Thrift Store(ies) 12/26

Yesterday was the single greatest thrifting day we have had yet!  We wound up hitting 4 thrift stores (3 Salvation Armies, and 1 Goodwill).  The total haul includes:

• 21 Shirts and Jackets
• 9 Pairs of Shoes
• 6 Pairs of Pants
• 3 coffee cups
• 2 Pyrex

We left the house at 9:30 am and did not return until 6:00 pm!  The best part was that we found items at all four stores.  Usually when we go to multiple stores, 1 or 2 will suck, and the others will be good.  So without further ado here is the breakdown:

The shoes include:

• 5 pairs of Converse (including a pair of the knee highs)
• Nike Alpholution basketball sneakers
• 2 Pairs of Clarks
• Dansko Jade Maryjanes

Jeans:

• Coogi
• Big Star Boot
• Carhartt
• Citizens Of Humanity Ingrid Stretch #002 - SOLD! $45.00
• Miss Me Gabrielle

 
T Shirts:

• 2 The Mountain
• 2 Life Is Good
• Jimmy Buffett 

• Mirage Notre Dame Collegiate jacket (reversible)
• Tommy Bahama and 4 Ralph Lauren polo shirts
• Robert Graham dress shirt
• Tommy Bahama fleece jacket
• Also (not pictured) 2 Carhartt, 1 The North Face, and 1 Kenny Rogers Short Sleeve shirts
• Polo Ralph Lauren Blake shirt
• 2 Tommy Bahama Silk shirts
• Carhartt Long Sleeve work shirt

 We came home with 41 items! That works out to less than $3.00 per item, so we should do quite well with this.  We also had a nice lunch at Five Guys on the way home.  Today the listing begins, and I should be done in a few days.  My plan is to list 10 or so items a day from now on, and i have been successful so far.
In other news, it has been snowing for about 10 hours now and we have a few inches on the ground.
Have a great day!

Merry Christmas!

 

A Visit From St. Nicholas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my hand, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

1000!

I have just gotten my 1000th feedback on Ebay!  This is important to me for a couple of reasons:
About 2/3 of them have come this year since I have become a full time seller.  It makes me glad to know that my buyers are happy with the items they have bought.
This particular feedback (1000) was left by a buyer from the Netherlands who bought a fragile ceramic Coca-Cola cookie jar from me on November 27th.  I packed it up as well as I could, and was a nervous wreck that it would be damaged.  It was delivered on December 10th.  I figured that if it was damaged, I would hear about it, this being the classic "no news is good news" scenario.  So I was very pleased that it arrived safely and she liked it.
Finally, looking back over the past year and remembering the highs (and a few lows) that I have enjoyed and learned from, I want to thank two people, without whom this achievement would not be possible:

• Autumn - my girlfriend, partner, and head of the mighty Pioneer Valley Fashion Footwear Division.  A great picker - almost as good as me, though she will tell you different ;), several of the stores top performing categories are due to her suggestions. She has put up with me through everything and is still here.  She's a keeper, that's for sure.  Honey, I love you!
• Meinard Agraan - the man behind The Thrift Store Reseller and the reason I got into this whole thing.  It was his guidance and friendship (and eBook) that helped me out and pointed me in the right direction.  

I thank you both, and all the buyers whom I have interacted with. I look forward to 2013, and wish everyone good luck and happiness! Thanks again!!

Freestyle Thrifting

As a general rule, Autumn and I only go thrifting when there are sales or promotions.  As resellers, we look to pay the absolute lowest prices possible.  Sometimes however, we go thrifting for the heck of it, or in yesterdays case, to kill some time.  Our daughter got invited to a birthday party at a roller rink about 30 minutes from the house, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone by hitting the thrift stores in the area.
First we went to a Goodwill, which has never been that great of a source for us.  I immediately saw a shopping cart full of shoes with a sign that said $1.50 each on it.  Very cool!  I dig out a nice pair of SAS Whisper, Autumn finds a pair of Clarks, then I find another pair of SAS. Autumn also picks up some doodad, and our total is $5.65.  I use my $5.00 off card ( talked about here), bringing the total to .65 cents! 
On to the Salvation Army.  This particular SA is one of my favorites.  For those unfamiliar, SA has 5 different color price tags.  Each week a certain color is half price except Wednesday when 4 of the 5 are half price. Today blue tags were half. Right off the bat, I find a pair of Z-Coil shoes.  Full price, but at $7.99 I buy them.  Autumn finds a few things, and I find a bunch of stuff but all full price so I pass.
When we get home, I clean and polish the SAS Whispers and the Z-Coils and get them listed.  Well lo and behold, when I wake up I find the Z-Coils have sold already!

I looked at completeds to see what I could hope to get for them, and they were all over the place. At first I thought $49.99, but finally settled on $69.99.  Glad I did!  So keep your eyes open for these things, quite strange looking, but they sell!

In other news, my 1000 feedback milestone is right around the corner.  This however, will be the subject of another post.  Have a great day!

Thrift Store(ies) 12/19

Autumn and I went to 2 Salvation Armies yesterday.  Everything was 50% off except for items with pink tags. We have quite a few SAs in or area, so we divide them into "zones" and go to a different zone each Wednesday.  Yesterday we went North.  We had not been up here in over a month, so we were excited to see what was new. At the first one we did well. After this we went to a Pizza place that we really like and had a nice lunch.  Then off to the second Salvation Army.  This one is smaller than the first, but we consistently have good luck there.  We did well there also.  Here is the breakdown, clothing wise:

• Ermenegildo Zegna shirt
• Marvel Spider Man button down shirt - SOLD! $29.99
• NWT Mountain Hardware shirt
• 3 Under Armour shirts
• 2 Life Is Good shirts
• Polo Jeans shirt, Polo Sport shirt, Polo t shirt
• Columbia shirt
• Ralph Lauren Blake shirt (71% silk)
• Spongebob t shirt

We also did well in the shoe department:

• Cole Haan penny loafers - SOLD! $29.99
• Converse One Star
• Clarks loafers
• SAS - SOLD! $39.99
• Born Maryjanes
• Merrell Chameleon Stretch (not pictured) - SOLD! $49.99

Finally in the housewares department:

• 4 Orchids of Hawaii Tiki Mugs
• 3 Orchids of Hawaii Hula Girl Mugs
•  Hilo Hattie Coffee Cup
•  Microwave Turntable

 I am off to photograph and list.  If the world does not end tomorrow, I will continue to update this blog on a regular basis.  If it does, this will be my last post.  Good luck, all! :)

Double Stamp Monday 12/17

 The closest thrift store to our house is a Goodwill. We stop by quite a bit, but I have just never had good luck there. I do much better at the Salvation Army. Lately, however, our luck has been changing. In the past few weeks, we have been doing great at Goodwill.  We also found out that every Monday is double stamp day.  It works like this: You get a value card at Goodwill (pictured above).  For every $5.00 you spend, you get one stamp. But on Mondays, you get 2 stamps! When you get 20 stamps, you get $5.00 off your next purchase. We spent $26 and got 10 stamps!  Half a card! We also got some good stuff:

• MBT Amali shoes - SOLD! $49.99
• 2 Ralph Lauren shirts
• 1 Tapout t shirt
• 3 coffee cups
• Clarks Springers shoes
• Polo Jeans hoodie

Sales have been good lately with these highlights:

 Autumn picked up this Hawaiian Punch telephone (brandy new in styro box) at a yard sale over the summer. It is going to California (not Hawaii).

We got this Starter jacket last Wednesday at the Salvation Army.  Autumn recently got a new cell phone because she wanted to be able to look up items at the thrift stores more efficiently. This jacket was one of the first success stories for the phone! What did we do with her old cell phone, you ask?

We sold it, of course!

Thrift Store(ies) 12/12/12 Edition

Another Wednesday, another 50% off sale at the Salvation Army!  We definitely got back on track by scoring some good items.  Pictured above, l-r:

• Johnston & Murphy shirt
• Jamaica Jaxx silk shirt, NWT (I only bought this because it is new and was cheap!)
• 2 Under Armour polo shirts
• 2 Lauren Wool/Angora sweaters
• Burberrys of London shirt
• Starter Mighty Ducks jacket - SOLD! $49.99 + $8.65 shipping
• Tommy Bahama Pinehurst Golf Club shirt
• Polo Ralph Lauren Big Pony shirt - SOLD! $25.00

Other clothing items consisted of 2 NWT Victoria's Secret bras, The Mountain T Shirt, Nike polo shirt, and a CSI T shirt.  We had been in a minor drought the past few weeks, and this trip really picked up my spirits.

Shoe finds included:

• SAS loafers
• Born sandals
• Dansko clogs (blue!) = SOLD! $39.99

I found a nice pair of Air Jordans, but they were full price so I didn't pull the trigger.  If they had been in better shape, I would have bought them.  Finding Danskos always makes me happy, as they are great sellers for me.  We had not found any in a few weeks, so these were a pleasant surprise.

Autumn found a couple of plush items, a Hard Rock Cafe bear, and a Disney Duffy bear.  I once sold a pre-Duffy bear for $80.00, this one is not that valuable but for $1.50, it was a good buy.
After we left the Salvation Army, we went to an indoor "tag sale" which was basically a consignment store. We browsed around for a while, not finding too much until I saw these:

A great 60 piece set of Prolon dishes. They were listed at $50, and I made an offer for $40 which the seller accepted.  Prolon was manufactured in the town I live in (Florence, MA) at the Prophylactic Brush Company many years ago. This set is in great condition, and I am going to list it today.  Last summer, I bought a similar set at a yard sale that I broke up into lots and they sold very well.
I have my work cut out for me, so have a good one and stay tuned!

Thrift Store(ies) 12/5

Wednesday was Family Day at our local Salvation Army, and needless to say, we were there.  So was 75% of the people in our area.  In spite of this, we still made some good finds.  Not too many "wow factors", but some good old solid stuff:

• Descente Triathlon jersey
• The Mountain T Shirt "Gift Of The Eagle Feather"
• Depeche Mode T Shirt
• Fox Racing T Shirt
• Tapout T Shirt

I am starting to look into t shirts more lately.  Mainly because they are always in abundance at all of our thrift stores, and they are cheap ( especially when 1/2 price!).  And people love them.

 Autumn scored 2 really nice Wilton cake pans, Smurf and Smurfette.  They are new and have both the insert and the decorating guide.  I have these listed already for $29.99 OBO each, and already have had an offer on Smurfette (which I politely declined and made a counteroffer). 

 

Autumn also found a great pair of MBT Sport 03 sneakers.  We always buy MBTs.  They sell well, and we usually find them in very good condition.  Autumn's luck continued when she found a North Face Khumbu fleece jacket.  It was full price, but North Face sells, so no problem!  

After the Salvation Army, we went to a Goodwill down the road, but had zero luck.  Things should be picking up after Christmas when people start donating their unwanted presents.  

On the selling side, a few weeks ago, I found a  Salvatore Ferragamo tie at our Goodwill for $1.00.  It sold yesterday for $44.99.

Until next time, happy thrifting, and good luck selling!

Lost

It was bound to happen sooner or later.  I had a perfect track record for items being delivered successfully until I sold this jacket to a buyer in Hungary on October 13th. On November 10th, I got a message from her via Ebay telling me that she had not yet gotten the jacket.  Uh oh!  I responded by asking her to wait one more week and see if it came.  She was cool with that.  A week comes and goes, and still no jacket.  Since I insure every international package with ShipSaver, I was not worried.
I opened a claim with ShipSaver and forwarded the documents they sent me to the buyer, who filled them out and submitted them.  A few days later, they told me that we had to wait several more days to file our claim.  Apparently, 45 days must pass before an item is declared lost.  She resubmitted the documents on the proper day, and within a day, the money was in my Paypal account.  I refunded the buyers money, and she was so happy, she left positive feedback!

So, if you do a lot of international shipping and don't use insurance, you should consider it.  It costs $1.00 for up to $100 worth of coverage. I just factor this into the price of the item.  It is well worth it just for the peace of mind it brings!  I also insure domestic shipments if they are fragile, or are worth over $50.00.

Thrift Store(ies) 11/28

After jinxing myself with this post, and the Thanksgiving holiday, things have been fairly quiet around here. The Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing was a non-event although I had a different sale each day.   We went to 2 Salvation Armies yesterday and did pretty well. Above, from left to right:

• Orange County Choppers baseball jersey
• Tori Richard shirt
• Harley-Davidson t shirt
• Polo Sport hoodie
• Robert Graham shirt
• Tommy Bahama shirt
• Reyn Spooner Warner Bros. shirt SOLD $30.00

 In the shoes and housewares department, we have:

• 2 pairs of Converse sneakers
• MBT Sand sneakers
• SAS loafers SOLD $51.00
• Pyrex 043 Butterfly Gold casserole dish

We also found 2 t shirts by The Mountain, and a Pearl Izumi bike jersey.  There were several heart breakers as usual, including a nice Ralph Lauren winter jacket which was stained horribly, and  no less that 8 Under Armour shirts that were all (of course) full price.

On the selling side, we picked up this old Boy Scout uniform a few weeks ago for $9.99 and it sold today for $49.99.  Well, it's time to stop writing and start listing!  Have a great one!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving to all in the Blogosphere! Things have been on the quiet side here since my last post.  No thrifting, yard sailing, or flea marketeering.  Sales have been on the steady side, with the highlights being 2 vintage typewriter I had bought over the summer.

This one, an Underwood No. 5 from 1925-26 sold for $159.99. I had it at $199.99 OBO (I rejected 2 $100.00 offers) with free shipping, but it didn't sell, so I relisted with new photos at $159.99 + shipping.  It sold within a week. This baby weighed in at about 30 pounds, so I had to be very careful with packing and shipping. It arrived safely, but I have not gotten feedback yet.
If you ever find an old typewriter and want to find out when it was made, I highly recommend the Typewriter Serial Number Database.  All you need are two things: the brand of typewriter, and the serial number.

This is an Underwood Universal Portable from 1940-41(one of the first "portable" typewriters, although at 25 or so pounds, portable might not be the right word!). It went for $69.99. Anytime you can find an old typewriter in good condition for less than $10.00, pick it up. Due to the weight of these old timers, shipping is really the only drawback, but get a sturdy box and some styrofoam peanuts and you're good to go!
Good sales, all, but the flip of the week month goes to Autumn for this little gem:

She scored this Palm Z22 (as is, no cords or anything) for .25 cents. The seller was not sure it worked, but for the price why not.  She got it home, found a USB charging cable and lo and behold, it worked.  I listed it for $44.99 and it sold within a few hours! Yep, even these older PDAs go for some cash!
Well, I'm off to do some prepping for Thanksgiving dinner.  Have a great one!

A Great 24 Hours!

Whenever Ebay decides to change things (and as we all know, this happens quite frequently), I always try to change with them. Lately its been:

• Optimizing for mobile devices
• Fast and Free shipping
• More, larger pictures
• Less wordy descriptions

I  have implemented all these things, and I have to say,  I think it has helped. November has been great so far, I am on pace to sell about 100 items for the month. In the last day I have sold 8 items (5 over night!), not a lot to some, but a whole bunch to me! Several of these items I had just listed a day or two ago. 6 shirts, a pair of SAS shoes, and a rubber stamp.
The best part was that I had one buyer purchase 2 shirts. One was free shipping, one was not.  He paid $5.04 shipping for the one. They are both heavy Polo Ralph Lauren rugby type shirts and together they weighed 2 pounds 5 ounces. After considering my options, I used a Priority Regional A Box (I am in MA, he is in NY) and the total cost for both shirts was....$5.04!!  That made my morning even better!
On the down side, my luck with not loosing packages may have come to an end.  I had a buyer from Hungary tell me that she has not yet received a jacket I sent her almost a month ago. It is insured, so if worst comes to worst, we will both get our money back. I asked her to give it another week and she was okay with that. If it doesn't arrive, I will issue a refund and file a claim with ShipSaver.

Sales And Such

Autumn picked up this pair of UGG boots a few weeks ago. They were pretty gnarly looking, and there  was also a small purple ink spot on the back, but after some suede brushing and overall TLC, this UGGly duckling became a beautiful pretty decent looking swan. My history with UGG is limited, we had a pair of men's sandal/slipper looking things that were hideously UGGly and sat around for a few months but did eventually sell. 
So I finally got them listed yesterday for $59.99.  Within an hour there were 3 watchers, and they sold yesterday evening. Boy do I love a fast sale! Needless to say, my opinion of UGG boots has changed. When it comes to buying things, the one factor that I go buy is "will it sell". There are several surefire sellers that we will buy every time (Dansko being one) almost regardless of condition. Autumn likes to try new things, whereas I will sit up and take notice only when they sell.  Then they are on my buy radar. I must say that she does have very good instincts when it comes to buying new items.

I enjoy old typewriters. I picked this Underwood Portable up at a yard sale over the summer. I bought it to sell, but when I got it home and realized how heavy it was, and what a pain the whole shipping thing would be, I kinda put off listing it. For 3 months. However, last month I decided it was time.  I photographed it, and listed it for $99.99 Or Best Offer. Yesterday I got an offer for $69.99, which I accepted. I am waiting on the payment (the one thing I don't like about Best Offer). I still need to figure out the best way to sent this beast.

A Trip To Savers

Our 2 local Savers had their Veterans Day Sale today which means 50% off clothing and shoes. I really like Savers, but they are on the high end when it comes to pricing, so we really only shop there during the 50% off sales. They both opened at 9:00, and we were at the first one at 8:55!  It was packed about 15 minutes after opening! Autumn tackled the shoe department and I went to clothing. We spent about 1 1/2 hours at store #1 and found 3 Tommy Bahama silk shirts, a Columbia PFG shirt, a Polo Golf jacket, 3 pairs of Danskos, 2 SAS, Merrell maryjanes, and a pair of Cole Haans.  A great trip, and a great way to start the day! 
On to Savers #2. We arrive at about 11:00. This store has a better clothing selection in my opinion.  Again, Autumn hits the shoes, and I go to clothes.  Highlights include: Ralph Lauren Purple Label polo shirt with tag from Neiman Marcus for $245.00!! (I paid $15.00), a Robert Graham R&G shirt, a Nat Nast silk shirt, 2 pairs of Clarks, and a nice Chaps polo shirt.  I also found a Pyrex Old Orchard bowl, which I will probably keep.
Heartbreaker of the day: Autumn found 5 pairs of SAS shoes but every single one had bad soles, some worn smooth!  I also found several nice Nike sneakers that had the same problem.  Oh well.
I got a message from Ebay this morning saying that from November 12-14, fixed price listings are free. Needless to say, tomorrow and Wednesday I am going to be busy!

Tag Sale Treasure Hunt 11/10

Very few yard sales again today as the season winds down. There was a parking lot sale at a local school this morning, which was quite good.  There were about 40 vendors there. I found the Pyrex Butterfly Gold covered casserole for $5.00, and the 2 Revere Ware saucepans for $1.00 each.  Autumn got the Clairol Kindness curlers for $1.00.
We hit the remaining yard sales next.  At one I got 11 Corelle Spring Blossom Green coffee cups for free (1 is pictured above), and a Tapout shirt for $1.00.  We also picked up an Under Armour vest and a pair of Clarks shoes at another sale for $3.00.
We stopped by the Goodwill next.  I had filled up a card (every $5.00 you spend, you get a stamp on your card, get 20 stamps, you get $5.00 off your next purchase). I have been having very good luck at this Goodwill lately, and today was no exception. I scored 3 Polo Ralph Lauren shirts; 1 was a Big Pony, another was a Dual Match. Also a nice Cooke Street Hawaiian shirt, and a North Face western style shirt. Bottom line: 5 great shirts for $13.00.
The flea market is now closed, so I will spend tomorrow listing.  Autumn is cleaning up a bunch of shoes, so I will get those listed as well.

Thrift Store(ies) 11/7

We go to our local thrift stores on Wednesday because it's Family Day, and most items are 50% off.  Yesterday was no exception.  We went to 1 Salvation Army and 1 Goodwill and found these gems (top left-right):

• Polo Ralph Lauren Clayton shirt
• Harley-Davidson Sturgis 1996 t shirt
• Lacoste polo shirt
• Reyn Spooner Silk Red Sox shirt - SOLD! $30.00
• Polo Ralph Lauren Terrier polo shirt (I have never seen one before)
• Ralph Lauren sweater
• Vintage Polo Ralph Lauren long sleeve shirt
• Tori Richard Hawaiian shirt
• Harley-Davidson dealer t shirt

Bottom:

• Silver jeans
• Diesel Cochise jeans - SOLD! $31.99
• 7 For All Mankind A pocket jeans - SOLD! $35.99
• Bloomies Eiffel Tower coffee cup
• Lavazza coffee cup - SOLD! $10.00
• 2 cross stitch kits

All in all, a very good day! It started snowing while we were in the second thrift store we went to, but there was no accumulation.  Cold as heck, though!  We did very well at the Goodwill, 3 of the items I got were 50% off, and 1 was $1.00!  We got home to find out that I had made 2 sales on Ebay for a total of 4 yesterday.  I had 20+ items end yesterday, so coupled with the new items, I have a lot of listing to do today!  Well, I better get going!