Yard Sale Finds

Last weeks $20.00 thrift store challenge made a second appearance this weekend. I decided to see what I could get at yard sales for $20.00. I was lucky because it stopped raining Friday night so there were plenty of sales to choose from. I don't have photos this time because most of it is in the washer. But this is what I got:

Yard sale #1: A mans Kahala Hawaiian shirt for $1.00
Yard sale #4: 3 men's 4XL shirts. Includes one Tommy Bahama and two Ralph Lauren. $3.00 total.
Yard sale #5: 2 kids books for my Princess $0.50 total.
Yard sale #7: 2 tutus, a new with tags bathing suit, a couple of infant toys, and 2 costumes for $2.50 total. Only the costumes are for eBay.
Yard sale #9: 10 Christmas ornaments and a pair of women's Diesel jeans. Total spent $6.00. I have never tried selling ornaments before but my sister has had good luck with them. They include Lennox, Waterford, Spode and several other well known brands.
Yard sale # too many I lost track: My remaining $7.00 were spent on a costume, a tutu, a jacket, two tops, a doggie purse, an electronic American Girl thing (no idea what it is but I threw it in the pile) and a pony. No not a real pony. A rocking horse that is adorable. It makes noise and moves its head. My daughter fell in love so I had to get. And she wouldn't get off of it so it was either leave her or take the horse.

Most of my money was spent on things for the girls but I should still be able to make a good profit on the resale items. I kinda like this $20 challenge. It makes me stay on a budget and actually keep track of what I bought. Plus mom was with me with extra cash just in case I found a need to have item I couldn't afford.

Update

I re-read my last post and realized I forgot to mention Salvation Army was having their 50% off all clothing sale. That's why I got so much for only $20.00. Most of their children's clothing is $2 or less and men's shirts are $3.25. So half off is a really good price. And I already sold one item and almost made back my $20 investment.

I also sold my Steiff doll I had posted about recently. It sold for $60.00 auction. She's on her way to Texas. Between both Steiff items I paid $3 and sold them for $120 total this week. I wish I could turn $3 into $120 all the time.

$20 Challenge

Recently Margaret at Live Like No One Else wrote about a “Only Got $20 In My Pocket” challenge. She took a ride to the thrift store to see what kind of treasures she could acquire for $20.00. She hasn’t posted her finds yet but I did decide to take that challenge.

Today I walked into my local Salvation Army with a goal of only spending $20.00 and finding as many items I could find that I could turn around and sell for a profit on eBay. This challenge was actually hard for me for several reasons. The main reason is that I have very little time to shop. I usually go on my breaks and spend at the most 30 minutes shopping. Most trips I only buy one or two items and spend about $5.00. So finding enough time to shop and purchase $20.00 worth of items was going to be hard. But the Thrift Store Gods smiled down on me and there was plenty to choose from in the two sections I had time to look through, mens shirts and jeans. I actually had to put back a few items to keep within my $20.00 budget. So what did $20.00 buy me? Well …


7 for all mankind jeans

A Kahala Hawaiian shirt

A mens Patagonia shirt

Reyn Spooner Hawaiian Shirt


Boys Ralph Lauren Shirt



Two Tommy Bahama shirts



Cubavera Shirt. I’ve never sold these before but I thought I read somewhere that they sell well.


Hudson Jeans


Janie and Jack child bathing suit

That is 10 items for $20.00. Well actually $20.50. The best part is that I got all of it listed already. I wonder how much profit the $20.00 will bring me. I will keep you updated.

Feeling The Excitement Again

Since I opened up a store on eBay I rarely do auctions anymore. It's easier to let something sit til it sells. I dictate the price I want. I'm sure often times I short change myself but when I buy items for a dollar or two, or often times less, I'm happy with my profit.

This week past week I put two items up on auction. I know very little about these items and couldn't find the exact items for sale so I thought it would be best to let the consumer dictate the price. One of the items was the Steiff doll I mentioned in a previous post. The other was a Steiff Ralph Lauren bear I bought for a dollar at a garage sale two weekends ago. I started the bear at $50 and got no bids for 6 days. I did at one point have 11 watchers. Last night I finally got a bid. And this morning two more. It's up to $61 dollars with an hour to go. I love the feeling of auctions, the excitement. When my phone tells me I got a bid I run to check it and see how much. So why don't I do this more often? I think I'm going to start doing at least one auction every couple weeks. Keep the excitement in the relationship alive.

Here is a picture of the bear. It's missing its hat and another accessory and the coat closure is loose. Other Ralph Lauren bears have sold for much more but they were in like new or new condition. No matter what it closes at I am happy with the profit I have already. Not bad for a dollar investment.