January Recap

January was a ho-hum month.  I got out of my shop just about as much as I put in...so not that much.  Go Figure.  There is a lot of room for great positive changes both here on the blog and in the Etsy shop and holding myself accountable will help me get to the end result.  SALES.

Join me at the end of each month as I recap some of the highlights, lowlights and numbers. Shall we start :)

Etsy SALES for January: 17

This item was one of my first shop listings and I was thrilled to see it finally move on. 

Match-O-Matic

NEW items LISTED on Etsy in January: 29

One of my favorite listings this month. 

Dorothy Thorpe 3 piece Bowl Set

Quickest Flip:
These glasses sold the same day I listed them.  I LOVE vintage frames

American Optics Smokey Gray Frames

 Best Sure Thing: Wood Hangers 

I sold 2 sets of these this month

Wooden Clamp Hangers

Gravitational Rut: Mugs

I couldn't stop finding cool mugs this month.  Too bad none of them have sold. :(

Heart Mug

My biggest take-away for January was:  When I list I sell.  Most of my sales came on the heels of me going on a listing spree.  With that said, I've got big plans for the next month.   Apron Thrift Girl has announced a Resellers Listing Challenge for February.  Come back tomorrow to learn more about that and what my goal for February will be.  

How was your January?  

Did you list as much as you wanted?  Did your shop take off for 2012 or go into hibernation?

Silver (Steel-Case) Lining

I feel a little guilty about all the complaining yesterday, because THIS came into my world. I am in love.

Large and In Charge, Steel Desk

And I got her for a song.  $35.00! Of course the desk weighs about 500 pounds, but there is so much storage and surface area.  I couldn't be happier.  The lamp and desk chair are items I already had...I think I will switch out lamps with a tall turquoise one I have been waiting to place somewhere.  I'll also be on the look out for a bigger chair.  This one seems so mini next to that massive desk.

Some Days You're the Wind Shield

Today I am the bug.

I don't know about you but I've had a hard time getting back into the estate sale Friday shopping groove since the holidays.  I've been getting a little lazy and heading out on Saturday or even Sunday.  The horror!

Yesterday as I was driving home I saw the ever promising big yellow sign and stopped.  The house looked a bit familiar and I'm almost 97% positive I was at a sale here last summer, but well..I had already stopped.  The sale was a bust, but gave me the kick I needed, so as soon as I got home I put my planning glasses on and created my Friday POA.  So. Many. Sales.   This was going to be great!

But it wasn't.

Sale #1.  Start time 7 AM:   I had been here before, over the summer.   The items were all the same, and so were the high prices. :(

Sale #2.  Start time 8 AM (but in the CL post they announced early birds were welcome) :  I totally thought this would be a family run sale, because of the wording of the post and I was dead wrong.  It was an estate sale company that I have come across in the past and they ALWAYS charge an arm and a leg for items.  "this is what they sell for on Ebay, but here you get to save on shipping"  UGG.   I mean, were talking a chipped Pyrex bowl for $10.00

Sale #3.  Right around the corner from sale #2!  But can you believe it, a REPEAT house also.  I had also been here last summer.  It was 2 gentlemen who used to own an antique store that didn't survive.  The worst part, is they totally worded the ad, hoping to up their numbers.  "Huge Yard Sale, 2 generations cleaning out the house, ready to move on..."  Boo!

Sale #4.  Claimed to be an estate sale, but was really just a pop-up tent in someones driveway selling lots of men's clothing.

Sale #5.   The furthest away and the one I was most excited about.  The ad phrased it as "We have a 6 acre farm property and house that is being foreclosed on...Everything MUST GO"  It was a beautiful drive and an amazing piece of land, but when I got there (only 6 minutes past the declared start of the sale") there was one clothing rack on the driveway, one box of shoes and a row of tools.  I asked if the house was open or if there was anywhere else to dig around, and the gentleman running the sale said nope.  Just whats out on the driveway.  :(

So that's my day.  No big scores just lots of driving.   And apparently a good amount of complaining on my end as well- sorry about that.  Some days those are just the breaks.  

I'll give it another go tomorrow, after all: If you don't play, you can't win.  

Where to sell?

I used to have a shopping problem.  Even worse...an Anthropologie shopping problem.  I was addicted to Tuesday, the day new markdowns took place.  It didn't help that there was one minutes from my office.  And every Tuesday you could bet your bottom that I was in that sale room grabbing anything in my size.

And then I quit my full time job.

Faced with a really incredible wardrobe, but a lifestyle that didn't warrant it anymore It was time to make some tough decisions.   And thus began my relationship with Ebay.  I begrudgingly posted most of my wears that just weren't practical anymore.  It worked!  Offers came in, clothing went out.   But it wasn't long before my need to shop got refocused on yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores.  I mean we had to furnish our new old house, and this was a great way to do it with style and save money;)  Except our house is just over 600 square feet and one good day of sales will fill her up. 

Dear hubby suggested it was perhaps time to move some of the items that we were finding before I needed a hoarders intervention.  Hello Etsy!   Today about 90% of what I sell now, goes on Etsy.

Lately I have been drawn to heavier, larger items.  You know, those items that you look at and think "how in the heck am I going to ship this?"  Of course I still get them - act now, think later.  This is where Craigslist has been a champion.   Oh dear readers, there is a point to all of this, I promise.   We are almost there.

Last weekend I came across 2 (incomplete) great plate sets.  I knew they would be a PITA to sell, but the price was right so I grabbed them.   Since we are being honest, I haven't had a ton of luck selling dinner ware on Etsy, so now I'm not confident on where to sell these.  (already asked, and hubby says we don't have room to keep them)

Royal Ironstone China: Blue Heaven

Franciscan Earthenware: Hacienda Green

My question to you: Where would you sell these?
Option A- Put the entire set of each up on Craiglist and see if they move
Option B- break up the set and piece them out (individually or pairs) on Ebay
Option C- break up the set and piece them out (individually or pairs) on Etsy

Option A could get these out the door quicker, but I think I would have to price them pretty low to get them to move.  our B and C options seem good, but there will be a lot of inventory just hanging around, and dang it if shipping these isn't going to be costly.

Are these patterns interesting enough where people would pay the cost of the item, just to ship it?  HELP.

Oh Dear!

Well it looks like I am not off to a great start of staying up to date on this blog.  tsk tsk.   I promise to be back soon with some fun recent finds and perhaps a little extra motivation to get back on track with this here web log.   pinky swear.