Today's Garage Sale Successes and (kinda-sorta) Failures

Whew! I am tired! Got to some great sales today, including a huge one at a local high school. Sorry too lazy for a picture, but I'll tell you what I got.

Sale #1

Don't we love the dads who take care of the sales? I know I do. Case in point: I was sorting through a box of VHS tapes. Noticed a lot of Barney ones. The box said "25 cents each". Daddy-0 says, without any prompting by me at all, "I'll take $2 for the whole box." SOLD! When I get home, I count the tapes. Most are Barney, with some Blues, and a few various. Ends up there are 43 tapes in the box! What!!

At the same sale, I got a baggie with three virtual pets. I believe 2 are actual Tamagatchi brand. I also got a pack of blank cassette tapes. For both, I paid $1.

Sale #2

I got a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine kinda toy thing for $1, a Blues Clues suitcase kinda thing that has some art supplies in it for $1, a pair of kids' Born sandals for $4 (IDK if I spent too much... the completeds are iffy), & Carlos A.K.A. Mr. Big Kid himself got a toy light saber for $1.

Sale #3

This was the big high school sale. It's for athletic boosters and each sports' team had its own table/area. I got a ton of stuff, I'm going to see what I remember...

I got a bunch of fabric book covers for 25 cents each... I'll sell these to my students because book cover was one of the supplies for my class. I know I'll have kids who come unprepared to school, unfortunately...

A bunch of Mary-Kate & Ashley VHS tapes... 25 cents each

For my classroom, the following items:

talking GeoSafari globe $2, little bag of coin/token things for playing games .10, magnetic USA map (fun, I played with it, haha!) $1, some books from 10 cents to 50 cents, giant USA map floor puzzle $2, USA trivia game $2.

Also got a leash for the dog $1.

For resale... a set of hot rollers $2, Lemony Snicket game $1, Star Wars Monopoly $3, Risk game $3, some blank cassettes .50, some various books like Junie B. Jones, Berenstein Bears 10 cents to 25 cents, a bunch of POGS .50

Also got an Abercrombie tote bag $1, Life is good flip flops .50, and a cool pillow $1, both for myself

Weirdo husband got some Hulk gloves for 25 cents.

Here's my kinda-sorta failure... I also bought a set of Sesame Street books for $3 and a cool pop-up book for .50. At that table I had bought the VHS tapes... Ended up I only got one of my bags... Sigh... So I lost $3.50... They are open tomorrow but I doubt we'll go back, it's for a good cause anyway... So I'm bummed but I guess I'll get over it.

Sale #4

Set of notepads & a cool bandana for the dog .50. Failure #2-- I think the bandana fell out of the car at some point because I can't find it.

Then I dragged the spouse to Goodwill! I got this Hockey Guys set for $1.99 to sell at the consignment sale, but similar items sell well on eBay so I'll probably try that first. No insertion fee, no loss! Darling just had to have some skate shoes for $4.99.

Hoping I'll do well... Sold my Littlest Pet Shop lot but the buyer hasn't paid... Knock on wood... haven't had a nonpaying buyer yet...

One Last Awesome Sale

Linking up with Yard Sale Mommy. Her blog rocks!

Daisy & her sniffer... investigating items that were in someone's basement for awhile!

The last sale we hit on Friday was the best sale I've been to in awhile. There was so much stuff there and it all brought me back to my childhood! Immediately I noticed something called Dolly Pops. It was old and something I'd never played with, so I knew it was early '80s or older. A quick eBay search on my phone showed some completed listings for $20+. I grabbed it. Had a $5 tag on it but asked if they'd take $4 and they did. I saw some Barbie accessories that I had as a child. Got geeked over, a quick bit of nostalgia, but passed on 'em. There was a boatload of older board games, priced at only .25. I had Carlos check some on eBay as I looked around at more stuff. In the mean time, I grabbed 3 VHS tapes still in wrap (.25 each), 3 oversized NKOTB buttons , .50 each, figured I could capitalize on the NKOTBSB tour and make some cash off these, and then I saw a Caboodle. I had one of these and it was so cool. I even had mini Caboodles that were like lip gloss holders. No price, but the guy there saw me eyeing it and asked his wife (?) how much it was. She said $1. I grabbed it because I thought it would be a good container for make-up and such. Those things are durable. A search at home shows these sell well so I will resell it! Carlos told me that the NKOTB board game sells well, so we grabbed that and 4 other board games. Thanks to I Can Sell This, I knew I could make a profit from the complete set of Big Bird Dictionaries. I got them, all 8 volumes, for $4. Finally my eyes gravitated to this huge box of McDonald's toys. I saw a bunch I had as a kid so I knew these were late '80s and early '90s. It said 5 toys for $1.00 on the box but I knew I couldn't just pick 5. So I bravely asked what kind of offer they'd do for the whole box. They said $8. Thinking of my fellow eBay blog friends, I courageously countered, "will you do $6?". They said sure. Everything together came to $18.50.

At this point two things happened. #1 I reached into my pocket and panicked. No $20 bill. CRAP! I searched around, and WHEW! It was on the ground. Close call. My potential eBay earnings were almost shot. #2, one of the people hosting the sale showed her sister (?) something on her phone. I knew they were looking at the value of something on eBay. They had caught onto us. Carlos is not very sly at using his phone. I can do it kneeling on the floor pretending to be searching through boxes, but he's super obvious. I could tell they were kind of irritated. But oh well. I walked away with my huge collection of loot. Later on it was great fun going through that box of McDonald's toys. There were over a hundred pieces. I will be working on getting these goodies listed and will report back about how I did!

How do you feel if you get outed as a reseller? I feel kind of dirty or like I'm cheating. Similar to the way I feel when I coupon and get things for FREE. But in terms of the garage sale, this is what I have to say about it...

Anyone with even a small amount of computer literacy can search things on eBay... even my dad can do it, and that's saying something LOL! They should have considered that "vintage" things might sell well and look it up BEFORE the sale. Also, it's going to be a decent amount of work to get these things listed. Especially the board games, as I have to see if there are pieces missing and figure out what condition they're in, and then figure out how to ship them. So for the people who try to deter us eBayers... yeah, it's work. Fun work, but still...

Great Sales on Friday

I am officially addicted to selling on Ebay & Half.com!! I've been building my inventory & learning a wealth of information from reading some blogs. Previously I was scouring yard sales & thrifts just for things for me and my family but now I'm on the lookout for resale items. And this will be the focus of my blog. Anyway, so on Friday DH & I ventured to a different area than we normally go, because Carlos heard about a restaurant he wanted to check out. The first two sales we visited were at neighbors' homes.

At the first sale, I found some vintage Polly Pockets! I have honestly never seen these at a garage sale or thrift! You would have bet I would have snagged them, because I loved PP's as a child and they're like the one toy I still have. I was super stoked to get these, even though they're just the houses and there's no people. I might venture up to the attic and take a few of my PP people; I know I have multiples. Each PP house was $1. I also got 6 books. I grabbed some for my classroom library as they were in good shape and newer titles. I think I will put Saving Juliet on Half.com though because it sells for a few bucks. The Dear America book I'm holding on to as I plan on listing a lot on Ebay when I get enough. Each book was .50. Spent $5.00 at this sale.

Next door I grabbed this Snugli baby carrier. It's in great shape. I signed up for a kids' consignment sale so I figure I can bring this there. I paid $3. I really should have asked if he'd have taken $2, but for whatever reason I didn't... I'm getting better at bartering though!

We went to a handful of other sales, but there was nothing fun. Next thing I got was a thing of yarn for .25. I'm going to use it for a team-building activity at school. At this same sale those blasted preschool entrepreneurs sucked us into getting a glass of lemonade for .25. They're persistent!

Next sale, no picture, but I got Jillian Michaels's 30 Day Shred workout DVD, .50. I picked it up for myself but will probably sell it. At this sale, I also got some items from the "FREE" bin/table... 4 pieces of boys' clothing (will try at consignment sale) and a book (to toss in my stack for Half Price Books)

Down the street we found another sale. As soon as we pulled up Carlos said "I am getting that Cavs chair!" Awesomely it was $5, but marked down to $2!

Flipping

Remember that garage sale where everything was a quarter? Well, I picked up a bunch of stuff there that I didn't really need, but it was just in such wonderful condition, not to mention, practically free, that I couldn't pass it up. I wore the sandals for awhile (then Daisy enjoyed eating them), hung up the mirror & clock, and hung up the Van Goghs. A few weekends ago, we had a garage sale in which I decided to sell some of the things from the quarter sale. CHA-CHING is all I have to say.

The Hooked on Phonics set sold for $20. The mom was ecstatic because she scored a deal. Myself, even more, because I made a huge profit.

The scrapbook frame sold for $5.

Remember, I only paid $3 for everything that I picked up that day! In retrospect, I really should have picked up more at that sale.

I am planning on taking the pineapple cutter to a resale store to make a buck on, because really, how often do I buy pineapple? I'm in limbo about the Van Goghs... I kinda like them, but they're not anything I'm crazy about. I may take them to New Uses as well.

I've decided I am going to work more diligently at "flipping" items from yard sales & thrift stores. I'll post if I am successful. My mom & I had a great business before she passed of selling books & media on Amazon. I'd like to start that again as well.

Church Sale Saturday

This is the reason why people should never pay retail.

We went to some garage sales this morning. They were all church sales, which I loooove, because they have super cheap prices. Also the proceeds go to good causes, like urban programs, trips to developing countries, relief aid, etc.

Sale #1: $2.75

Clothes were 25 cents each. I got:

* 2 Calvin Klein bras

* Dashboard Confessional t-shirt

* Xhilaration pajama pants

* Eddie Bauer sweater

* Forever 21 jean shorts/capris

* plaid Mossimo shirt

We also got some goodies from the bake sale- proceeds were going to help Japan.

Sale #2: $1.00

Clothes were 50 cents each. I got:

*long-sleeved Old Navy shirt

* pair of SO jeans

Sale #3: $5.50

Perhaps my favorite part of church sales is they often have fill-a-bag deals towards the end. This sale had fill-a-bag for $5.00. I got a bag of the following:

*Victoria's Secret bra

*No Boundaries shirt

* 2 American Eagle shirts

* Juicy Couture shirt

* OSU sweater

* Eddie Bauer shirt

* Old Navy shirt

* Tommy Hilfiger shirt

* Gap Inspi(red) shirt

* Volcom zip-up hoodie

* 5 other no-name shirts

* Tommy Hilfiger pants

* Merona khaki shorts

* J. Crew pants

* 2 pairs of AE jeans

* AE khakis

* no-name dress pants

* no-name dressy capris

* gorgeous Old Navy skirt

*I also got a pair of Nine West sandals for .50

Overall I picked up 35 items and spent $9.25. Upon inspection at home, I noticed one of the pairs of pants is ripped. But I can live with that. It cost pocket change to build up my wardrobe, so I'm not overly bummed if I stain a shirt or if the dog eats a pair of shoes (oh and she has, like a pair of Crocs, which I got for... one dollar... gasp) . If clothes I pick up don't fit, I will auction them off on Listia, or as I am currently doing, put things aside for my own garage sale this summer.

Garage Sale on 4/9/11

Have I mentioned that I LOVE garage sales? I got what you see in the picture for only $2.75... DH & I went to this garage sale yesterday where almost everything was a quarter! I got the following...

2 Van Gogh paintings
a pineapple cutter
decorative mirror
clock
pair of sandals
1964 Golden Book, Charmin' Chatty
Hooked on Phonics
Giant copy of Tawny Scrawny Lion
Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss
Black Scrapbook Wall Collage (more or less a picture frame)
& DH got a dolly step ladder combo (not pictured)

Each item was only a quarter like I said, so we spent $3.00 for everything! Everything's in good shape; the clock has a price tag of $37.99 on the back! The scrapbook frame has never been used and that appears to be the same case for the pineapple cutter. The big book has a price tag of $4.88 from Sam's Club, the sandals are Merona (Target), and the mirror says Target on the back too. I've been needing some new shoes, especially in brown, since the dog ate my brown Crocs (which I got for a buck at a sale last year). The Van Gogh pictures are already hanging up in the loft as is the clock. The mirror will go in the bedroom. The Tawny Scrawny Lion book, I'm sure my students will get a kick out of due to its size. A Dr. Seuss book for that cheap is hard to come by! I'll glance through the Hooked on Phonics materials to use for ESL. And the Charmin' Chatty book I'm going to list on Listia to hopefully appeal to some antique lovers.

Fun fun!

Garage Sales

So I am a garage sale junkie. Unfortunately in Ohio, the winter means it is too cold for many sales... But I was able to find 2 last weekend. One was a sale at a high school and one was a moving sale inside a house.

I had to work in the morning, so we got to both sales later on. Which is fine with me, because that's when the markdowns occur. Especially at fundraiser sales, which often have fill-a-bag type deals. Well the high school sale didn't have a fill-a-bag, but one of the workers was shouting out that anything marked 25 cents was now free. I got a few knick-knacks for free, which I will use to sell at my class store (reward for good behavior), as well as a wax dipped bear, a dog science kit, and a boatload of books for my classroom library (a few for my personal interest too). At this sale I spent $5.00.

At the moving sale, I wasn't finding much at first... Not my style (older stuff) and too pricey for the thrifty queen here. But I ended up finding a pair of unique bookends with globes on them for $2.00. Of course, at every sale I go to, I bring up the fact that I'm a teacher when I'm looking for things, and the lady here told me she had a bunch of office supplies. She gave me several nice new pens, pencils, permanent markers, dry erase markers (I go through so many of these!), etc. for a dollar, and I found a box of colored pencils for a quarter. So here I spent $3.25.

Everything pictured cost $8.25. Can't wait for spring so I can go to sales every weekend :) Still need to build up my post-weight loss wardrobe...