Tuesday, December 31, 2013

What is This?

I must have been busy today because I completely forgot that I was going to take a picture and see if anyone knew what this was! It is now almost one in the morning and I remembered right before I was going to bed! Anyway, my sister gave this to me and I thought it was rather unique and maybe worth something? I think the flowers and leaves are made of glass! I can't make out the lettering on the bottom either. Any clues anyone? I'd appreciate it! I'm off to bed! ~~Pam
 



Monday, December 30, 2013

Scrabble Boards and Lace

I woke up to a nice little "ca-ching" sound this morning and then heard it again a few hours later! I sold 6 Scrabble boards, which I have already figured in the cost of when I sell the Scrabble tiles so I count these as "Free"! When I put down my profit, remember that I have added in my shipping charge and then subtracted any fees, packaging costs, the cost of the item and the actual shipping cost.
 
6 Scrabble Boards
Paid FREE - Sold for $12.00 - Profit $10.09
 
I've had these packages of seam binding, rick rack, lace and such for ages. I've picked them up here and there at sales. Not sure what my total cost for them would be but not a whole lot. I'll figure $2.00 just for figurings sake. These were all unopened packages. I made a tidy little profit! I have quite a bit more that have been opened that I need to get listed.
 

86 Packages of Seam Binding, Hem Tape, Lace, Piping
Paid $2.00? - Sold for $29.95 - Profit $23.60
 
One of my sisters gave me a few things she found while out thrifting (thanks Naomi!)...things to either keep or try to sell. One item is something really unique. I'm going to take a picture and I'll post it here tomorrow to see if anyone knows if it's worth something so please come back! ~~Pam

Sunday, December 29, 2013

More Button Sales!

Hello Everyone! Life gets so hectic sometimes, doesn't it? Or is it just me? Anyway, I'm writing a short post tonight. I sold 7 sets of buttons the other day! It was a nice order! The total with shipping was $42.25 and after shipping and fees and cost of buttons I made $30.22 profit! I really would love to get more buttons listed. I sure have plenty of them! 
 
45 Teal Buttons
Sold for $3.50

100 Colorful Buttons
Sold for $2.50

50 Green Buttons
Sold for $3.50

1/2 Cup of Pearl Buttons
Sold for $9.95

34 Purple Pearl Buttons
Sold for $5.00

50 Red Buttons
Sold for $3.00

1/2 Cup of Shabby Buttons
Sold for $4.95
 
In the past few days I've had 2 different people ask about ordering 30 quart jars from me but then they don't get back to me! I sure wish they would as the money would come in handy!
 
On another note, I had a lady that did order 20 jars from me on the 20th. I mailed them out the 21st and they were supposed to be delivered the 27th. She contacted me and hasn't received them yet. The tracking info hasn't been updated since they left my town but it does say they are in transit. Hopefully she will get them in a couple of days. She does live in California and I'm in Iowa plus there was a Sunday and a holiday in there so I hope all goes well!
 
I also had another lady that had ordered 4 pint jars and said she only received 3! I couldn't believe that I would have missed a jar but I did have a pint jar sitting on the floor by my desk so I'm thinking I must have missed it! Told you I was going crazy! So, there went over $7.00 to mail her the other jars. That took my profit on that order down to about $6.00. :(
 
I'm hoping to get lots listed Monday. Gotta get busy!
 
Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam


Friday, December 27, 2013

Today's Sale

Lot of 34 Kenner Color Slides
Free at auction - Sold for $25.00 - Profit $21.43
 
I got these slides on a table at an auction this past summer. I think they were just thrown in with the other stuff so hardly any cost. I looked up sold listings and figured I could list them at "Buy it Now" for $25.00.  I think I had them listed for a couple of weeks and they sold today!
 
My son and his wife came today around 3:00 and started to work on the floor! I didn't realize how much work goes into laying flooring! They have the family room pretty much finished....just need to add some trim around the bottom and the kitchen is already started so I'm thinking they might be done by around noon tomorrow. It will be so nice to have it finished! They are doing an excellent job!
 
Well, I'm off to bed...thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Going Crazy...otherwise titled "Painting My House"

I haven't had as much time to post quite as often this past week due to sprucing up our place. It's needed some painting for quite some time and the floor in our family room has needed some repair. One of my married sons and his wife work on flooring with her dad. They offered to fix the floor for us and also install some wood look laminate! We took them up on the offer and then my mom offered to pay for laminate for the kitchen floor! One of my sisters wanted to help us get the family room painted and fixed up so she came last week and helped with that for a few days. It looks lots better and now we are waiting for my son and his wife to come tomorrow and lay the new floor! Our house is a big double-wide mobile home....28x80. It has oak trim...or should I say fake oak trim throughout the house. We decided to pain the trim white! Yikes! That's way too much painting but it looks soooo nice! My sister got the family room done fairly quickly...she texturized the walls, painted the ceiling, fixed some spots on the walls and then painted the walls. She was here parts of 4 days and got it done. It's been 8 days since then and me, my husband and daughter have been trying to work on the rest of the house but it seems like it's taking us forever! Our living room, dining room, kitchen and family room kind of all flow together so I want to get it done and over with so that it all looks nice! But I don't seem to have the energy to work so fast anymore! I don't like living with everything a mess and it makes me feel crazy! Plus I'm losing my gumption to get it done! When we are done with the main painting then my daughter and I are thinking seriously about painting our oak-look cabinets in the kitchen a shade of red! Something along these lines: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/333407178635756439/ or http://www.pinterest.com/pin/237353842834197637/  That's going to take awhile! Then we might re-do our countertops with a faux granite look but I'll have to think twice about it.

So, that's why I feel crazy! Then after that I could paint the laundry room and the boys bathroom and bedroom! It's been awhile since I've done this kind of extra work and it needs it! I don't like to do this kind of stuff though. I like the way it looks when it's done but I hate doing it! I will quit whining now!

I finally got out of the house today. I had been home since last Thursday I think! (no wonder I feel crazy, huh?!) I had to go to the dentist to get a small chip in my tooth fixed. After that I stopped at Goodwill to look around. I found a big lounging Tigger plush and a big Simba plush. They were $2.38 each. I looked up the sold listings and it looks like I should be able to get around $15 - $20 for Tigger and maybe a little more for Simba! I should try to get them listed tomorrow.

Nothing sold today. Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Tuesday and Wednesday Sales

Hello! I just wanted to add pictures of what I've sold the past couple of days. I will update the profit when I get them all packaged up Thursday morning. Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam
 
Paid $1.00 - Sold for $10.00 - Profit $6.44

Paid $7.00 - Sold for $42.00 - Profit $26.76

Paid ? - Sold for $10.00

 
Etsy Sales
 56 Blue Bobbins
Paid 50 cents - Sold for $6.00

30 Pearl Pieces
Paid 25 cents - Sold for $5.00
Profit on the bobbins and pearl pieces together - $9.87

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Made a Mistake


I guess when I listed this embroidered pillow cover I must have copied another listing that I had on Etsy for a doily and so the title for this picture reads "Vintage Embroidered Doilies Red Strawberries Lace Edge". There are no strawberries on this and it's a pillow cover, not a doily! I was going to get this ready to mail out and realized that the title did not match the item! So I contacted the buyer just to make sure that they want this item. I would assume they looked at the picture and this is what they want but I thought I better make sure! Probably listed this way too late at night! :) Anyway, I think I only paid a nickel for it at a yard sale this past summer and I sold it for $4.00. We'll see if I get to mail it out tomorrow!
 
Paid 5 cents - Sold for $4.00 - Profit $2.94
 
Paid 50 cents - Sold for $12.95 w/free shipping - Profit $8.34
 
Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Good News!

Hello Everyone! I just had to share that I had my monthly seller performance yesterday on eBay and it looks like I am now a Top Rated Seller! So exciting! Do they send an email when you reach that level? I didn't get one but I checked my account today and saw the good news!

eBay Sales

Starbucks Shanghai Collectors Mug
Free - Sold for $9.95 + $15.08 S&H - Profit $9.22
My daughter got 3 Starbucks mugs out of the trash at one of her cleaning jobs and gave them to me! This one went to someone in Canada!

98 Burgundy Scrabble Tiles
Got this Free out of a "Free Pile" at a yard sale this summer!
Sold for $12.95 + $3.73 S&H - Profit $11.79
 

Care Bears Lot of Toys
Paid - Not sure....had all of this stuff for awhile! Roughly figuring about $5.76
Sold for $10.00 + $10.60 S&H - Profit $2.56
I thought this lot would go for more but I listed it 3 times so at least it's move out!
 
ETSY SALES
It's funny that a few days ago I wasn't very hopeful about selling any jars the rest of the month. I figured people would be busy with other things this time of year. But, I sold those 16 the other day and then 20 more yesterday! It sure helped out!
 

 20 Blue Ball Quart Jars
Paid $20.00 Sold for $130.00 plus $35 S&H - Profit $97.10
 
16 Vintage Wooden Spools
Paid 50 cents - Sold for $4.95 + $3.60 S&H - Profit $4.22
 
10 Vintage Brown Buttons
Paid 25 cents - Sold for $3.50 + $2.75 S&H - Profit $3.15
 
Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam
 


Thursday, December 19, 2013

I Love You, You Love Me...


Paid 88 cents - Sold for $12 plus $6.25 S&H - Profit - $9.06
 
If any of you have kids, then you probably know why I have that title...it's Barney's theme song! We have 8 kids. Do you know how many episodes of Barney I've watched and listened to as background noise over the years? :) I think Barney came out when my 4th child was little so I've had it around since her and the last 4 kids! A lot of people think Barney is annoying but I always thought it was a cute show. The kids loved it too. Anyway, I bought this Barney at Goodwill for 88 cents. I had him on eBay for weeks and weeks. Started him on auction and then had BIN for $14.95. I had one person "buy" him but never paid. Last week I finally changed up the listing and put him at $12.00 and he sold today!
 
My husband had his interview today. There were 4 big wigs interviewing him and asking him questions like "what would he do if this or that happened".  They said they would get in touch with him so we'll see what happens!
 
Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam


3 Sales Sunday

I sold these 16 jars together in one order. I was so glad to get a bigger order! We have been taking each day as it comes since my husband was out of work. He has a job now but it pays $9 less an hour....how do we get by on that?  Anyway, this order helped pay a bill!
 
Paid $10.00 - Sold for $65.00
Paid $6.00 - Sold for $39.95
Shipping charged for all jars was $27.50
Profit on this order of 16 jars was $79.70
 
I had these rubber stamps laying around forever. My sister had given me some and some of them I had won in a contest years ago. I'm not counting them as having paid anything for them. I started them at $9.50 on auction. I do wish I would have gotten a little bit more for them but I'm glad they're outta here! 
 

Paid - $0 - Sold for $9.50 plus $9.70 shipping - Profit $9.27
 
My husband does have another job interview this afternoon. The pay and insurance is better for this job than the one he has. He does like the job he's at right now but I'm hoping he gets the better paying one! It will help our stress levels go down!
 
Going to try to get lots listed today. Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

4 Jars and Back Pain


Paid $4.00 - Sold for $17.50 + $13.95 S&H - Profit - $13.08
 
Kind of a crazy blog post title, isn't it? I can never think of anything catchy to put for a title...I guess I don't have anything too thrilling to report most days! One of these days I hope to have all the wonderful sales that a lot of you other bloggers do. Then I can just list my "top 5" or something because I will have waaayy too many sales to have to list them all! :) I need to invest in some new inventory but right now I need to list what I have and I don't think I have anything that's going to bring the big bucks!
 
Had to take my daughter to the E.R. again last night. Around 5:00 o'clock she all of a sudden got excruciating stabbing pains in her shoulder and neck on the same side as she had the back pain a few days ago. It was pitiful. It's crazy how it comes on so sudden! We gave her one of her pain pills and headed to the hospital. It took them forever to get an I.V. going on her. They did tests and x-rays and found nothing wrong. The doctor said it was just muscle spasms and she can take pain medicine and muscle relaxers at home as well as there. He had NO bedside manner. She didn't want to go home because the pain was still so bad but they said she didn't meet the "criteria" to be admitted! I guess pain so bad you can't stand it isn't enough in their book.  So she made it through the night and today we had a doctors appt. and our doctor is running some more tests to see if she's deficient in magnesium, potassium or vitamin D. Maybe the pain last week wasn't actually from the other thing that they found. She has been having Charlie horses in her legs lately too so maybe she does have a deficiency in something. I sure hope she doesn't keep having this. It's terrible!

Well, I'm off to bed. Life's been crazy lately and I'm tired! Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam
 

Monday, December 16, 2013

Scrabble Tiles

I have sold lots of Scrabble tiles over the past few years. I have a "supply" shop on Etsy that I used to sell them on. I could sell them for $6.50 for 50 there or $12 for 100. It seems like on eBay the going rate is around $10.00. I try not to pay more than a couple of bucks for a game at yard sales or Goodwill. Not a huge profit on them but every nickel and dime helps! I've got a set of the burgundy ones that I want to list today. We'll see how that goes!
Paid $1.69 - Sold for $10.00 plus $3.05 S&H - Profit - $6.90

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Richard Scarry Books

I took pictures of these books all together the other night and then decided to see what they go for on eBay. I should have done that the other way around! I realized that maybe I should have just listed them separately as they might have went for more each on its own. Oh well, I guess I was lazy. I just wanted to type up one listing and be done with it! I started them at $10 and was worried that that's all I would get but I did get a second bidder and they sold for $16.50. I only paid 25 cents each for them so I did alright but maybe it could have been better....what do you think?
 
Paid $1.25 - Sold for $16.50+$6.26 S&H - Profit - $12.04

Friday, December 13, 2013

Mesenteric Adenitis

Have you ever heard of it? Me either. Yesterday my 15 yr. old daughter started getting terrible pain in her back all of a sudden. I mean like crying bad pain. Thinking that she probably just strained a muscle we gave her some ibuprofen and put a heating pad on it. That didn't help so she took a hot shower and that didn't work either. She was in hideous pain. We took her to the E.R. They thought she probably had a kidney stone so they did all the tests for that. They gave her some I.V. pain meds which finally gave her some relief. She had never had pain that bad. I don't think I've probably had pain as bad as she was feeling. They did a CAT scan. She didn't have a kidney stone but they said she had Mesenteric Adenitis which is a fancy name for an inflammation of the lymph glands in the abdomen. It's most likely a viral infection and will go away....hopefully soon. The doctor said he has never hospitalized anyone yet for it but even the morphine was not completely taking the pain away so we didn't know how taking pain medication in pill form was going to work so they kept her overnight. She was too scared to go home and have the pain get worse again. I felt so bad for her. She was really hurting. She said she wouldn't wish that pain on her worst enemy. Her older brother stayed with her all night. When we left she seemed like she might not be as bad as she was. It's early right now so I haven't talked to her yet this morning. We will be going up soon to see what's going on. Hopefully she will be able to come home today.

No sales to report. Thanks for stopping by. ~~Pam

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Buttons, Buttons, Whose Got the Buttons?

 
I do! I sold this lot of buttons today. When I sold the last lot on eBay I took off the $5.00 that all the buttons I bought like this cost so any more from that bunch of buttons are free and clear! Made a profit of $13 on this bunch and $10.01 on the first set so I've made $23.01 clear on half a laundry basket full of buttons that cost me five bucks! I still have quite a few more to sell! I love buttons! I've got way too many that I should be getting listed too! 
 
I got quite a bit accomplished today! Did 6 loads of laundry....that's quite an accomplishment in itself! I also listed 4 new things on eBay too so I'm glad about that. Seems like I was really busy all day but now I can't remember everything that I did! Same old daily stuff probably! It was nice to be home....too cold to go anywhere!
 
Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Bazaar

My Mom, sisters and I had a craft show/bazaar this past weekend. We did one about 20 years ago and it was fun so one of my sisters said she wanted to do it again. I just didn't have time to do much for it but I did make these little gift boxes of chocolates...which did take waaayyy too much time! They have little Hershey nuggets inside with matching papers wrapped around the chocolates. Each box is different and has different papers. I've made them before and sold them on Etsy in my CardCrazy shop but I haven't been making any cards lately or boxes of chocolates to sell. So anyway, I think they are really cute. I had $5.00 each marked on them. I figured the candy alone was $1.00 for each box. I used supplies I already had on hand but at $5.00 each I'm not really making very much per hour...I can probably do 2 boxes in an hour. I ended up selling 13 of them.....4 of them to my Mom! I ended up selling $100 total of the chocolates and some of my vintage items.
 

 
My 22 year old daughter loves to cook and bake so she made lots and lots of sweet treats to sell. Here are some pictures of some of the things she made.
 
She made lots of these adorable snowman cupcakes. She also made a few different kinds of fudge and sold it in the little boxes with the cute labels that my sister Naomi made for her.
 
A close-up of the snowman cupcakes!
 
She had sugar cookies, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and her famous chocolate chip with everything in them cookies that won her a blue ribbon at the County Fair. She also made 31 pies!!! I think she sold all but a couple of them too! She ended up selling around $900 worth of baked goods! She worked her tail off all week and didn't get much sleep either. I don't know how she did it! But then again, I'm not 22 anymore so I probably forget what a high energy level is!  

My sister whose house we had the bazaar at made these Iowa Hawkeye items. Lots of cute stuff here!
More "team" snowmen that are actually blocks with lights in them.
 
Some of the cute signs she made. She actually had some bigger old windows that she did up really cute but I didn't get a picture of those!
 


There was lots more but I don't have pictures. It was a fun 2 days but my sister who hosted it says she won't be doing it again! :) It is a LOT of work! I kinda wish I would have focused more on listing on Ebay since it was probably one of the busiest weeks of the year. I haven't listed much of anything new because I am behind on everything here at home now! Oh well...we have good memories of the week and being together!

I did sell a pair of Tommy Hilfiger Ladies Jeans today!
Paid $1.00 - Sold for $12.00 - Profit $12.01
Made a little on the shipping this time. I probably should have sent a refund of a couple of dollars on the shipping....most of the time I do. I ended up sending these in a priority bubble mailer so it cost less than what I originally thought but they are also getting them faster! What do you do? Do you always refund extra shipping charges? I usually do if it's much more than a dollar or so over....maybe I should on this one yet. They paid $8.83 so the difference is $3.78.
 
Also, the green striped shirt that I sold over the weekend that I said I lost money on....well I was thinking of a different shirt! This shirt I actually only paid $2.00 for so I made $5.87 clear.
Paid $2.00 - Sold for $9.95 - Profit $5.87
 
 The 2 shirts that I paid $9.38 each for at Goodwill are Greg Norman Golf Play shirts. I've had them listed for a few months. I've lowered the price to $14.95. I figure if I sell them I might break even.
 
Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam