Ugly Christmas sweaters!

Somehow I ran across a blog that told how this eBayer sold ugly Christmas sweaters and made $300 from $30.

Now, I don’t usually jump aboard a boat unless I can test it but I did start picking up Christmas sweaters for 45 cents and 99 cents.

When Thanksgiving drew to a close I figured it was time to see if this was for real!

Most of the sweaters, actually vest, were XL or 2XL. I thought that might hurt my chances but most of mine were bought by men and so the larger sized helped!!

Any and all seem to sell! Except a Christmas actual sweater I have for sale. No bites yet.

So far I’ve sold 7 and collected $148.44!

The real numbers aren’t so fun. I’ve made about $70 after fees and shipping. But that pays for more than our Christmas tree and I’m not even done yet!!!! Whoopie!

Just sold my first Ugly Christmas sweater!!

 

I spent a large part of yesterday listing ugly Christmas sweaters.

 

I listed them from $9.99-$29.99 not really thinking anyone would pay high dollar for a used Christmas sweater…I mean come on! Are company parties really that important?

That they are.

I just sold this wonderful “Bubble” Snowman sweater for $29.99. Buy it Now!

It only cost me 99 cents & it comes complete with a snowman on the back and various snowmen on the front!

The guy already asked me when I’m going to ship it. He’s in a hurry! He bought it after it had been posted for about 1 hour. Needless to say, I was thrilled! This more than pays for the 13 sweaters I’ve collected over the year, some for $.45 and some for $.99.

Hopefully the sales will keep up!

A more Random Find

 

I purchased this phone for about $1 at a garage sale. I’m not sure how much it really was cuz I got a bunch of stuff for $6 instead of the asking price of about $20! So I think this was around $1 or 2.

I just sold it for a total of $24.49.

Ok, so nothing huge but after looking it up and realizing it might go for as little as 99 cents I was one happy camper!!!

Just something to brag to the hubby about…. Hehehe…

Shipping was $8.39 so my total in pocket after fees was a little over $12. My kids LOVED this phone while they had it to play with. They didn’t really know what it was but they got a few weeks of a toy (that I could set on the bed stand in the evenings for a classic look for guest instead of throwing in the toy box), and then I made money off it. Have I said how much I love my life?! It is good.

Sales Round up!

 

These are some of my slow sales.

I can’t even remember when I purchased these jeans. Maybe the beginning of summer. But for $16 I’d rather sell them then toss em!

 

I thought it was too late to post swim tops, but you never know when someone might be going on a cruise. Exactly what this lady was doing!

 

This collar I found in a trash can. The zipper was broken but I figured someone would find the value in it. From free to $10!

 

This skirt I had for ages. I finally relisted it this fall. It sold rather quickly after relisting. $15

 

I don’t know that LL Bean sells that well unless it is shoes. But Plaid patchwork does! Listed this about 2 times before someone purchased it!

This shirt is from last year. No one bought it so I finally listed it one last time before tossing it. Like, I’m pretty sure it was in the consignment pile and I had to pull it out when this bid came in! $9!

 

This dress I wasn’t sure about, but since it was Lands End I figured I would take a gamble, and of course it was only a 99 cent gamble! Turned out just fine. Sold at first listing!

 

These shirts, on the other hand were a Sllllloooowwww sale. I thought by listing them together I might get more attention. So hard for me to pass up good maternity clothing! I mean, these are two shirts that someone could be so happy with! Someone is, and for only $9 a shirt!

 

This was another slow sell. Bought this in the spring and thought it would be a quick turn over. WRONG! Had to get cold before anyone looked at it! Crazy people! Only $11 but glad I don’t have to store it anymore!

 

This was a very nice wool jacket for only $.99. I thought about keeping it but Jackets aren’t in my mommy closet just yet! Someone got a great deal on this for $20. I think it was on my 3rd listing week.

 

These slacks also were from spring time. Slow sell but I know someone it happy with the price they got them for!

 

Name Brand exersize pants seem to be slow but surely sale! I’m still buying them! $12.50

 

I don’t wear heels. SO I never understood why the ANKLE was on Gap slacks until I gave a friend a pair of slacks like these. She was so excited cuz she could wear them without heels. Ahhh, the life of a girl…the part I’m missing. Give me flats or give me …um, probably a lot of pain!

 

My hubby saw these shorts and got really excited. These are the kind of shorts he works in and loves!

But no, they weren’t for him. Wrong size. These had a lot of interest but no one bid until I moved them to my EBAY FOR NEXT SPRING box. Then, of course, they sold. Gooooo figure! But no complaining after pocketing $25!

Chicco…yea baby!

 

Our first stroller was a hand-me-down from a family with 2 kids. We loved it, it was a stroller, car seat travel set and was perfect for us.

However when we were pregnant with #3 I decided it was time to upgrade to something a little less…used. Check out that Craigslist adventure here.

Basically I paid $100, for a cute Chicco travel set. I love the thing and will use it on any future children or relatives of small stature!

Recently I was popping over at some garage sales in my neighborhood and we stopped at one so a friend of mine could check out a rocking chair for her pregnant sister. There in the parking lot set this very beautiful Chicco stroller, car seat and base.

It was by far not the cleanist thing but I knew these car seats clean better than any other baby thing I know! Just toss them in the washer!

And, unlike mine, it was good up to 30 lbs, mine good til 22 pounds, which is about how much my 2 year olds weigh! (Small, healthy babies are easier to push out, just sayin’!)

And it wasn’t outdated!

So, knowing I didn’t have enough cash and that this lady obviously probably knew that this was worth over $300, I absentmindedly asked how much.

$15.

My jaw dropped.

Now usually I’m pretty cool on keeping my cool. I’ve not batted an eye when a comforter worth up to several hundred dollars was offered to me for $5, but this threw me off.

“I’LL TAKE IT!” I shouted shoving the $15 at here before hesitating and asking the obvious question, “It works right?”

I was assured it worked fine and I shoved it in my car to take home and clean up.

Then I put it on Craigslist for $180. And waited. and waited. It had such an unusual pattern I knew someone would REALLY want this. Unlike the clueless lady I bought it from!

 Did I mention I waited? I stored it in my garage and the kids played in it and got it dirty. I hesitated to clean it knowing whoever got it would probably wash it all again anyway.

I got a buyer! We met and she was so hesitant about getting this one over a pink one brand new. I told her to check out the pink one and call me back. I didn’t want her to get something she didn’t like. She didn’t call.

I had the priced at $180 but dropped it down to $155. I thought about going lower but my husband stopped me. He informed me it was worth that much (cuz I had told him that earlier) I got more email’s and text and met one more person who told me they needed it but were only 20 weeks and didn’t know where to store it…sigh, me neither folks!

Finally while I was out of town, I got an email. She couldn’t come to town but her brother could.

“Great.” I thought, “One of those.” I responded with little hope. Then when I got back in town she said he’d meet me but that she had sent a check. A CHECK? On Craigslist?! I arranged our meeting at my bank. Check cleared, brother happy. I made $140 from my patience!!! YAYA!!!

I’ve found these car seats to be a sure sale, sllllooowww as molasses but I always make a bundle.

Round up! Round up!

 

My sister-in-law brought these jeans over from Guatemala. She got it for pennies out of back of a truck!!! Hopefully selling it will help their mission in Guatemala and their new little one who will be born down there! Yep! I’m a Guatemalan aunt!!

I snatched up this jacket for 99 cents and I made a great profit. Hopefully someone is really happy with it!

 

I thought this shirt might fit me…nope, tooo big.  But I sure didn’t loose any money! Nice when my 99 cent investment doesn’t go to waste!

 

 

I wasn’t sure about these slacks but they were Avenue and size 30. You can tell I wasn’t sure since I priced them at $10!!! Someone got a great deal!

 

I thought this one might bid up since I received some questions on it, but I was happy with $20 for this pink jacket. And someone got a linen jacket for a great deal!

This dress sold the day after I listed! I was thrilled but wondered if I should have priced it for more…but these dresses didn’t seem to sell so I’m happy with my profit!. It isn’t fitted and the other pictures showed that. I think I’m going to start my photos with an eye catching slimmer version of dresses like this, then have the honest pictures. Like putting a clothes pin on a manikin!

Skinny jeans. How I wish I found you more! These said they were 28/6 but the measured 33 so I listed them as such but showed the picture of the tag Sold for $25 buy it now.

Excited eBay seems to be picking up! Yay!

Sales Round up!

 

Ebay is starting to, slowly, pick up for me. I know this is a terrible photo but hey, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words and sometimes it is worth $15.50! I got this dress for $1 and it was just cute enough for me to buy it though it was a Target brand.

 

 

I’ve had several swim suits by Lands End for sale and I think I just got them to late in the season. I thought they would fly off the shelves! This one finally sold for $20.99. The whole thing cost me .99 cents so it was a great deal for me! AND they paid for shipping since it went to Canada.

 

I’ve had this jacket since the spring and finally listed it in August hoping to catch some early fall shoppers. It is 100% leather and if it didn’t sell I was going to take my 99 cent investment and turn it into something leather bound! A journal? A seat of a desk chair? Who knows? Not me because it had watchers for several weeks and finally sold after 2 bids for $22.61 with $6.95 shipping. I used priority regional shipping to ship it for just under $8 in a nice box so it wouldn’t be too crowded in a bag. Hope they like it! 

 

This was one of those things I bought for myself and then just wanted to get my money back. I spend $5 on it at Goodwill but didn’t want the color. But describing the color on ebay was rough! One lady bought it than wanted to know if the color would match her room. I offered to go to Lowes and find a paint chip that matched but she said no (Thank goodness!) and I sent her pictures in different lights. She decided against it and I sold it this week for $12 with $8 shipping. Shipping cost me $8.74 and I made only about $6 after all was said and done. But hey, I made money on a bad choice that I couldn’t return! I’ll take it!

 

I got this dress half hoping it would sell and half hoping it would fit a family member! Well it sold and I made a tidy profit off my 99 cents! $18.55 and shipping was around $2. Thank you Old Navy!

 

I didn’t grow up knowing what brand names were. We only had a Walmart in our home town and living on a farm meant if the clothes fit and didn’t have too many holes, then it worked. Quality wasn’t the biggest worry because quality with cow manure on it was still dirty.

So I’m still learning. And I’m sure passing up on brand names all the time out of ignorance!

My sister in law isn’t that way though, and when I took her shopping she showed me these Silver Jeans and that they were a great deal. I got them for 99 cents and sold them for $12.50. Two bids. I thought I would get more out of them but they don’t sell much better than Levi’s on eBay, but that ok, I can take10x my money back!

Old game become new!

Recently I stopped by an estate sale and found this SHOOT THE MOON game priced at $20.

Everything was 1/2 off and on a whim I offered her $5 and she said yes!

It was worth every bit of that $5.

Neighbor’s friends, and college students have knocked themselves out playing it!

Amazon sells it knew for $30. Here is their description of it:

Product Description

This game from the 1940's has been exciting and frustrating players for over 60 years. Entertain your friends and family for hours with Shoot the Moon in Maple. Move the metal bars back and forth in order to roll the metal ball uphill towards you. Sound simple? This fun and challenging game will test your patience and coordination. This beautifully hand carved classic is made from the finest Maple. Nearly impossible to master, this game will have you coming back for more even after you've beat it once.

 

So far only one person has beat it. And she couldn’t do it again. Oh the challenges one can find at estate sales!

My $5.90 bed

 

One of the best things about buying and selling is sometimes you find great deals that you get to keep!

My family went to California for the first time ever, this year and, true to form, I found a garage sale in a friend’s neighborhood, as the kids and I were browsing around I found a down comforter in a bag. The owner said it was California king size and that it was “one of those nice ones.” She said she was asking a whole $5 for it because it was nice.

I could see some spots on it but knowing these comforters run from $65-400 I decided I could certainly spend the $5. The kids sleep on one of these at their grandparents and call it “The Cloud”.

Well, it still has some spots and a few discoloration on the edges but you would never know! Our bed has never been so fluffy! We sleep on a queen size bed and this California king drapes beautifully over the sides! I can even buy a cover for it if I ever want to change the color. Of course that would cost about $35 more than the comforter cost!

The “Home” Pillow was purchased at a garage sale 3 years ago for $.75. The white lace square pillow was about $.15 that I picked up this year, and the blanket at the end was a wedding present ages ago.

So for under $6 I got a new bed that REALLY makes me never want to get up!

Shopping Target for cheap

When I started couponing a few years ago I didn’t understand why everyone didn’t do it. It is so easy with web sites out there that help you and tell you print this, go to this store, check out like this.

But then I had 3 kids and I stopped. I found out shopping at my local ALDI was not only cheaper, I could be in and out without flipping coupons AND feeding my children less junkfood (free or not!)

But with 2 of the 3 kids spending a week with their grandparents I took advantage to check out target coupons. Target is about 2 miles away from us so it is an easy place to check out.

 

 

I saved $33.27 on my first trip.

1) The garage sale kit (upper left) wasn’t in the system so the awesome checkout clerk asked if $2.99 was a good price. I figured it was and when I looked it up it seems like they run about $5. It has everything including a marker, price tags, signs, and tie tags with it!

2) Bagel bites were $7.99 but with a $2 off coupon I splurged and paid $5.99 for this large pack.

3)The gray tank top (Top of bagel bites) was on sale for $5.99.

4) The bread was free with purchase of meat, which I had $2 off making them under $2 each. -$1/1 printable coupon x 2

5) Cake mixes were $.86 each. ON SALE

6) Fruit snacks were $.50 each with coupon. $1/1 Target printable coupon

7) Pens were free- $1/1 PaperMate Writing Instrument

8) Pizza rolls, another splurge were around $2 with a coupon $1/40 ct (in back to school

 

The next trip I found some coupons to match with some sales I had seen earlier.

Annie’s mac n cheese for $.75 each $ .50/2 Target printable coupon

AND BEST OF ALL:

Almond Joy creamer for .39 cents!!! $1.50/1 printable coupon

What this blog, and I, are all about

I’m not sure it is even worth posting after being gone so long! Thank you faithful followers (or random people who just checked out this blog!)
As a reminder, or first time announcement: This is a blog about how I found my niche in selling on eBay, saving money by purchasing 2nd hand, and a love for shopping garage sales.
I am the mother of 3, married to the man who is far-beyond-my-wildest-dreams and lets me stay home with our kids. I homeschool my 3 and 4 year old (yea, they are pretty smart) and enjoy every minute of my life!
Occasionally I help my husband at the job site, he is a professional tile setter, and owns his own company, but with three young kids I pretty much can mess up more than I can help so I’ve found that home is the best place for me…well, that and thrift stores!
I really want this blog to show the amazing deals I can get, the money I make, and hopefully inspire others to join in the fun!
Last year I made about $1200 selling on eBay and Craisglist, and had to pay taxes on that for the first time (Yay! and Ukkk!) lol. This year I hope to do better than that, without missing a beat with my family. A challenge to be sure!

Keys to making money at eBay.

My favorite thing about selling on eBay is the fact that the start up cost is so small. Everyone already has a computer, pretty much, and the ability to take pictures. One can start in their own closet and not have to pay anything until they sell.
Keeping shipping cost low:

If you want to make money you’ve got to figure out a way to keep your shipping cost low. I did a post HERE about just how to do that but here are some quick tips.
1. Buy large envelopes from somewhere like Sam’s Club. Borrow a card or go with a friend if you need to. 

You can get enough to last a while for around $10. When I started out I used paper bags from the grocery store and wrapped it in that. I got some annoying tape that worked for around $1 at Walmart. Or you can get a huge package for around $12 at Sams.

2. Ship priority if it is over 13 oz. This will save you lots. If it is a huge item you can ship regional priority or just priority shipping rates. This will save you more than if you ship Parcel post and get there ages faster!
If you ship books send them Media mail. Only thing you can send media mail is books but it only cost 1/2 the price.
3. See if you can put a box at your library or church, or school where people can put their one-sided-printed out scrap paper. This will cost you nothing and give you the one side you need to print your labels on. I get some from a community college lab and it last me forever! Its green, reusing, and best of all, saving you lots of money!
4. Once you’ve picked through you closet start checking out the local goodwill or even better, a locally owned thrift store. Mine is called Quality Thrift and has killer deals! They have 99 cent clothing on Mondays, 3 clothing items for 99 cent days on Tuesday, 1/2 off for seniors on Wednesday, miscellaneous items 99 cents on Thursday. Take whatever you’ve earned and start investing it slowly. You’ve got to learn what sells for you. I find Ann Taylor items all the time and sell them, a fellow eBayer just can’t seem to get them off his shelf when he post them. Sometimes Target brand will sell as soon as I post it. Other times it never sells. EBay doesn’t always make sense, but you do have to figure how it is going to work for you.
MyDearTrash is a great resource for finding what sells. If you look in their archives or click here, you can you can get the information. The more recent post are about their physical store and craigslist sales but the older post are very helpful.

Buying with tags

I went to a new opening of a goodwill store near our house last week and it was packed! I was just nosing around when I found this:

These tummy control leggings are pricing. The tag said $30 and I was shocked that they sell for over $20 on ebay.

I sold them that week for Buy It Now of $23.69.

I’m not sure these would be worth much without a tag but the tummy control really sells well!