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Thursday, January 12, 2012

My Top eBay Moments This Week - Vacation Edition

I had my store on vacation for 5 days this week. I left my items visible and available to purchase, but I was sure to message each buyer with a reminder that I wouldn't be able to ship until Tuesday. I offered them all the options of cancelling or waiting, and I had no cancellations. I didn't have any buyer problems either! It was a good week :)

I sold 52 items this week, only 8 of which were shoes. I sold a lot of shoe repair products again this week. I'm running very low on that, so I just placed a huge order with my suppliers the other day.

I am expanding my horizons too. I have finally discovered the lucrative world of women's clothing. Early each week, I make a good long trip to Goodwill looking through ALL the women's clothing (except pants - haven't made it that far yet), looking for new with tags items that are the half off color of the week. Every week, I am surprised at how many I find. How is it that new with tags items hang around long enough to become the half off color? I've also been surprised at how quickly that stuff sells!

My favorite sales:


This was one of my first women's clothing purchases. It's not new with tags (I have learned much in the few shorts weeks I've been doing this), but it is Sag Harbor, 100% wool, plus size, and it was the half off color, so I took a chance. I immediately regretted it, but listed it anyway. I had someone contact me in the first few days saying they didn't want to pay $22 for a used jacket. Normally, I get annoyed at that sort of thing. If you don't like my price, move on. But in this particular instance, I was concerned that it wouldn't sell at all, so I did lower my price for her to move it out quickly. I think the fact that this was a 20W was the only thing that sold it.
  • Acquired: 12/31/11
  • Listed On: 1/2/12
  • Sold On: 1/8/12
  • Paid: $2.99
  • Sold For: $15.99 + shipping


I bought these NWT Hanna Andersson capris at the consignment sale that I did so poorly at in November. I went on the last day to pick up my check and saw a bunch of stuff I would have bought at half price. I told the woman running the sale and she said, "Then go buy them! I'm keeping a separate record of things that sell today and I'll send those checks out separately."  So I loaded up on all the Gymboree and Hanna that I could find. Sadly, none of them have sold until these sold yesterday.
  • Acquired: 11/13/11
  • Listed On: 11/24/11
  • Sold On: 1/11/12
  • Paid: $6.50
  • Sold For: $19.99 + shipping


This was a very fast sale. It's an Adidas tennis skirt, size small. I have another one very similar to it that's NWT. I wasn't sure how well the pre-owned one would do, but it was the half off color, and I decided I was willing to risk a whopping $1.49 to find out. I'm glad I did.
  • Acquired: 1/3/12
  • Listed On: 1/4/12
  • Sold On: 1/10/12
  • Paid: $1.49
  • Sold For: $19.99 + shipping


I have to be honest here - I was bummed that this one sold so quickly. I love it, and it's my size. But oh well. There will be more :)  It's a Worthington skirt, new with tags. It was the half off color.
  • Acquired: 12/31/11
  • Listed On: 1/2/12
  • Sold On: 1/10/12
  • Paid: $1.49
  • Sold For: $20.00 + shipping


I've had these Sofft suede mary janes forever. They're pretty cute, so I thought for sure they would sell quickly. I can usually sell my Soffts for around $25 plus shipping, but they are NOT fast or consistent sellers. I only pick them up now if they are in perfect condition or super cheap.
  • Acquired: 3/12/11 (told you - forever!)
  • Listed On: ?
  • Sold On: 1/11/12
  • Paid: $5.25
  • Sold For: $25 + shipping


This NWT Rothschild coat came from the huge yard sale I went to in September. Unfortunately, I bought this the first day, before I knew they would be having a half-off day. Next year, I won't even bother going until half-off day, because I still managed to find tons and tons of stuff on the last day. I paid too much for this coat, but I still turned a bit of a profit (and learned a good lesson).
  • Acquired: 8/27/11
  • Listed On: ?
  • Sold On: 1/9/12
  • Paid: $14.00 (yikes)
  • Sold For: $30.00 + shipping


Here's another item I've had for ages. These were in bad shape when I bought them, but a half a jar of Meltonian fixed them up nicely. They are earth (lower-case "e" ... avoid the capital "E" - those are Walmart brand). They retailed for $169, so I aimed high on these. I had no offers, no bites, no messages about them - nothing. I finally ended up clearancing them to $50, no best offer. Even that wasn't working, so I added best offer and finally got an offer on them. I probably would have taken just about any offer at that point, but I was happy with the amount.
  • Acquired: 1/5/11
  • Listed On: ??
  • Sold: 1/5/12 - interesting - I just realized these sold exactly one year from the very day I bought them
  • Paid: $2.99
  • Sold For: $40 + shipping
And my favorite sale of the week ....


I can't explain why I bought these. (For perspective, the mama is about 8" tall.) I was in a local thrift store and was buying $5 worth of merchandise. I didn't have any cash, and they have a $10 minimum on charges, so I had the cashier hold my things while I went across the street to the bank to get some cash. On my way out, I spotted these in the display window. I went back in and asked to see them. They were very fingerprinted and not at all shiny or pretty, but for some reason I decided I wanted them anyway. I get them a quick once over. No chips or ugly spots. Tag on the bottom that said "Japan."  They were $2.99 and $4.99, so that put me over the $10 limit to use my debit card. I got them home and thought, "Wow, I paid $8 for these. That's way too much."

I didn't give them much thought until the next day. I used some Windex and shined them up nicely and took a bunch of pictures. The more I looked at them, the more I decided I loved them. I don't have any sort of affection for elephants, so I really can't explain why I loved them so much. I have nowhere to put them, so I decided to go ahead and list them.

I started to do some research, and the first thing I discovered was that the tag on the bottom said "Jaru" not "Japan". So I did an eBay search for Jaru and was pleasantly surprised. I did a search for Jaru elephant and nothing came up. I checked completeds and saw one set just like mine (but bronze color) that sold at auction for a whopping $13.99. Boy, was I disappointed. But then it occurred to me - this is a special item. It will take just the right buyer. You're probably not going to get a bidding war over something like this, so it's NOT an auction item. I listed it ridiculously high, just to gauge interest. I put it in my store for $99.99 or best offer, not really expecting to get even $50 for it. I knew I would have a hard time accepting a lower offer for it, because I really did love them. Imagine my surprise when they sold (full price!) while I was on vacation!
  • Acquired: 1/3/12
  • Listed On: 1/4/12
  • Sold On: 1/5/12
  • Paid: $8.46
  • Sold For: $99.99 + shipping
How'd you do this week?

5 comments:

  1. I know you are new to Women's clothing but I was hoping soon you could share some tips. It seems like clothing is so hit-and-miss.

    Thanks!

    -Dakotasud

    ReplyDelete
  2. I only sell women's clothing and I have the best sales with these brands:
    True Religion jeans
    Miss Me jeans
    CAbi
    Chico's Travelers
    And anything from the Anthropologie store
    And of course my fast flips are Old Navy, Gap, Ann Taylor and Banana Republic but only if I can get them for $1 or less because they sell for about $12-$15

    ReplyDelete
  3. What do you mean when you say something is off color? Does that mean it is stained?

    ReplyDelete
  4. No, each week my Goodwill puts a different color tag on sale for half off. I try to just buy items that are the half-off color that week. They aren't stained. They've just been in the store long enough to go on sale.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ohhhhh! I was rather clueless there! My store does the same thing but it is independently owned so they just have a 99 cent day on any clothing but 2 tag colors. I LOVE IT!

    ReplyDelete