Getting Organized.....

Other people...not me! I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! But this time of year some people are on the look out for organizing tools before the beginning of the year. I just sold this 31 day bill organizer and I also have another one in my eBay store too! Hope it sells too!

31 Day Bill Organizer

Paid $2.00 - Sold for $24.95

 

I found this leather planner at Goodwill a couple of months ago and it sold a few days ago!

Franklin Covey Day One Planner

Paid $2.88 - Sold for $17.95

 

I found this nut bowl, cracker and picks at a yard sale a year ago. My in-laws always had one and this reminded me of them! I actually thought about keeping this but my husband is allergic to tree nuts now so I figured it wouldn't be so fun to have around!

Vintage Nut Bowl and Cracker

Paid 50 cents - Sold for $12.00

 

These Noah's Ark cookie cutters are extra big and they sold within a week or two of listing!

Martha Stewart Noah's Ark Cookie Cutters

Paid $3.88 - Sold for $17.50

 

Those are some of the best sales I've had on eBay this past week. I've also sold 23 jars and 9 clear vases in my Etsy shop

this past week 3 sets of buttons in my Etsy button shop. I'm loving having a few extra sales. I wish it would keep up!

 

Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Just stoppin' in......

Hello everyone! Don't have time to say too much but wanted to just do a quick update on some good sales I've had lately!

 

I should have kept this beautiful cross stitch. It wasn't framed so it was easy to mail.

 

Bird Bath Cross Stitch

Paid $5.00 - Sold for $35.00

Vintage Cookbook

Paid $2.50 - Sold for $17.

4 Puzzles

Paid $1.00 - Sold for $10.95

I always love selling my blue jars and these went to a lady who has bought them from me before. I haven't had any jars break in ages but she emailed me and said that 2 had broken. She said it looked like something heavy had crashed down on one corner of the box. I sent her 2 replacement jars...shipping was $8.10 and the cost of the 2 jars was $2 so I was down $10.10 but I did file an insurance claim with USPS and it actually went smooth and I received a check for $15 so I guess I'm ahead $4.90! Of course the headache and extra work and time was just not worth it but at least I got reimbursed!

10 Blue Ball Quart Jars

Paid $10.00 - Sold for $74.95

 

Last winter one of my daughters and I went to an auction and bid on several old salesman button catalogs or whatever you call them. I thought these were so neat and my daughter got all excited in a bidding war and we ended up with I think 4 or 5 of these types of catalogs for $65.00, so yeah, I think we paid too much! I just love buttons and thought someone would think they are really unique...these that I sold are like new buttons! I think I started them out higher but I ended up taking $25 for them and I figured they probably cost me about $15 so not a great profit margin.

Vintage Salesman Button Catalog

Paid $15? - Sold for best offer of $25.00

 

Vintage Magazine

Paid 12 cents - Sold for $7.95

 

This next item was really neat....put a card in the "identiflyer" and press a button and you can hear the sound each bird makes! We played around with it for quite awhile before I listed it...it sold within a few days of listing!

 

Birdsong Identiflyer

Paid $1.00 - Sold for $17.95

 

Loved these teeny bread pans! 12 of them sold for $19.95!

Miniature Bread Pans

Paid $1.00 - 19.95

 

This next item ended up being a BIG headache! Why would I say I would ship this worldwide? Very hard to find a box for...I ended up paying $8.00 for a box to ship it in! I did end up making $32.48 profit because since it was international shipping I got a big discount on the shipping. I don't think  I will buy these big things anymore! I think I was hoping to sell it on Facebook but that didn't happen.

 

Vintage Coleman Cooler

Paid $4.00 - Sold for $45.00

Elvis Monopoly Game

Paid $5.00 - Sold for $25.00

 

So, that's about it! I've had lots of little sales too and hope to have lots more this month! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Update!

Don't you just love my clever title? :) Life is busy as usual and I'm just stopping by to show a few of the better sales I've had in the past couple of months. I will try to post more in the next day or two! Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

 

I'm going to be on the lookout for more finished cross stitch pieces in the future!

 

Lavender and Lace Cross Stitch

Paid $3.88 - Sold for $49.95

4 "Four Seasons" Cross Stitch Pictures

Paid $5.00 - Sold for $39.95

Pink Pyrex 4 Quart Bowl

Paid $2.00 - Sold for $29.95

Blue Pyrex 4 Quart Bowl

Paid $2.00 - Sold for $29.95

Vintage Smith Corona Typewriter

Was my Dad's - Sold for $75.00

Child's Play Rug

Paid $1.00 - Sold for $25.00

 

This pair of shoes was in a "free" box at a yard sale. They were muddied up and the guy just didn't want to clean them so I picked them up and made $25.00!

Mens Rockport Dress Shoes

Free box! - Sold for $25.00

Large Vanity Mirror

Paid $3.88 - Sold for $24.95

Franklin Covey Day One Planner

Paid $2.88 - Sold for $17.95

July and August Update!

I know....long time, no write! I haven't really had anything too exciting to share. Things have been slowwwww....at least on the selling front. Everyday life is anything but slow! I did have the goal of listing 100 items in August and late last night I finished listing 10 more things to make it to my hundred! Those 100 things were divided between my eBay store and my 2 Etsy shops. I am up to 325 listings on eBay which I'm glad of. I'd really like to get up to 500 as soon as possible. I really do think the yard sales haven't been very good this summer. Last winter I had big plans to get lots of good stuff to sell this summer and it just seems really hard to find anything around here!

 

So.....here are a few of the better sales I've had of the 46 items I've sold on eBay since the first of July.

 

Hot rollers always seem to sell for me. Here are 2 sets that sold recently:

 

Remington Hot Rollers

Paid $2.50 - Sold for $25.00 - Profit $18.78

Windmere Hot Rollers

Free from my daughter - Sold for $27.95 - Profit $21.41

 

I debated on whether or not to sell this chopper thingy.... my daughter works for a lady that didn't want it anymore and I had it around for quite awhile and finally tried to figure out how to use it. I figured I've been cutting up my own veggies and lettuce for ages and I'd rather have the money that this would bring than to have to figure out a place to store this contraption!

Genius Salad Chopper

Free from friend - Sold for $29.95 - Profit $27.07

 

This mug was only a quarter so I bought it and looked up the completed listings and realized it probably wasn't going to sell for a whole lot but I did finally give the "jelly roll" method of shipping mugs in a padded priority envelope a try. It must have worked because I haven't heard otherwise! I was really nervous mailing it out that way but I guess it got there okay!

Oklahoma Mug

Paid 25 cents - Sold for $8.95 - Profit $7.15

Lot of Flower Frogs

Paid $4.00 - Sold for $30.00 - Profit $21.40

Nike Shoes

Can't remember if these were given to me or if I bought them!

Sold for $35.00 - Profit $31.14

These Polaroid One Step cameras can go for quite a bit if they are tested. I didn't have any way of testing mine and I only paid a dollar for it so I listed it for $25 and got a best offer of $20 on it within a short time. I also sold a Polaroid Impulse camera after that but it was less money.

Polaroid One Step Camera

Paid $1.00 - Sold for $20.00 - Profit $17.02

 

I did get a call a couple of weeks ago from someone that had about 200 jars for me! My hubby and I went on a Friday morning to a town about a hundred miles from here and picked them up. Now I'm stocked up on jars for awhile! I actually sold 20 jars the next day so that helped to pay for the new ones!

 

I've also been selling more buttons this past month because I have been listing more buttons! Funny how that works! I'll never get rich on selling buttons but I love buttons and there's just something about sorting them and getting them ready that is just relaxing to me!

 

Well, that about wraps it up. Hopefully I will have more good sales to show soon! Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

June Update

It's so hard to believe how fast time goes by and it's been several weeks since I've posted! Just thought I'd do a quick post to get you updated. Here are a few of my better sales on eBay in June:

Cutco Knife Block

Paid $5.00 - Sold for $42.50 - Profit $36.86

VINTAGE ERZGEBIRGE GERMAN WOOD VILLAGE

Had this for the kids - Sold for $59.95 - Profit $54.41

Reebok Zigtech Running Shoes

Paid ? - Sold for $29.95 - Profit $27.23

 

In June I sold 27 items on eBay for a total of $561 for an average sale of $20.77. My profit on these items after cost of item, fees, packaging and postage was $425.32

 

On my Down Vintage Lane Etsy shop I had 7 orders totaling $272.85 with an average sale of $38.97 per order....I sold 40 jars total for the month.

 

I only had one button order in June for 2 sets of buttons.

 

I've been trying to sell some things on Facebook to avoid shipping and fees. I sold 7 items totaling $122.

 

I figure my total profit for June was $840.54. I would love to be able to do that much every week instead of a month! Gotta try to work harder and also hope that the yard sales get better around here!

 

Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Slow May

May was a slower month for me. Probably partly because I couldn't seem to get very much listed! Going to try really, really hard to work on that this month! I've never made my goal of trying to list 150 items in one month so I'm really stretching it to put up a ticker showing I want to try to list 250 items this month! Going to see what I can do. I have 269 items in my store on eBay right now. I'd like that number to be over 500 by the end of June.

 

Here's what I did in May:

Total sales in all my stores - $954.55 (eBay - $321.11; Etsy Down Vintage Lane - $628.65; Etsy Button Crazy - $4.50)

Total Profit after cost of items, fees and shipping - $776.26

 

I'm glad I sell jars! Definitely did better on those this past month! Here are the best things that sold for May:

 

Little House Books

From my sister - Sold for $35.00 - Profit $30.11

Little House "The Rose Years"

From my sister - Sold for $37.50 - Profit $32.33

8 Track Tapes and Case

Paid $1.00 - Sold for $25.00 - Profit $24.26

Indiana Red Key Mason Jar

Paid $1.00 - Sold for $22.50 - Profit $19.01

I sold 87 jars in May. (to several different people...not all at once!)

Paid $87.00 - Sold for $600.75 - Profit after fees and shipping - $484.47

 

So I think that brings me up to date. I've sold 3 items on eBay so far for June, which is one a day, which is better than the 19 I sold for the whole month of May.

 

On a side note, I purchased a 14 day course from Money Saving Mom that is supposed to help "Make Over Your Mornings". I've finished 3 days of the course so far and there are lots of good points to consider! It only takes 15 minutes or less to do each day and I'm hoping that I can really learn how to manage my mornings better. Sometimes the day just gets away from me! Maybe I can be more productive with my business if I can give this a shot! If you'd like to see what it's all about I have a banner on the top right side of my blog that'll link you to the coarse. If you choose to buy it through my link I would get a percentage of the sale and I would really appreciate it!

 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

 

 

 

These Are MY Kind of Sales!

 

Just stopping in quickly to show a couple of good sales I've had! I found this cute little "Cozy Hugs" giraffe for a quarter at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. He's microwavable and has a lavender scent...makes him nice and cozy to snuggle up with! I researched him and there weren't any for sale right then and there were a couple of new ones that had sold for about $35 so even though he is used he is in good shape and I priced him at $35! He sold for that price! Cha-ching!

 

Cozy Hugs Giraffe

Paid 25 cents - Sold for $35.00 - Profit $30.08

 

I found this Disney photo album the same day for a quarter! I figured someone who took a Disney trip might want this. It also sold within a few days for $17.50. I'm thinking I should have asked $20! It's an older photo album with the sticky pages but it still had the plastic around it!

Disney Photo Album

Paid 25 cents - Sold for $17.50 - Profit $13.85

 

So....they were 2 quickly sold items that I paid 50 cents total for, fast and easy to ship and a nice profit of $43.93! Love those kinds of sales!

 

Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Got My Phone Back!

Thank you for all your comments the other day about my phone...I did get it back yesterday! The lady was kind enough to send it back and didn't even want any compensation but I did send her $20 for her trouble.

I have been listing this month even though I haven't kept very good track of how many items I've listed, as you might have noticed by my counter to the right....which says "0". So far this month I've sold 34 things on eBay with a total of $631.20 which is an average price of $18.56 per item. Here's a few of my higher priced sales:

Allen Edmund Shoes

Free from my daughters boss - Sold for $69.95 - Profit $62.11

47 Hot Roller Hair Clips

I forget how much I paid for these but I'm thinking they were just extra ones that came with another set of hot rollers

Sold for $22.95 - Profit $19.69

 

I found these Holly Hobby Needlepoint pictures at Goodwill for $7.76 for both of them.

Sold for $59.95 - Profit $40.17

Asics Tennis Shoes

My daughter Gabby found these at Goodwill...I think. She gave them to me to sell.

Sold for $44.95

 

I really love selling shoes! I found 7 pair last Friday out at garage sales. I've taken pictures of all of them and have a couple listed so far. Going to try to finish them up before this weeks sales.

 

 

Since the beginning of April I've sold 51 jars in various sizes for a profit of about $289.00! I also picked up 59 jars from 2 different people that answered my "looking for blue jars" ad. I also have another lady that has some for me that I have to pick up. I love the blue jars!

 

I have been trying to get some of my buttons listed too. I sold 6 different sets of buttons for a profit of $20.42. Every little bit helps and I definitely don't need all of these buttons sitting around here!

 

So, that about sums it up for the past few weeks. Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

 

Officially CRAZY!

This is a picture of the pretty cell phone case that I bought awhile back. I love my cell phone. I use my cell phone a lot! Doesn't everybody? Sadly, my cell phone is most likely on its way to California! A couple of days ago I had 5 orders to get ready. 2 of the orders were jar orders and I usually sit on my den floor and wrap them all up, pack them and then wrap the box in pretty paper! Invariably, when I sit on the floor, my cell phone, which is usually on my desk, will ring. I am no spring chicken anymore and it's hard to get up off the floor to get my phone...soooo, I put the phone on the floor somewhere around me. I was in a hurry...I had a couple of hours to get 5 orders ready....the 2 jar orders were the time consuming ones. I wanted to get the packages to the drop off station before 5:00. I was in a hurry...did I mention that already? So, I got the orders ready and finished at about 4:30. I looked around for my phone and didn't see it so I just figured it was under all the mess that was still on the floor from packing and decided to find it when I got back home. Oh how I wish I had taken a minute to dial it up and listen for the ring! Instead,  I had my son take the packages to my van and my oldest daughter and I headed to the Mailboxes Depot and dropped them off. My daughter had been making supper before we left so it was ready to eat, my husband had just gotten home so he was ready to eat, my nerves were shot from hurrying around so much, so I sat down and tried to relax and we had a nice supper. Then I thought I better find my phone...someone dialed my number and we heard nothing.....my son went and looked in the van just in case I was really crazy and had actually taken it with me and didn't remember...I dumped my purse out on the floor to see if it was hiding in there....we searched the house...then I remembered that I had the "Lookout" app. on my phone that will sound a siren to help you find it. I got on the computer and signed in and activated the alarm, still didn't hear anything. By this time I am thinking....could I have accidently (absent mindedly) put that phone in one of my packages since it was sitting on the floor? If I did, could you imagine the people at the Mailboxes place hearing that? Or the guy who picks up the packages? Then I saw that you can locate your device with some kind of tracking thing so I clicked on that....sure enough....it was in Milan Illinois....the shipping hub about 40 miles from here......oh brother....yes, I am officially crazy! How in the world? I really have no idea what package I might have put it in but I'm thinking that (naturally) it's the one going clear to California and it won't get there till Monday! I did email all my customers and told them about it and 3 of them got back to me and said they'd let me know...hopefully it's one of those 3 that get it! The one in California, where I think it might be going to said she had to laugh (who wouldn't?) and said she'd let me know as soon she gets it (if she gets it). So, I will be without my cell phone for probably at least a week and a half, if I get it back, and if it's all in one piece! Maybe I could get a world record or something for this? Surely it's never happened to anyone else? :-) I had my boy run a few more orders in yesterday and the lady asked him if his mom mailed something the day before that made noise? I don't think the package would have been there when I sounded the alarm...it would have left them by then but maybe someone had tried to call me in that little bit of time that they had it. Anyway, I'm sure I'll be laughing about it someday....everybody else is! :)

Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam

Flowbee....BOLO

As I was cutting my husband and boys hair this afternoon I had one of the boys get the vacuum to vacuum off some of the hair on the other boys shoulders that I had cut. It reminded me of the "Flowbee" haircutting system that was advertised ages ago. I think I would like to have one! So I looked it up on eBay and sure enough there were lots on there for sale! If you'd like to see the completeds check here! Some have gone for $125!!! Something to keep on the lookout for this summer!

Pricing Our Inventory

 

Wow...posting 2 days in a row.....woo hoo! Anyway, I sold 2 items on eBay since yesterday's post so I thought I'd share. My family has been really helpful since my husband lost his good paying job a couple of years ago. He is working but probably for half the pay he used to get. Soooo, my oldest daughter who is out on her own will find things for me to sell from time to time to help us out. A lady she cleans for gave her 3 fur coats that she didn't want anymore. They wouldn't fit my daughter or me so I'm selling them. I don't know ANYTHING about fur coats! This one didn't have any markings or tags on it to say what kind of fur it is. Winter is almost over. I sold it cheap. I researched some coats and a lot sell for more, some sell for less. I don't want these hanging around all summer and we need the money. Sometimes we might wonder why someone prices their items for less than what we think they might be able to get. I think each of us has our own unique set of circumstances that plays a part in our pricing strategy. I only have about 280 items in my eBay store so far. We need the income and usually sooner is better than later! I think if you have a lot more items in your store, then you probably have the luxury of being able to price higher because you have so many things to sell that usually something is always selling and therefore you have money coming in consistently. Until I get more inventory, I feel like I'm doing the best I can. If I find out that this coat would be worth hundreds because it's a special fur then yes, I will feel sick about it! :) In the meantime, I hope the other 2 sell just as fast as this one! I listed all 3 last night.

 

Fur Coat

From my daughter - Sold for $29.95 - Profit $26.63

 

My sister Naomi has been really helpful in finding items for me to sell too. (Thank you Naomi!) She found 4 pair of these EMT Tacticle Pants for women and this is the 2nd pair I've sold.

EMT Pants

From my sister - Sold for $17.50 - Profit $13.46

 

Okay, thinking about it...I'm going to show the other 2 fur coats just in case any of you might be able to help me out as to what kind they are!

 

Thanks for stopping by! ~~Pam