Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Sshh Don't Tell

I have a best friend named April. She is a great person and an even better friend. She was one of the first friends I made when I moved to SoCal. Now that I'm back in Salinas it's hard to keep in touch but even when I don't talk to her she is always in my heart.

April is what you would call...hmm how do I put this... a little different. You never know what she will be wearing, what her shoes will look like, what her hair will look like. She has a style all of her own. She's brave and not afraid to try anything. I often wish I could be more like her as I sat with my all black outfit and plain black sandals.

A few years ago April started collecting Flamingos. She has flamingo EVERYTHING. A few days ago I was at the Salvation Army and saw this for a dollar:


Not exactly April's style but the flamingos were adorable and I figured she could do something with it. At least that was my plan. But as I was listing items today I realized I could sell this on eBay. So I'm ashamed to admit it but I listed it. If it doesn't sell I will send it to April. But I do feel guilty for trying to sell a gift I bought for her. 

Am I the only one who has ever done this? Bought something for a gift but ended up selling it on eBay? I hope not. Hopefully she will never know.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Great Sale

I don't list a lot of high value items. Most of my stuff sells around the $20-25.00 range. And I'm happy with that. I'm not looking to get rich (OK I'm looking but I haven't found the magic bean to grow my own money tree yet) just to supplement my income.

A few months ago I purchased a pair of mens Diesel jeans at the Goodwill. Jeans at my local Goodwills are $6.25. Once a week the store has a color tag that is 50% off that week. Usually I only buy jeans that have the 50% off color tag. But for some reason I decided I would buy these jeans FULL price. I know, shocking! And into the pile of "things to list" they went. I finally got around to listing them last month auction style. I started the auction at $25.00. I figured I would be happy with $18.75 if I only got one bid. So I waited

Day 1 several watchers.
Day 2 a few more watchers.
Day 3 a few more watchers.
Day 4 a bid. WOOHOO!!!
Day 5 well I'm not sure what happened day 5-7 because I went out of town and had no Internet access. I almost didn't survive.

When I finally got into 3G range for my IPhone I rushed to check to see what had closed and sold over the weekend. I was shocked to find out my little ole jeans sold for...$95.00!!! No that isn't a typo. Now don't go out and buy all the Diesel jeans you see no matter the price because I have sold other Diesel jeans before and they sold MUCH less then this. But for some reason this style sold for $95.00 to someone in Germany.

I sent off my invoice right away. On day 4 I sent out another reminder invoice. One day 5 the buyer decided he didn't want the jeans. He said that they were overpriced and he wanted me to cancel the transaction. Now this was right before Christmas and I didn't have time to deal with this. QAfter the holidays I thought about it and decided that I wouldn't fight it. I just cancelled the transaction. I was very sad and disappointed. But these things happen.

Last week I decided to relist my pants auction style. I wasn't expecting them to go anywhere near that price again so I started them at $35.00 this time. Well you will never believe how much they sold for. $111.50 to a buyer in Canada. And he already paid. Second time was a charm.

I guess sometimes I just get lucky.