Oh Peanuts!

That is my Princess’ new favorite saying. Whenever something goes wrong or doesn’t go as planned you can hear her exclaim “Oh Peanuts”! I’m not sure where it came from but I find it adorable. But then again I find just about everything my daughter does adorable. I had a woman in swimming tap me on the shoulder earlier this week and tell me how her husband and her always comment to each other about what a pretty daughter I have. It was very unexpected and nice comment. I wish I could take credit but I can’t. I think she’s perfect and I’m the luckiest person in the world to have her.

 

No, my post isn’t about my daughter. I had an OH Peanuts moment recently. When I first looked up and listed the previously mentioned creepy holiday decorations there were several that had sold recently for $60-80.00 but none currently listed. I felt confident mine would sell for a good price. The next day after listing mine another seller listed two in a lot for less then mine and their listing isn’t closing until after mine. I already have a bid for $40.00 on one of my listings but none on the other. Now I don’t think they will do as well. Even if I only sell them for $40.00 I am happy with that profit but I was hoping for more. If only that other seller would have waited a few more days to list theirs. But I guess such is the life of eBay sales and friendly competition.

 

 

Kinda Creepy

This weekend we went out as a family for our 3rd annual cut our own Christmas tree outing. This is one of those things I want to make a family tradition for as long as possible. I think traditions are important. I don't have too many with my family but the ones I have are very special.

When we got home J got out some boxes marked Christmas. We have his and hers decorations and very few ours so we weren't sure what we would find. One of the storage boxes contained some decorations I picked up early this year at a yard sale. The yard sale was held in the back yard of this home and the yard was filled with tons and tons of treasures. I bought a mountain of stuff (literally a mountain) and only paid about $30 for all of it. Have already sold about $200 worth throughout the year of things I purchased that day. The Christmas items I purchased got put away and forgotten. As I pulled out the items out of one of the boxes J exclaimed "that's kinda creepy". I have to admit it was but in quaint old fashion Christmas kind of way.

As I have been known to do with everything that comes in this house I looked up the item before deciding to use or sell. These creepy cute decorations have sold for $60. Off to the for sell pile they went. 

I have two old fashion carolers listed separately for $40 and I already have a bid on one. One persons creepy is another's christmas decoration. 

An update on my great find. The stress control thingy sold for $275 plus shipping. My second highest sale to date on eBay. I wish I could turn $2 into $275 every week. 

Great Find

Since I work full time and always have a bunch of errands to run at lunch I don't usually go to yard sales on Friday. Today I got J to run my errand for me so at lunch I decided to go by the only sale in the area I found. And am I glad I did. 

J actually met me there (we are a yard saling couple) which was good because I hate shopping on my own. There was a box on the table that I had never seen before. I read the cover of the box and turned to J and said "this is perfect for you!" It was a box for Alpha-Stim SCS stress control system. I put it back down on the table and proceeded to look around to see what else they were selling. But something kept nagging me about that box so I decided to look it up on eBay. I almost knocked down an old lady and two kids in my race to get back to the table to get the box. I casually asked the owner how much and she answered $2.00. I quickly paid her and almost did cartwheels on the way back to my car. 

Here are some currently listed:

Woohoo!!!

Shopping Trip

Today at lunch I decided to hit a couple of the local thrift stores. With only an hour I had to do some quick shopping. I only ended up buying three things and two I'm keeping for Christmas. 

The first item that I'm going to list is a new Carter's Teething ring. I didn't bother looking it up but for a dollar I know I can at least triple my money. 

For my princess I bought this Lego Disney Planes set. New in box (box is slightly beat up) for $2.00. This is going to get wrapped up and is going under the tree. 

My favorite find was a Leapfrog Laugh and Learn table new in box for the baby for only ... $5.00!!! I opened the box to make sure nothing was broken and put batteries in it and it is ADORABLE! 

Am I the only cheap ... Oops I mean frugal mom that gives gifts they find at thrift stores and yard sales?

New BOLO

I am a member if several Facebook groups. Recently I saw a post (I don’t remember in which group) about a Bape (Bathing Ape) jacket wondering if it was real. Two things struck me with this post. One, what kind of clothing does someone named Bathing Ape make? And if they were wondering if the jacket was real then it has to be worth good money. I pretty sure people don’t do knockoffs of inexpensive items. What would be the point. So I looked up the brand on eBay and was shocked how expensive this brand is. I looked at their online shop and t-shirts start at $90 and can go as high as $230.00. FOR A T-SHIRT!?!?! Jackets can run over $1000.00.

 

Bathing Ape is a Japanese clothing company which seems to sell mostly street wear clothing. Stuff young people who don’t know the value of a dollar like. They have collaborated with popular characters to make special designs like Spongebob and Hello Kitty so they are hitting two niches. Some of their stuff is adorable but way out of my price range. Luckily that usually means that it’s out of a lot of other peoples price range too. And where do people look when they want something cheaper? EBAY!

 

If you happen to find a Bape clothing item on your travels and are wondering if it is real here are a couple of guides to help out. The last thing any eBay seller wants is to get caught selling a fake anything on eBay even if it was unintentional.

 

http://www.authenticbape.com/spot-fake-bape-aka-fape.html

http://www.bapeinfo.com/fake-bape/

http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-spot-fake-bape-bathing-ape-Part-1-/10000000001249147/g.html

 

(anyone else think their logo guy looks like a character from Plant of the Apes)

 

Halloween and a Jinxed Listing

Doc McStuffins and Lambie!

Maybe it's something about the time of year but I have had the worst luck on a listing for a Ralph Lauren men's shirt. I have stopped buying every RL shirt I find because the market is saturated. But this one had a big logo and decals so I knew it would sell well. Also BOLO for really large sizes because they sell quickly and for good money. 

This particular shirt I listed on auction first. It sold for $37.99 plus shipping. I paid $2.00 so I was happy with that. But the buyer never paid. Listed of BIN for the same price the second time and it sold within 2 days. Again buyer never paid. Thirds times a charm right? I listed it again and it sold within 3 days. I actually had someone in town email me if they could buy it and pick it up but someone else bought it before I could respond. This time when I opened an UPI after waiting a week for payment the buyer paid. Unfortunately when a buyer doesn't pay and you open an UPI case it takes time before you can relist. You would think this listing would have a happy ending since I finally got payment. But no. Since its been a while since I originally listed it and I expected to mail it out quickly I didn't store it where I usually would and now I can't find. So tonight I have to tear apart my eBay room to find it. With my luck I will find it, mail it, and it will get lost in the mail. I feel like this shirt is that jinxed. 

Anyone else ever have a bad listing? 

Flip A Coin

I have been going through all my “to be listed” piles and feel like I haven’t made a dent. I didn’t realize how much I had. Several items I felt weren’t going to get enough profit and would probably sit a while so off to Goodwill they went. It’s sad when I start adding up all the money I have spent on these items but it’s teaching me that I have to be more choosey with the items I buy. I don’t have the time or the space for an item that will sell for $10-15 after several months even if it only cost a quarter to buy.

Most items I didn’t even have to bother to look up. I either remembered them from when I originally bought them and looked them up or from past experiences I knew what they would sell for. Even though I probably shouldn’t be going by past experiences since things can change as Treasure Hunting Mommy mentioned here.The fun part has been discovering items I didn’t even remember buying and researching them. I’ve already sold several of them for a great profit.

This little guy is a Kliban plush fat cat. I’ve seen him before on coffee mugs. I’ve even purchased said mugs to sell. But I hate selling breakables so they still sit in the cabinet. That will be my last sell or purge pile. My daughter must have picked this plush up at a yard sale and brought him home because I don’t remember buying him. I looked him up on eBay and only found this one for $99.99 BIN. Sounds good to me! But this one has tags and mine doesn’t. And I want things to move quickly. Who knows how long this seller has had theirs sitting.

As I fellow seller I feel bad undercutting the other seller. But if mine does sell his will be the only other one listed. So do I start high and hope I at least get one bid or start low and hope for a lot of bids (remember I’m only doing auctions on these new listings)? Decisions, decisions. Maybe my indecisive nature is why it’s taking me so long to get through all my stuff. Maybe I should just flip a coin. What would you do?