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Amongst all the craziness my life has become, I have been selling on ebay. Ebay had a listing sale which ends today where if you have a store, you could list anything on auction for free...for three weeks. So I have been trying to shop & list as much as I possibly can.
And I have sold over 100 items for three solid weeks. Here is what the USPS pick-up looked like one day this week.
Thankfully the mail carrier picks up the packages and puts our incoming mail in the rubbermaid bin. I don't have to go to the post office at all.
Here are a few of my recent sales:
1. Calvin Klein dress - sold for $75.
2. Vintage Ceeb swimsuit from the 1960's - sold for $46.
3. Eileen Fisher sweater - sold for $45.
4. J Crew dress - sold for $43. This would make a lovely casual wedding dress.
5. St. John Collection sweater - sold for $35. The buyer of this piece also bought four other items.
...and about two weeks ago I went to another bag sale. You could fill a huge kitchen bag for $5 and even though the items were more winter-y than most I pick up during March, I still filled a bag.
I have already made $100 from the one bag and still have about 10 pieces.
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On the schedule for today:
-Print shipping labels before the mail carrier gets here at 8:30am.
-Photograph & edit the photos for the last 20 items before the listing sale ends tonight
-Go finish cleaning up a painting job my hubby & I started last week. The timing was very bad for us with my FIL being in the hospital & rehab but we took on the job before we realized what our weeks would hold. The couple is away until Monday and I am thrilled we will be finishing this job today.
-Visit the FIL in rehab. He gets discharged on Monday and my hubby will be staying at his house with him until he is able to live by himself again.
-Spend a bit of time with the hubby. Perhaps get a movie if I can fit it in the schedule.
Sorry I haven't posted in a week. Even now I should be doing something else but I will manage a few minutes to spend here.
My father-in-law had shoulder replacement surgery a week ago. We were at the hospital for 13 hours. The surgery was successful and the plan was to discharge him the next day (last Wednesday).
Well...that didn't happen. If you don't have senior citizens in your life you may not understand this but somethings the child becomes the parent and the parent becomes the child. My husband is an only child and his mom passed away years ago. So it is just his 86 year old father, him and me in our family. My father-in-law (FIL) does have a 90 year old brother still living but he has Alzheimers.
The anesthesia the hospital gave him to do the surgery made my FIL very confused. He thought the world was out to get him and came up with a complicated plot to his confusion.
At first the confusion was every day and he was quite mad we were "in on the plan". After a few days the confusion was only at night. We were called at all hours to come in and sit with him to calm him down. He was scared and angry and it broke our hearts.
The doctor did a CT for a stroke and it came back that he did have a stroke. And then they did an MRI and it came back that he did not have a stroke.
My FIL needed two blood transfusions with a total of 4 units of blood. He could not walk at first and could not feed himself. We were at the hospital constantly.
Have you ever been so exhausted that you could sleep anywhere? I have felt this throughout my life and I have fallen asleep on the floor of many places - including the streets of NYC in November while the hubby watched to make sure I was safe.
Thanks to my Thalassemia and low B12, I need 9-10 hours of sleep a night. Well, when you are up at midnight for hours at a time, that doesn't happen. My body shuts down. I cannot think and I go into a state where everything is blurred.
Thankfully on Saturday night my FIL was discharged from the hospital and was taken to a rehab. On Saturday night we got a call at 1:30am to come up. He was experiencing the same confusion. We were there until 6am. We came home, slept for a bit and then the hubby had worship to lead at church. Thankfully I was able to skip church and sleep in a bit.
Things are getting better with my FIL. He is now able to walk 80 steps at a time with a cane. Therapy is working with him to dress himself (Velcro shoes and elastic-waisted pants are helping) and he is able to feed himself. Unfortunately the confusion is still there but it is dulling. He is realizing that parts of his memory are confused and parts are real. It is just hard to know which is which.
Once he comes home (and we don't know when that will be), we will be living with him for a bit.
If you think about us, please keep us in your prayers. I hate to complain (okay...I probably don't hate to complain but I know I shouldn't!) but I am tired. Plain old wore out tired. Thanks!
More ebay posts to come...once I sleep.
Today I am posting from the hospital waiting room. My father-in-law is having a shoulder replacement surgery today. Since he is 86 years old, it is a bit more "high risk" than normal. Thankfully the hospital has free, fast internet service.
Here are a few things that recently sold:
1. Ralph Lauren blazer - this is their higher "purple label" and it sold for $100!
2. Armani blazer. I listed & re-listed this for a lower price with no bids. Then two people decided they wanted it and it went for $76.
3. Vintage Pendleton jacket. These can go as high as $500 if you find the right one. Mine was a newer, vintage label and it didn't have the Southwest thing happening. But it still sold for $50 and it had a few moth bites.
4. BCBG dress with ruffles. I loved this dress but it was WAY too low for me to keep. It sold for $45.
5. Betsey Johnson does fairly well on ebay. Usually the crazier the print/style, the better. Of course I found a fairly plain black dress but I was still pleased when it sold for $35.
6. This Storybook Knits sweater was in the local consignment shop window. They wanted $12 for it which is about 3-4X the normal amount I spend. But I loved it and I knew it would be an easy sale since it was Easter themed. It sold for $35. After ebay fees, paypal fees, etc. I made about $18. It took me only a few minutes to list so it was an easy $18.
7. I sold another Christmas sweater! It is March and so someone will have to pack this up for next year. It sold for $34.
...and I am going to end with something I thought would never sell. I picked up this reversible kilt knowing that I have previously sold them with success. This one sat & sat in my ebay store. I listed it for $9.99 a bunch of times. Since ebay is having a free listing sale (if you have an ebay store), I just kept putting it up. It sold this past week for $14.50. Not a ton of money but since I paid only $1.50 for it and listed it for free, this is still a profit.
That brings me to the discussion of what to do when something just won't sell on ebay. Well, I package it up and drop it off at my local consignment shop. I can get 50% of the selling price from them. I can drop off a bagful every month as long as the items are seasonal. I just dropped off a bag of jeans, skirts & tops that I had listed on ebay for $4.99 and they didn't sell. Rather than keep trying to get $5 (minus ebay fees!) for them, I would rather the consignment shop deal with them. I will only get a few dollars per piece but I only pay a few dollars per piece so I break even on them.
If they don't sell at the consignment shop, they automatically donate them to local thrifts.
After walking today I found myself without anything to do. I just got a shipment of vintage material and I had a bit of left over elastic. I wanted to try my hand on a child's size skirt.
Please note that my sewing skills only include sewing in straight lines. That is all I can do. So I was pretty pleased with how this turned out! I plan on trying a few more and listing them on etsy.
When my husband and I worked at the retirement community I tried to do little things to make the resident's day fun or different. One of those things was to put a bit of food coloring in the carafes on the table. For St. Patrick's Day the water would go green. Some residents liked it...others did not. They thought it made the water taste funny. But it got them talking.
My husband doesn't drink water and eats very healthy food. So it was either coloring his tuna green or making green eggs. I picked the eggs.
His response? Gross! (But he was good enough to eat them). Perhaps I need to step away from the food color, huh?
I picked this up at a thrift for myself. I tend to get VERY oily and go through powder quickly. The thrift had a lot of these - probably 6 or so.
I came home and re-searched it and then realized they sold for a lot of money. When I realized they went for so much, I kicked myself for not picking them all up. The thrift was 1.5 hours one way.
I listed mine and it went for $47! If you have any Sally Hansen Cornsilk "No Color" loose powder, I would say LIST it!
I haven't posted in almost a week. This past week has been CRAZY. The hubby had a particularly bad cold. I have to say he only gets sick about once a year or two so when it hits, it really hits.
In addition, my 86 year old father-in-law is dealing with needing two shoulder replacements. One is scheduled for this coming Wednesday but the heart doctor who needed to clear him is possibly going to put in a heart stint this Friday. My sick hubby has been driving him around and taking him to appointments.
I got my first cortisone shot. My knee is now killing me though I have heard this is usually the case after the shot.
Next week the hubby & I are painting a room & stairway hall for a couple in our church on Monday & Tuesday.
With all of this happening, I took yesterday and went to SIX thrift stores (yup, even with the bad knee). A few I had never been to which surprised even me since I have been thrifting for over 8 years.
I found a huge pile of stuff which I am going to list over the next few days. But first...here are some things that have sold over the last week. I have sold over 100 items in the last week so I have been super busy with the packaging.
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This brand new Ann Taylor dress sold for $75.
I cannot believe how well this skirt did. I got it for free since there was a bit of a hole (which I fixed) and they were just going to throw it out. It sold with 7 bids and the ending price was $51! The brand name was St. John.
I would have passed these shoes up if it weren't for my cell phone. I noticed they had a really nice leather & looked up the brand on ebay while still in the thrift. They sold within 48 hours for $50. The brand is Alexandra Neel.
Eileen Fisher usually does pretty well. This twinset went for $50.
I found these Privo shoes the same day I found the Alexandra Neel heels above. These shoes also sold for $50.
I would have kept this suit if it was my size. It sold for $50 and the name is Calvin Klein. So pretty!
I have been listing & re-listing this skirt for months. Sometimes you just need to be patient. The name is Odille, which is an exclusive Anthropologie brand, and the skirt sold for $50.
Leifsdottir is an expensive brand sold at upscale boutiques and Anthropologie. It isn't an Anthropologie exclusive brand but this skirt had the Anthro tags. Sold for $43.
Tadashi makes dresses and their "bandage" dresses do well on ebay. This one sold for $39.
Talbots is still doing well for me. This blazer sold with 2 bids for over $38. I'm sure it helped that it sold the week before St. Patrick's Day.
Bob Mackie is well known in the fashion world. He also designs for QVC and this silk tunic was one of theirs. Sold for $37.
And last ... a list that is going off in just about an hour.
It is an Armani jacket. I listed it for $49.99 over and over and over. It didn't sell. I then list it for $34.99 and it currently is up to $76! You just never know.
I hope everyone has a gorgeous, sunny day! It is going to be 76 degrees here in PA today. I cannot believe our awesome weather in March. We usually have snow on the ground at this time of year. I will take sun over snow ANY day!
I am one of those odd people that absolutely love cleaning and organizing. I love moving furniture and getting those dust bunnies that have collected. Usually the hubby & I take down all the blinds in the house and clean them as well but we just replaced our blinds so that can be put off until autumn.
As an incentive and to make sure our cleaning gets done on time, we have three couples from the church coming over for a game night tomorrow. It should be fun. We are getting a ton of pizzas & snacks and the game for the night is "Apples to Apples" - one of our favorites.
Another blogger has a blog giveaway. Click here to see it.
I hope everyone has a great day!
Can I say how WRONG this is?!?
I am living in the wrong state.
This is what I should be looking at when I look out my door.
Okay...that is my dream and it probably will never happen. But March is suppose to be warmer and spring-like in my book.
Stop back this week for a giveaway!
1. J. Crew wedding dress - sold for $95.
2. Jones New York suit -sold within 12 hours of listing! Sold for $37.
3. Sold to the same buyer as the Jones New York suit - Talbots Blazer, sold for $37.
4. April Cornell use to have boutiques of artsy looking clothing. I found a few dresses at the thrift and picked them up - put them down. I did the same thing a few times and then took two to try them out. I wish I would have purchased them all now! This sold within hours of listing for $33.
I am off to a few thrifts tomorrow. Hopefully I will find a bunch of wonderful things. Ha!
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On a different note, I had an MRI for my left knee on Friday. I should get the results this week - hopefully early in the week. My knee has been getting worse and it is almost impossible to go up steps without it killing me.
We have a game night planned this weekend for a few couples in the church. Should be fun! But that means major cleaning & baking this week. Thankfully we are doing pizzas & snack-type foods so I don't have to stress about making a fancy dinner.
This week is flying by! Here are a few of my recent sales on ebay:
1. Used Razr cell phone. Cell phones always do well on ebay. This one was about 5 years old and still went for $40 within 24 hours.
2. I had about 30 of these, collected over the last few years. They are the Coldwater Creek lace trimmed tanks that they sell on their website. I picked them up for $6.99 on clearance and loved them. I sold off a few duplicates I had and this particular one went for $20! Two more went for $16 each.
3. Cache dresses do pretty well. This one was an older dress and it included the matching shrug. It went for $61.
4. I picked this up for less than $3. I liked the style and the fact that it was Danish. It went for $35.
5. This one was a surprise to me. I listed it for $25 & re-listed it for $19 and had no luck with it. And then for some reason it sold with 8 bids and a price of $30. You just never know! The brand is Belldini.
6. Swimsuits are starting to sell. I saw a huge display at Wal-Mart and Target today even though there was still snow in the parking lot. This one was from Victoria's Secret and it went for $25.
_____________________Wonder what I am doing with my earnings? Well, the hubby & I just purchased two tickets to Dublin, Ireland. We are going in June for three weeks. I have always wanted to go to Ireland and so we are using Home Exchange to swap homes & cars with a family over there. It will be our 10 year anniversary gift to ourselves. Woo-Hoo!
