfits. I sold 3 of the outfits for $16.00.I'm keeping the doll for sentimental reasons.

I bought a pair of Rock & Republic jeans a few weeks ago for $5.00 and finally got them listed. They sold auction for $20.00. I had 20 watchers on this listing and only ended up getting one bid. Can someone please explain watchers to me?!?! Do they frustrate anyone else?

A couple weeks ago I purchased 2 big boxes of Burger King kids meal toys for $3.00. I sold my first lot of toys for $7.00. I have to finish going thru the boxes and separating them by character.

I picked up a Hanna Andersson fleece jacket a couple months ago at a garage sale for $1.00. I listed it auction and had no bidders. Then I listed it BIN and right when my listing was going to expire it sold!!!

Last weekend I found 3 snow suits at a garage sale for $1.00. I listed 2 of them so far and one sold yesterday for $20.00. It's on it's way to New York.

And my final sale, I purchased a Bebe pair of jeans at a Goodwilll store for $4.00. It sold right after I listed it for $25.00. It still had the tags on it. I might have been able to get more but I know nothing about this brand and will admit I was too busy to research it. But I am more then happy with my $21.00 profit.

I guess now that I listed my sales I did have a good week. I just didn't have any big ticket items.

Hopefully eBay sales are picking up for everyone else.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Goals

So I set weekly goals last week. I tried really hard to get them all completed. But I fell a little short. Here is how I did:

Motherly goals -

1) Take my Princess and niece and nephews to Santa Cruz Boardwalk this weekend (been trying to take them all summer) Didn't make it to Santa Cruz. They decided on Monterey instead.

2) Work on Colors with Princess. We aren't doing very well on them We worked on them but we still have more work to do

3)Take Princess for a walk after dinner (trying to take advantage of the nice weather). This also helps with the colors (red truck, green tree, blue car ...)
4) Spend more quality time with Princess. There never seems to be enough time

Saving Goals-

1) Actually make it CVS and Walgreens this week to use my coupons and build stockpile I actually made it to both stores last week. WOO HOO!!

2) List more things on eBay. If I'm not listing then I'm not selling. My goal is to have 40 things listed this week. I have 19 so far I didn't complete this goal. I only got to 32 items. My Princess didn't nap on Saturday and that was when I was planning on doing most of my listing.

3) Put more money in my emergency fund. I have $250 so far. My goal is $1000. I was able to put $45 dollars into my fund!!


Personal Goals-

1) Attend Monthly cluster group for concurrent parents I did attend and I'm glad I did. It's good to be around people that understand what you are going thru.

2) Organize garage I didn't even attempt this

3) Get my hair done (I need it). Sometimes I forget to take time for myself Done! No more grown out roots or dry ends.

4) Send thank you note to Patty Done

5)Work on on dealing, forgiving and letting go of hurt feelings caused by Princess's family criticizing my parenting skills. I will pray on this. I feel much better about this

6) Check in with April. Her recently had a heart attack. Miss them both so much. She's my sister from another mister. My BFF. I haven't been able to make contact with her. But I will keep trying.


This weeks goals:

Motherly Goals:

1) Work more on colors. Find better strategies.

2) Go to the pumpkin patch this weekend

3) Spend quality time with my Princess


Saving Goals:

1) Put more money in my emergency fund

2) List 40 Items on eBay total (minimum)

Personal Goals:

1) Organize garage (this sounds familiar)

2) Try to contact April

3) Wake up 30 minutes early to have some alone time

Hopefully I will do better this week.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

My Babies

People always look us strangely when we go for walks. My Princess doesn't mind sharing her stroller.

What To Sell On eBay

I'm 27 years old. Or at least that's what I claim to be. Why 27? I'm not sure. But that seems like a good age and I think I will stay there for a while.

Now even thought I'm 27 I will admit I was part of the Cabbage Patch Kids crazy in the early 80's (don't try to do the math. Just go with it). I had to have one those dolls!! Of course so did every other child in America. I begged for one. I pleaded. I bargained. I threatened. I did everything humanly possible at my young age to get one of those dolls. And I finally did. I don't even want to imagine how much it cost my parents.When I finally got that doll in my hands I think I heard music, angels singing. It was a dream come true. She went everywhere with me. I loved that doll.

Recently I went to a garage sale with my mom and she spotted a Cabbage Patch doll that looked just like the one I had growing up. I inquired about the price. Only $3.00 with a bag full of clothes. That seemed like a great deal to relive my childhood. On a whim I looked the doll up on eBay. They appear to do ok. Some better then others without rhyme or reason. So I decided to keep her for my Princess.

But then I decided to look to see how well the clothes are selling. I was surprised to see that they sell better then the actual dolls sometimes. Especially actual CPK clothes (there are other doll clothes that will fit these dolls that weren't originally marketed for them). I looked through the bag of clothes and was disappointed that most of the outfits were too small to fit the doll. Out of the entire bag full there were only 3 actual Cabbage Patch outfits. I took some pictures and listed them earlier last week. The three outfits sold for $16.00 total. Not bad for a $3.00 investment. And I still have the doll for my Princess to play with.

I don't know about your area but around beautiful Salinas I see CPK dolls and clothing for sale all the time. They usually sell a bag full of clothes for a couple dollars. I would always pass them up without a second look. But I can assure you from now on that's going to be on list of things to look for to sell on eBay.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

eBay Sales

So last week I pushed myself to get more stuff listed. If it's not listed it can't sell. I guess having more stuff listed really worked because I sold several items.

Flounder sold. I bought this costume several weeks ago. He was listed BIN for about 2 1/2 weeks. I bought him for $3.00 and sold him for $60. Gotta love Little Mermaid!!

I sold a Robosapien robot I bought several weeks ago. This I listed auction. I only got one bid. Bought it for $10 and he sold for $35. I'm happy with that.

I bought an American Girl dress for $0.50 and it sold for $11.00. This is a child's dress not a doll dress. I didn't even know they made real clothing.

I bought a girls Gap winter jacket several weeks ago for $1.00. Sold for $22 BIN.

Finally sold the last of the Kiddle dolls I bought the same weekend as Flounder. Paid $2 for 3 of these vintage dolls. They sold for a total of $33.

I sold a Wilton wizard cake pan I picked up at a garage sale for $2 for $25. I'm still amazed people actually bake. I really need to turn on my oven one of these days.

My favorite item sold was a model for an airport I found at a church sale two weeks ago. It was sealed in the box so I wasn't sure it was complete. For $2 I took a chance. It was complete! I took a $75 best offer on it.

This was my best sales week since I started eBaying again. So the moral to this story is ... List more!!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Goals

I met with Parents As Teachers for my Princess' twice monthly meeting. Before Diane (the wonderful PAT teacher) left she asked me what my goals for the next two weeks are. I paused and had to think. I have goals in mind but I never bother to write them down or even speak them out load. She reminded me that you are more likely to try harder to reach your goals if you don't keep them to myself. So I'm going to share mine:

Weekly Goals:

Motherly goals -

1) Take my Princess and niece and nephews to Santa Cruz Boardwalk this weekend (been trying to take them all summer)

2) Work on Colors with Princess. We aren't doing very well on them

3) Take Princess for a walk after dinner (trying to take advantage of the nice weather). This also helps with the colors (red truck, green tree, blue car ...)

4) Spend more quality time with Princess. There never seems to be enough time

Saving Goals-

1) Actually make it CVS and Walgreens this week to use my coupons and build stockpile

2) List more things on eBay. If I'm not listing then I'm not selling. My goal is to have 40 things listed this week. I have 19 so far

3) Put more money in my emergency fund. I have $250 so far. My goal is $1000.


Personal Goals-

1) Attend Monthly cluster group for concurrent parents

2) Organize garage

3) Get my hair done (I need it). Sometimes I forget to take time for myself

4) Send thank you note to Patty

5) Work on dealing, forgiving and letting go of hurt feelings caused by Princess's family criticizing my parenting skills. I will pray on this.

6) Check in with April. Her husband recently had a heart attack. Miss them both so much. She's my sister from another mister. My BFF.

Not too big of a list.

Hopefully I can cross something off my goals list next week.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Yard Sales Finds

This past Saturday I had to work. Horrible tragedy! That meant no Saturday garage sales. But that wasn't going to stop me from going to the few I could make it to.

Since I worked on Saturday I had Friday off. There were 2 community yard sales that looked promising on Friday. So early Friday morning I packed my Princess in the car, picked up my mom and off we went in search of treasures. Unfortunally what we found was lots of trash. One of the community yard sales only had 2 people selling and one of those was only selling edibible goodies. My mom was happy because she hadn't had breakfast yet. But I left empty handed. After driving around town for a couple hours we made it 6 yard sales and I only bought one thing.




I bought this rocker for $3.00. My Princess saw it and ran right to it, climbed on top and refused to get off. She is 2 1/2 and not small for her age. This rocker is much too small for her. But for $3.00 how could I refuse my Princess?

Sunday morning I consulted Craigslist and found 3 yard sales in my area. I packed Princess and Mom in the car again and off we went. The first one was selling their used items for new prices. Bought nothing. Second yard sale had great prices but nothing I needed. Just when I was started to lose hope I found this at the 3rd yard sale.


I know you are probably wondering "what the heck is that?". Well I bought TWO boxes full of Burger King kids meal toys. This is just a small portion I pulled out of one of the boxes to check prices on completed eBay listings. I paid only $3 for both boxes. Even if I can't sell them I know the kids will get at least $3.00 worth of entertainment from them.

How was your yard sale hunting this weekend?

Linking up to The Thrifty Momma

Monday, September 12, 2011

eBay Sales BIN vs Auctions

I have a hard time deciding whether to list something at Buy it Now or auction on eBay. I think making that decision takes me longer then actually listing an item.

When I'm first considering listing an item I'm usually at a yard sale or thrift store. I will do a quick check on my eBay App to see if an item is worth selling. If I decide it is I buy it and cross my fingers I made a good decision. Once I get the item home (or a week later) when I get ready to list it I do more research on the item. I check to see what an item has sold for. Whether it sold better on auction or BIN. How many of these items are currently on sale and how are they doing on auction. Then I decide what I would like to make on an item.

If I decide to go auction on an item I always start off the item at the lowest price I would be willing to sell the item for. I want to make at least $5.00 or more on it so that's what I usually start the auction at. I know a lot of people start their auctions at $0.99 but I have seen a lot of auctions close at this price and I would rather keep an item then lose money on it. I always do 7 day auctions. Once I have it listed I cross my fingers and hope for the best.

If I decide to do BIN option on an item I usually list it a little below what other BIN have the item listed for. I know that's bad but I figured they will buy mine before the other persons. I always do 30 days for BIN. I'm willing to wait to find a buyer for my item. I just went back to eBay after being gone for several years. And so far since I started listing again only one BIN didn't sell within 30 days. Not bad.

Which option do you prefer?

Daily Samples

I've found a few available samples today:

Emergen-C is offering a free sample of Emergen-C kidz here.

Free sample of Rachael Ray Nutrish Just 6 Dog Food here.

Free Sample of Kleenex Cool Touch available through Target here.
Hope you enjoy them!

Friday, September 9, 2011

No free samples in the mail yesterday. How sad. Maybe today some will be waiting for me.

These are a couples samples I found today:

Twinings is offering 3 tea samples here.

Free sample of Icy Hot available through Walmart here.

Enjoy!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Daily Samples

I was very excited when I got home yesterday. In my mail box was a free sample of coffee from Nescafe. It was a package of 8 multi-flavor single servings. I also had a box with Suave travel size hairspray, lotion and body wash. I love coming home to free samples.

There are a few free samples available today. Even if you can't use them you might know someone who can:

Walmart is offering a sample of Poise hourglass pads here . Walmart samples are some of my favorites.

Free sample of Joe Coffee which I've never tried is available here.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Yard Sale Finds

This weekend was a bust for yard sales. There were quite a few but most of the stuff they were selling was either too expensive or too old/used. I was able to find a couple of things to sell.


I've read on eBay underground that hot rollers are a good thing to sell on eBay. People buy them for use a pageants especially. I found this set still in the box with the original instructions for $2.00. Hopefully they will sell.


I also found two of these new in package Wilton Wedding  Cake Cathedral Kit for $1.00. I've already sold one of these for $38.99 BIN. Who knew people liked to bake. I don't think I've used my oven since I moved in a year ago.


At Savers I found this vintage 1978 Superman Underoos. I almost cried when I saw them because they brought back so many memories but mostly because they made me feel old. I couldn't find this exact one sold on eBay but hopefully it will sell well.

I also bought my Princess a couple of Childrens Place outfits and a few dresses for a dollar each..

How was your yard saling?

Visit The Thrifty Momma to see her great yard sale finds.

Freebies for the day

I found a couple good free samples today:

Prilosec is giving away free samples. Now I use this everyday so it's great one for me.

Playtex Sport is giving away free samples and you even get to pick what kind you want.

It's been a slow week for me on samples. I haven't received any yet. But the week isn't over.

Friday, September 2, 2011

What to sell on eBay

If there is some magic formula for what to sell on eBay I still haven't found it. It's pretty hit or miss on my part.

I am a mother of a two year old and I like to make sure she is always dressed to the nines especially when we go out. But I just can't seem to be able to bring myself to pay retail for her clothing. Even going to Target and finding the clearance rack isn't good enough for me. About 90% of her clothing comes from garage sales. And most things I pay a dollar or less for. So it really shocks me how much parents are willing to pay for their child's clothing.

Recently I purchased four Matilda Jane dresses at a garage sale for $2.00 each. This was a splurge for me but they were adorable. On a whim after I purchased them I looked them up on eBay. They were selling for a pretty penny. So being a resourceful mom I decided to list them on eBay instead of letting my Princess wear them. I have already sold two of the dresses for $35.00 each and one for $25.00.

Now before you think I'm a horrible mom for not letting my Princess wear the dresses, let me tell you she has a closet FULL of clothing. My mom (who watches her for me) keeps asking me to go thru her closet and get rid of some of the clothing because they don't all fit in her closet anymore. And with the $95.00 I have already made on these dresses I can buy my Princess another closet full of clothing.

So if you ever see any Matilda Jane dress while out at yard sales or thrift stores, make sure you pick them.

Free Samples

Today's free samples are:

Eucerines Everyday Protection SPF 15 Lotion

Dove Rebalance Body Mist

Make sure you sign up for your samples!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Couponing

This week I haven't had a chance to go shopping to use my coupons. I don't do as well as the ladies (and a few gentlemen) on Extreme Couponing but any little bit saved comes in handy.

Money Saving Mom is the first place I usually look for coupon match ups. They have most of the local stores. But beware that the match ups might not reflect the store policy we have locally. For example, Safeway locally doesn't double coupons but in other States they double and sometimes triple the coupons so it's easier to get free or cheap items.

I play the drug store game for coupons though weekly (or try to) because you can get really good deals on those. One of my favorite sites to check on the local deals is Passionate Penny Pincher because not only does she give you the weekly match ups but she will also give you scenarios to use so you get the best deals. Less thinking for me is always a good thing.

Now if only I would stop losing my coupons.

Daily Samples

I found a great sample today. Free sample of diapers!!! Usually they send two in the package.You can request them here: free sample of Huggies on Sam's Club . You don't need a membership card to get one.

Another free sample available today is a free sample of Hugo Boss fragrance. You can get that here: Hugo Boss fragrance sample .

Did I ever mention how much I love free samples? So far this week I received diapers, Kotex, and cereal. And the week is far from over.