What not to Sell: Huge Fragile Items

I bought this Corning Ware  dutch oven because Blue Corn Flower is my  mother-in-laws pattern.  She loves Corning wear, swears by it and god bless her she uses it to cook EVERYDAY!   Yes! she cooks everyday!  Are ya feeling the shame with me?  No, not yet?  Well let me add that my MIL is 82 years old this year.  The shame! Its burning my eyes!  Here this will make us feel better... Everyday cooking  places a lot of wear and tear on these beautiful dishes, that's why we don't cook everyday, Right?
Being the world's most awesome-est daughter in law I have been slowly replacing her "well-loved" pieces with ones from thrift.  But she didn't need the dutch oven,  said it was too big.  Then suggested I keep it and use it myself, ummm... "No, thanks!"  I listed that sucker faster than you can sell an original Andy Warhol on a $100 BIN eBay auction.  The dish did sell,  but the thing was huge and such an issue to pack.  There was too many pieces of foam, miles and miles of bubblewrap and a ton of newspaper.  And still it didnt make it.   Apparently the package met some basketball playing US Postal Service employees, and the dutch oven was done for.   Profit on Corning Ware dutch oven  $0

There you have it... Dont sell huge, fragile items!

Im in Love... with Pottery

That was hard to say,  I  find it hard to make the "love" statement.  Now that it is said I kind of feel better, like I have reassured myself.  So lets delve a little deeper into this love affair of mine.  Well, it began at the auction and Ladies and Gentlemen it was love at first sight if not the other.  Never in my life had i been enthralled with dinnerware and other fine ceramic.  Some might say I am too generous with my love but i give it willingly to; Lenox, Ironstone, Fiesta, Dansk, and all the pieces from Mottanedeh.  I know masses swooned over Mid Century Modern frankly,  I understand the appeal, but modern is just not me.  I like tried and true.  I love it classic, because time tested functionality serves to gain character.  Appealing indeed.

I lust after pottery, I buy it and flip it FAST!  Is like a drug to me,  to have it for a little while all to myself and then send it to its intended "home" repeating the cycle as often as i can.  Pray for me.

The pot in the picture is a Vintage MELITTA GERMANY Coffee Pot,  I knew when I saw it I had to have it.  Used it a couple of times and sold it this week for $15.  Cheap I know, but such is love.

Tuesday Book Sale Wrap-up

Because Tuesdays are busy for me,  I have decided to save all my book sales and create a feature posting on Tuesdays.  This brilliant idea came to me last week,  I amaze myself sometimes!  Funny thing is I have had zero book sales since last Tuesday.  Such is my world, I plan, I set up and then... Nothing!  Well here is hopping you have better luck than I.

For you book sellers that follow my blog, Could you?  Would you?  In a blog? Could you?  Would you?   In a link?  Could you?  Would you?  In a comment meant for me?  Share what books you like to flip?

Craigslist Sale, Ronco Showtime Rotisserie

Hard to admit but generally I shy away from listing items on craigslist.  The items have to be usually big and hard for me to ship before I take that plunge.  There have been just three sales there for me;  a playpen, a saxophone and today I sold a Showtime Rotisserie.  I bought it at a yard sale for $5,  you can read more about that here .  The thing was in almost new condition and I gave it a good once over for good measure.  The young woman who came with her friend to buy it could had not been more thrilled, at her luck.  I hope it serves them well.  There was a bit of haggling and well I accepted $40 cash for it, thats better than a sharp stick in the eye, Right?

What not to sell; Discolored Plastic

I'm gonna try my hardest to make WHAT NOT TO SELL a weekly blog feauture and hope many of you readers will add to it using the comments section.

Here is my first piece of advice of what not to sell;
I bought this here Vintage R. Dakin & Co. Dumbo figure at auction for $3.
As you can see he was hardly worth the effort to sell.
Auction brought in  just under $11.


The problem with Dumbo was the discoloration made him less than appealing.
So there learn from my mistakes, do not buy discolored plastic!

Etsy Sale, Poly Perk

Vintage Regal Poly Perk Coffee Percolator Avocado Green Starburst Design 8 Cup Shop: ProperlyVintaged Quantity: 1 Price: $14.99 USD This and several other Avocado Green pieces I received in an auction box lot of vintage housewares I paid $2 for the lot. However I was almost arrested for "collusion" because a bidder would not go against me...

Care Bears, do you care a lot?

I found this guy, Cheer Care Bear13"  at a local yard sale.
Mint in the box is always a thrill, right?
He is perfect and as the name  implies he is full of cheer.
At least for me he is,  I bought him for $2 and  the auction closed at $31

Grab them bears!

Amazon Book Sales for the week

Item: Little Critter: Merry Christmas, Little Critter! [Paperback] [2004] Mayer, Mercer
Condition: New
Condition note: perfect
Order date: 05/25/2012
Your earnings: $4.20


Bought at my local thrift where children's book are always .25 cents

Item: Plastic Canvas Lighthouse Decor [Paperback] [2005] Janelle Giese
Condition: New

Condition note: perfect
Order date: 05/25/2012
Your earnings: $5.89

Bought as $1 box lot at local auction, cost probably .10 cents

I only sold these 2 books all week, hope you had better sales.

Amazon Sales Catch-up

Please bare with me, I am listing here all my amazon sales for the past 3 days. I was busy graduating from college and let things slip.




Item: Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Special Edition 2006 (Ripley's Believe It Or Not Special Edition) [Hardcover] [2005] Packard, M; Inc., Ripleys
Condition: New
Condition note: perfect, no wear
Order date: 05/17/2012
Your earnings: $5.69



This book was a yard sale discovery by my boy Emanuel. He loves these books. Once he was done he declared, "Mommy sell this for me" So I did.




Item: The Works of Plato: Four Volumes Complete in One [Hardcover] [1945] Plato; B. Jowett
Condition: Used - Very Good
Condition note: includes dust jacket. binding is excellent. pages are excellent. some tiny pencil marks in chapter section. not at all in fragile condition, very usable.
Order date: 05/16/2012
Your earnings: $10.15

Book was bought at thrift for $1. I had intended to read it but is too hard to follow, call me dim.




Item: Olympus IS-1 35mm SLR Film Camera w/ 35-135mm Zoom Lens
Condition: Used - Very Good
Condition note: With battery. Point and shoot tested and working beautifully. Excellent cosmetic shape. No manual or film included. Manual can be found online. Takes awesome pictures.
Order date: 05/16/2012
Your earnings: $39.30


This Camera was bought at a yard sale for $3, the seller said it didn't work because the shutter wouldn't release. The camera is an INTELLIGENT SLR, the shutter does not release if the settings are wrong. It works perfectly. and to think this very same guy was trying to sell me the book, "Photography for Dummies" (shakes head)



Item: Wet & Wild I Dream of Greenie 331
Condition: New
Condition note: sealed
Order date: 05/15/2012
Your earnings: $7.43


This is makeup I bought on clearance.

So this is Christmas

Can it be Christmas all year round?  Why of course it can Jimmy!  See christmas comes from the heart...  Umm Ok Enough of that.  This post is really just about making sales year round on Christmas type items.  I just made a decent sale on a Vintage Riddell Santa Christmas Mug.  Im pretty sure I could had done better had I held on to it till the holidays were like right on top of us,  but well folks space here is at a premium so I have to turn around merchandise as soon as possible.  Not only that but sales are so slow that I have to throw everything I have at them.  Here is to hoping, the economy gets better!

Monday Thrift Finds

Looky at what I found; Ronco Showtime ST4000 Rotisserie and Indoor BBQ Oven.  Found it at a block sale, when the young lady selling it asked for a mere $5 for it,  well I just about fell over.  The thing was practically brand new.

I can not tell you how many times I watched that informational and just salivated over this machine.  Set it and forget it you say? If I had one of those I would roast meat everyday of the week, I thought.   Let me just tell you....This here is NOT a fun item.  I misunderstood how involved a gadget such as this would be.  Oh my lord, it does roast an amazing chicken!  But the pull this, pop that, turn here, lock there... that is just not for me.  Off to the auction block with this one,  I'll keep my chicken in the old roasting pan.

Amazon Book Sale

A Living Mystery: The International Art & History of Crochet [Hardcover] [1990] Potter, Annie Louise
Condition: Used - Very Good
Condition note: a great book with no writing no tears includes dust jacket
Quantity: 1
Order date: 05/13/2012
Your earnings: $7.59

Another book another dollar,  this one came from the auction house.

So fast your head will spin!

On a whim I went to my favorite thrift yesterday.  I don't usually leave the house on Thursdays but really needed a mental break from researching, cleaning, sorting, packing, photographing, listing.  You get the idea how time consuming this monster of a business can be.  Off to relax I went by doing what? that's right... securing more merchandise. Wow, I must be a glutton for punishment.

I found this incredibly cool looking puzzle there,Crazy Maze by TOMY. This baby is a monstrous maze of the 2D Ball kind, the thing is scary hard. I found it mint in the box and its from the 80's! THE 80's! I love the 80's. That time period is my passion and my obsession. OK back to the puzzle, I listed it as soon as I got home and I woke up this morning and it had already sold! Now that's smoking hot, folks.

Amazon Book Sale

Don't Throw it Away! [Hardcover] [1973] Abell, Vivian
Condition: New
Condition note: perfect. suitable for gift giving
Order date: 05/09/2012
Your earnings: $2.49


Another day that starts off with an amazon book sale!  Its gonna be a good day.

Amazon Book Sale

Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree (Little Golden Books) [Hardcover] [1997] David Korr; Joe Mathieu
Condition: New
Condition note: Perfect, not read.  with store label in the back.
Quantity: 1
Order date: 05/09/2012
Your earnings: $14.40


Another profitable Little Golden Book,  and to think I never read any of these as a kid, how sad!  I bought this one at the thrift for one shiny quarter!

Did I ever tell you...

That I sell on Etsy?  Well, I do.

I have a sister store there.  I have had it for about two years now,  somehow I don't show it the love and respect it rightfully deserves.  Etsy is very good to me.  I usually transition items from my eBay store to there.  I have to point out it takes longer to move items on Etsy, however I get my asking price 90% of the time.

eBay cant beat that!  I should start posting my Etsy sales here to share with you.

OK,  here goes the first one.  These Navajo earrings are like super hot (that was me channeling my daughter Kay),  I wore them a few times after scoring them at auction.  They got me the few compliments I needed to boost my ego.  Yet alas, like most of my jewelry...  I bore of them.   On to greener pastures for them, we said our finals and I listed them on Etsy.  They went for $35, which is about twice as much as I paid for them.

How Interesting...

I bought this shirt at thrift because I like soft things.

I enjoy luxurious feeling fabrics and believe it of not,  this polyester shirt actually feels like silk. Lush!  The shirt was bought for my own use.  I planned to make it unto a a short dress type thing that I could rock out with some leggings, very 80's... I know thats exactly what I was thinking!

However habit dictated that before I destroy a vintage garment, ahem... before I  "re-purpose" a vintage item, it must be checked-out on ebay.  With regrets I found the shirt is worth something to somebody.  Apparently these bowling shirts are very popular with the Mad Men crowd.  My dress will have to wait for another day.  I am happy to let the shirt go,  it is trutly awesome as it is.  Warms my heart that the lushness will go on and on.

Thrift Find Monday

My fabulous yard sale find.

I love this pattern and the colors!

Who knew brown and yellow could look this good?

The styling is very reminicesnt of Vernon Kilns Organdie, which is big money on eBay.

Its actually Knowles "Santa Monica" I paid just $2 for all these pieces at a local yardsale.

I think they are awesome, What do you think?

Amazon Book Sale

Just Me and My Cousin (Look-Look) [Paperback] [1992] Mayer, Mercer
Condition: New
Condition note: perfect
Order date: 05/04/2012
Your earnings: $18.65


wow! IS ALL I CAN SAY... I paid .25 cents for this one

Amazon Book Sale

Burton on Burton, 2nd Revised Edition [Paperback] [2006] Burton, Tim; Salisbury, Mark; Depp, Johnny
Condition: New
Condition note: minor shelf wear
Order date: 05/04/2012
Your earnings: $6.94


I bought this book in light of a trip to New York City to see MOMA's installation of Burton's work.  My son is fascinated by his body of work, so for Manny's 9th Birthday I arranged to visit MOMA on a day Mr Burton would be there to autograph and chat with kids.  


Sadly, when we arrived at NYC, Manny would not have it.  He preferred to go once more to the Natural History Museum, Imagine that!  This many years later, he laments having turned down a meeting of such momentous occasion and certainly so do I.

The Consumerist

The Consumerist

Amazon Book Sale

MGM's Tom and Jerry's Party (A Little Golden Book) [Hardcover] [1955] Eisenberg, Harvey & Armstrong, Samuel
Condition: Used - Like New
Condition note: perfect pages, cover shows shelf wear
Order date: 04/30/2012
Your earnings: $5.06


This was bought at the thrift store with a bunch of others,  not much overhead there... So another small profit for the piggy bank.

Amazon Book Sale

Pooh So-Quick Long Stitch (Leisure Arts #1966) [Paperback] [2001] Merrilee Gasaway
Condition: Used - Very Good
Condition note: very little cover wear
Order date: 04/29/2012
Your earnings: $9.30


OK Here it is for the record... Always , always buy Craft books.  People need hobbies you know!

Amazon Book Sale

If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge (Orbis Pictus Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (Awards)) [Hardcover] [2010] Marc Aronson; Mike Parker Pearson
Condition: New
Condition note: dust jacket has shelf wear otherwise new
Order date: 04/28/2012
Your earnings: $9.38


This Book I actually bought at the bookstore.  
My Manny needed it for a book report,  
here is hoping that Bob wont needed it down the road!