Mom's Paycheck

How to See Best Offer Prices

2013-02-05T11:44:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's been months since I've written. Finding the motivation to blog these days is hard to come by. I have plenty to say, just no motivation to sit down and type it out. Recently, Ebay changed the ability to see Best Offers. Thanks to a comment on a Facebook page, I was able to learn how to still see the Best Offer. I wish I could remember what board it was on, but I was sitting in a dark movie theatre, alone with my kids surfing my phone. I limit the movies my kids can see, so we tend to see the same movies over and over and over again. After a recent price hike, we now pay $4 total for me and the 3 of them to go, so it's very affordable.

In order to see the best offer, simple search the completes for an item. Click on the sold item that has the Best Offer taken. Once the item is open, changed the ebay.com to .ca and hit enter. The page will then show you the selling price.

2012-09-06T18:42:00.001-07:00

A thrift store I like, but isn't close to my house put out 50% off coupons at the beginning of July. I, of course, put my coupons up and lost them. Thankfully a friend had a few to spare. I was able to get 4 trips in with those coupons, but they finally expired last week. The prices in this store are all over the place. You can find a Walmart shirt for $3.50 and a Gymboree shirt for $1.29. On this day, I remembered to snap a quick picture of my items. I rarely find the time to do this anymore. There is not a wow item from this trip, just some generic items I liked enough to pick up. I spent about $10. Most of the items are to keep or to resell locally.

I quickly sold the mug in the picture for $14.99, plus shipping. I paid .50 for it. A few of the dresses and skirts are for my girls. The toys are my local consignment sale. There are 2 nightgown/shirts that I bought to try out. I have a friend that has some luck selling nightgowns, so thought I would give it a whirl. My only mistake was that I looked at one of the tags wrong. One tag was marked $1.29, the other $4.29 (yikes). They are identical with the exception of the color. Thankfully I had a 50% off for these items and if they don't sell on Ebay, I could at least get my money back locally.

A Few Facebook Sales

2012-08-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

I love selling things locally. Fast cash, 1 picture, 2 to 3 word descriptions, and it's gone. A few weeks ago I listed some things that I've had sitting. Some of these I could have done better on Ebay, but considering I hardly anything invested (thank you Goodwill Outlet) it doesn't bother to let them go for much less. Plus, I love keeping my pockets stacked with cash, ebay shows up in Paypal. Here are a few highlights from the last few weeks.

Wilton Cake Pans. $50, sold within 10 minutes of listing, but the lady asked if I could wait until the following week when she got paid. I probably had about $3 to $4 invested.

Bitty Baby Twins. I paid around $2, sold for $40.

Those were my 2 biggest sales in the last couple of weeks. I also sold a nice amount of smaller items including a bunch of my daughter's 4T dresses for $3-$4. They were nice, but not worth putting on Ebay and consignment sale would have taken about 40%. Besides meeting someone for the item, I prefer this over having a yard sale.

Lands End Swimsuits and Listing Challenge

2012-07-10T04:14:00.003-07:00

One of my best selling items this summer has been Lands End Swim Wear. Most of my items come from the Goodwill bin, so I rarely find a complete set. I actually prefer just finding tops. I usually only find the tops or one piece suits. Most have been selling between $15 and $20 with free shipping. The price may be slightly on the low end given the retail pricing and quality of Lands End, but they move quickly. Most items sell within 2 weeks, but I've only had 1 item not sell within the first 30 days. Listing the last few weeks has been slow for me. I have a backlog of items that need to be listed, plus I'm still trying to get out and find more goodies when I can. This week I decided to challenge myself to list 75 items (not counting relist). I only average around 100 items in my store, so this is a big listing challenge for myself. Originally I decided I would list 25 items on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but not sure that schedule will work out. Yesterday (Monday) I listed 15 items. I find more motivation to list when sales are rolling in. I had 3 yesterday, one which the lady ask me to cancel within an hour of purchase..blah! Here's to a new day, new sales, new listings. Anyone else have listing goals for the week?

Disney Done!

2012-07-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

In case your wondering, I'm still alive. After the first of the year keeping up with school for my girls, ebay, and trying to keep my house from looking like a hoarders episode, this blog took a back burner. After being away so long, I just didn't have the motivation to write. I've had plenty to say, but I just didn't want to take the time to say it.

My biggest accomplishment this month was to wrap up our Disney fund. I was able to save for it in about 6 months and I'm very happy about it. Now, I'm moving onto a down payment fund. We are hoping to list our house next spring and I have a huge list of wants. Even if we don't sell, we will probably look into doing an addition. Along with that, I'm hoping to contribute to paying off our minivan.

Someone's Knocked Up

2012-02-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

It's not me. However, plenty of women on Ebay are. Over the last few months, every maternity item I've listed has sold. I've been selling different brands, Motherhood, Oh, Baby by Motherhood (Kohls), In Due Time, Liz Lange. Oh, Baby and Liz Lange have been my best seller.

I've only sold a few, but dresses have also done well. I never wear dresses. In fact, the last dress I wore was probably my wedding dress 13 years ago. Thankfully, I must have a little taste because my dresses are selling within a week or 2 of listing. Spring/Fall type dresses as well as summer have sold well.

Disney Fund Update

2012-02-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

Wow! Janaury was a great month on Ebay for me. By far the best month I've ever had. Sales were steady, getting at least one sale a day most days. My best selling items were toys. It always amazes me what some parents will pay for used toys.
I kicked off the fund with a $375 deposit. My goal is to deposit $363 monthly to have 4k by November 1st. This month I was able to bring the fund up to $900. With all of my sales this month, I paid my Ebay fees, for all my inventory (aka Goodwill trips) and put $100 towards some work done around our house.

How was your month? Are you working towards any goals this year?

Goodwill Finds

2012-01-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I made a quick trip to the Goodwill outlet. A quick trip means getting there about 30 minutes before rotation, staying through rotation and getting out of there before they rotate again (otherwise I'll want to stay). Our store rotates about every 2 hours. On this trip I spent $10.39.

I was able to get a good variety of items. Some for Ebay and other items to sell locally. I've really been trying to boost my local sales even for items I would usually list on Ebay. Some of the items I got from this trip include children's books, Build a Bear clothing, Anthropologie dress, Talbots pants, Creative Memories items, Little Einstein characters, Columbia sandals, Fur Real cat, computer game, Hallmark ornaments, Scooby Doo backpack, Thomas engine, and some small "Chuck" cars. There are a few more odds and end I didn't mention, but overall these are the major items.

Do you find anything good this weekend?

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl Her Library Adventures Hey Mom What's for Dinner

Lost Sock Basket

2012-01-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

I'm not a very organized person. I'm slowly trying to make changes to help the clutter and choas in our home. I recently downloaded a free book on Amazon called Organized Simplicity. I probably won't read it, but the product description was very motivating. It read:

Simplicity isn't about what you give up. It's about what you gain. When you remove the things that don't matter to you, you are free to focus on only the things that are meaningful to you.

In come the buckets and containers. The above baskets I got a few weeks ago. I wish they were pretty girly colors, but they will serve their purpose for now. I have placed one on each of my daughter's dressers for lost socks. After mating socks, the leftovers will go in the appropriate girl's basket with the hopes that it's mate will show up. You can buy these types of baskets cheap from the $1 store, but I'm to cheap for even that. So, I keep picking them up at the GW Outlet and I plan on snagging them up at garage sales. Next goal is to get our pantry stocked with them.

Selling Beyond Ebay

2012-01-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

As much as I love selling on Ebay, I also enjoy finding local networks to sell items through. In the past, I've mostly used Craigslist as a means for cash, but now I'm trying to extend my network. My latest big adventure is doing consignment sales. I'm working my way up to be like Janessa over at Savvy Saver Secrets. Check out her post here and I'm sure it will get your wheels turning. I was very pleased with my test run last fall and have already registered for a sale here in March.

I've also used local Yahoo groups to unload items. I've used this avenue the least, but have gotten sales when I have listed this in the groups. I have found 2 local groups, but have gotten sales mostly from one group.

More recently, I've started exploring Facebook resell groups. I'm currently part of 3 groups, but have only posted in one. I have 2 possible sales this week worth $60 total, so I'm looking forward to exploring this opportunity more.

When I resell face to face I rarely let anyone come to my home. Usually the only exception I make is if it's a big item I can't easily fit in my van. I have a meeting spot right off the interstate that's about 5 minutes from my house, and allows buyers easy access on and off the interstate. I do usually have my kids with me, but I meet during the day, in a busy parking lot, and I turn off my vehicle, step outside of the van, and lock the door. I've never felt threatened or unsafe doing this.

What are your other selling venues? Do you prefer those over Ebay, if so why?

Goodwill Finds

2012-01-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

I did a quick run to the Goodwill Outlet last week and got the items pictured. The pickings were slim, but I did manage to spend around $4.50 on these items. The majority of the items will go for the consignment sale I'm doing in the spring rather than Ebay. Some of the items I got were a Groovy Girl bed, Leap Frog Airplane Letter set, adult shirt, a small stash of Polly Pocket clothing, books for various collections, puzzle, hat and glove set, toddler boy shirt, bib, Thomas the Train snack cup, Playskool car, and a scrapbooking carrying bag and a few small misc. kid toys. The sweet thing is, I've already grossed $45 off this trip.

Hoping to have better luck on a few trips I have planned for this week. If I remember, I'll snap

pictures and share.

Linked up @ Apron Thrift Girl Penny Worth Project, Her Library Finds, Cherished Treasures,

Disney Fund Update

2012-01-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the week I was able to make another deposit into the Disney fund. When I started at the beginning of the month, I planned on making deposits once or twice a month. However, my sales have been a little better then I anticipated for January.

I deposited $200, which brings my fund to $575. My monthly goal is $363, so at this rate I should have both January and February taken care of. But, we all know how Ebay works and next month I could be struggling to meet it.

Weekly Update

2012-01-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

Last week was a productive week for me in the Ebay world. My goal for the last month or two was to get my store up to 100 listings. I hovered around 70 for the longest time. With sales and listings falling off, I just couldn't get to that magical number. So, one day I decided to start doing 10 a day until I reached 100. Now that I'm there, my goal is just 5 a day Monday through Friday.

I also passed my sales goal of $200 with over $277 in sales. I had sales every day, many of the items were selling within a day of listing. This week has started off really slow, but trying to list even when I don't have that Your Item Sold!! message showing up my inbox.

How are your sales? How is listing going?

My Ebay Spreadsheet

2012-01-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

Today I'm going to share the spreadsheet that I use to track my ebay items. My husband created this for me last year when I was just doing auctions, so there are a few columns I rarely use now that I have a store.

Column A (Name): This is where I put the description of the item I'm selling.
Column C (Listed @): When I did auctions, I liked knowing what I started the listing at so that I could compare what it eventually sold for. This is a column I probably will delete in the future.
Column D (Sold For): Final selling price goes here.
Column E (Paid): What I paid for the item
Column F (Profit before fees): This column calculates the selling price minus cost (Column D minus column E)
Column G&H (Weight): Most of my items come from the Goodwill outlet, which is based on weight. In order to find the correct cost, I enter the weight and it auto calculates into column E. If I get an item elsewhere, I manually enter it into column E.
Column I (Insertation Fee): What it cost me to list the item.
Column J & K (Ebay and Paypal Fees) Right now, I don't have those auto calculating, but my plans are to have both auto-calculate so that I don't have to manually enter them.
Column L (Shipping Paid): What it cost me to ship the item.
Column M (Shipping Received): I enter in what the buyer paid in shipping. For the past few months I've been doing free shipping, so this is almost always 0.
Column N (Final Profit): What I made after paying high fees to Ebay and Paypal.

Feel free to ask any questions about this spreadsheet. Also, I would love to hear how you track your ebay transactions. Is it similar to this or completely different?

Disney Fund Kick-Off

2012-01-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years!

With the start of 2012 I am kicking off our Disney Fund. We are planning our trip for mid November this year. That gives me 11 months to ~~scheme~~ sell to reach my goal of saving $4k for our trip, which is about $363 a month. Our trip will include 2 adults and 3 children. I like to stay at the nicer resorts and we plan on doing the meal plan.

In 2010 we took a trip to Disney World. We saved for it over a 2 year period. Most of it came from my reselling and we saved up over $4k. We had a small chunk left over. I'd rather save up extra, than not have the trip completely covered.

To kick off our fund I transferred part of my sales from December into a savings account. Our kick off amount is:

$375

Update

2011-12-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

I hope your family has had a blessed holiday season. December found itself to be a very busy month, which is why I haven't posted much. Right now I'm enjoying the time with family as January is a crazy month in our house. Here's a quick update on the Ebay front. My sales have been great, even the the week of Christmas which I expected to be slow was a strong week for me.

Next week my goal is to start posting again. As of right now, I just want to enjoy the week. I've been working on some new ideas to add some new content to this blog.

Thanks to anyone who has written me with kind words. It motivates me to keep this blog going.

Have a great New Year!

Tights

2011-12-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

If your a mom of girls, you know how important tights are. On church days, tights are a staple in our house. We usually wear them from October through April. Recently I was looking to update out stash, so I headed over to Ebay to see what I could find. I was very surprised how much used tights were selling for. I often find tights in the Goodwill bin and usually can get them at garage sales around .25. In the past, I have passed up sizes that weren't ours, but I think it's time to start a new collection.

I decided to test out a few pairs to see how they do. I listed a pair of Baby Gap tights and a pair of Gymboree tights. One was a pair I had picked up from the Goodwill outlet, the other was a pair that I was going to just giveaway to someone. I listed both pair last month during one of the free or penny promotions and they both sold with multiple bids. I had free shipping on both items, so my profit was a little less, but I still cleared between $2.50 and $3.00 a pair.

There are alot of resellers that wouldn't mess with such a low money maker. No, they aren't going to make you rich, but they are a cheap buy and seemed to be a easy turn around. My plan is to lots with 3 or 4 pair and hopefully resell them for around $15.

Would you bother selling an item with a small return?

Goodwill Finds

2011-11-27T18:07:00.000-08:00

What's Black Friday without a little thrifting at Goodwill? Overall, it was an okay trip. Most of my finds will be used for the spring consignment sale, but I did find a few Ebay finds. On this trip I spent $6.50

For Ebay I got Nike running shirt and a women's mini skirt, & Clifford book (for collection), Gymboree Sweater Dress, Scrabble Tiles, Gymboree bloomers, Thomas the Train replacement parts.

For Consignment Sale I got 6 new pairs of Circo shorts, boys Children's Place Shoes, infant onesies, Ralph Lauren skort, puzzle, 4th of July outfit, and 2 long sleeve shirts for fall sale.

To keep I got a Kitchen Aid Mixer cover, shorts and shirt for my oldest, Gymboree Christmas nightgown and puzzle for my youngest, wrap shirt for me, and a Christmas book for our Christmas basket collection.

This was an okay trip. I would love to find more items for Ebay, however I'm happy to find items for the consignment sale. Registration opens up in a little over a month and I'm anxious to start prepping for it.

Goodwill Finds

2011-11-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the week, I made a trip to the Goodwill outlet. On this trip I spent $7.00 and I was extremely happy with what I got.

For Ebay I got 3 Lands Ends swimsuits, Baby Gap Pjs, Tights, Leap Pad touch books and cartridges, Starbucks mug, Victoria Secret bra, a new kids backpack and a Brio Train building.

For Consignment sale stock I got 2 girl shirts, 2 pairs of boys shorts, Ralph Lauren and Childrens Place. 4 boy shirts, 3 are Childrens Place, 1 Gymboree. Childrens Place girls pull over jacket/windbreaker, Leap frog toys, and Tonka and Playskool trucks/cars and 3 puzzles.

I also got a Lands End dress to keep for one of my girls and a Lands End coat that I think I may sale on Craigslist instead of Ebay. Still debating.

Obviously, I love shopping at the Goodwill Outlet because of the prices, but also because I usually only have to sell 1 item to pay for everything from a trip. Last week I shopped at a different thrift store. I picked up 3 shirts, a Vsmile Motion console with 6 games, and a Playmobil set. I spent $10. I have listed everything but the Vsmile items when I got home. I sold 1 shirt for $13.99 plus shipping (international) and it paid for my whole trip. Do you find it easy to recoup the cost of your thrifting trips?

Goodwill Finds

2011-11-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went shopping and I managed to take a quick picture before I moved everything to its proper location. On this trip I spent $4.14 including tax. Most of the items are for the kid consignment sale I will be participating in this spring.

I bought 2 dresses, that I would have kept had they been one size bigger. One was a Maggie and Zoe, the other brand was from a line at Kohls. I also got 4 shirts. There was a Nautica and Gymboree shirt, but I can't remember the other 2. 2 pairs of denim shorts. I kept one pair for my girls, the other pair may make their way back into our stash, but for now they are in sale pile. A Groovy Girl doll, Little Tikes Chunky People, dollhouse Popcorn Machine, an Old Navy tank top for me and a Vera Bradley purse. Overall, I'm very happpy with my stash for the price I paid.

Swag Bucks

2011-11-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

With Christmas approaching I wanted to bring up Swag Bucks again. It's been a while since I've posted anything about reward sites. I've found lately that I don't have as much time to focus on them as I did in the past. However, Swag Bucks doesn't require extra work.

What is Swag Bucks? Swagbucks is a search engine that awards you in the form of Swagbucks (points that can be traded in for prizes.) You can chose from a variety of prizes including gift cards. You get Swagbucks for joining and can win different amounts throughout the day just by searching like you normally do. They also have Swagcodes out throughout the week that can be worth 5 – 30 Swagbucks.

On every computer in my house I have the SwagBucks toolbar downloaded. I simple search every website I plan on visiting. Even if it is something as simple as facebook, I search instead of entering the URL. I always cash my points in for $5 Amazon Giftcards. You can order 2 a day (there used to be a limit of 5 a month, not sure if that still stands) and it takes 10-15 days for the giftcards to show up in your account. For me, the giftcards are the best value and I use them to help fund our Christmas. Last month I ordered this dollhouse for our youngest and it was free using giftcards. I'm considering buying our girls another Dsi for Christmas and I have enough giftcards left to make that free as well. You can sign up HERE, which is a referral link.

Book Lots

2011-11-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

Last year, I had the thought of selling books pop up in my mind, but it's one of those niches that I dabbled in, but never fully embraced. All that is starting to change for me.

About 2 months ago while shopping at the GW outlet, I started coming across a few youth sci-fi books. I started pulling them out of the bin until I had close to 40. Doing a quick search on my phone, I figured it wouldn't be a big loss if they didn't do well. I listed them in my store and they sold within 2 weeks for my BIN price. Since then I've started collection of books that I seem to come across often. Once I get around 10, I list them. However, I have listed smaller lots of readers and still had good luck with them. I have yet to list a lot of books that don't sell within the first few weeks of listing.

Most of my books come from the GW outlet which is already a decent discounted rate. Recently, while shopping at a new thrift store I found a large set of youth chaper books. I contemplated whether I was going to ask if they would give me a deal since I was buying so many books. The store is ran by a homeless shelter, so the money obviously goes towards a good cause. As I was gathering my books up, a lady came into the store and asked the clerk where the other guy was. She then asked him if he was going to cut her some deals like the other gentlemen does. That was music to my ears. I gathered my pile of books up and walked up to the front. I said, I heard you like to give deals and I want all these books. He added them up, my total was $12, he offered them to me for $7. I came home, listed them and they sold in a little over a week and I cleared $100 after my investment, fees, and shipping cost. The moral of this story is not to be afraid or hesitant to ask for deals when buying in bulk.

What is your experience with selling books?

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-11-08T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well, another week has gone by with no postings. I hope to do better this week, but no promises. Last week I did no thrift shopping and barely any listings. However, it ended up being a decent sales week. I had $250 in sales, which is a great week for me. Already this week has started off good (we'll see if it continues) and I've made half of that in 2 sales.

Last week I had someone comment on what my profit is on my sales. I've started working on updating my spreadsheet so that I can give some examples of what I usually clear after cost and fees. Because I shop at the Goodwill Outlet for most of my inventory, my initial cost are usually pretty cheap. I now offer free shipping on everything, so if you add that to the crazy Ebay and Paypal fees, I still give a good chunk away. If any of you have any other questions or suggestions for post, I would love to hear them. I had one person ask me about calculating my shipping cost, which I plan to finish up that post soon. I would not call myself an expert on Ebay, but I love sharing what I've learned and know because so many other people have extended the same courtesy to me.

I'm also feeling out the idea of having a co-blogger or reoccuring guest on this blog. If you have any interest in this, please feel free to drop me an email, which can be found in the upper right hand corner.

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-11-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a week since I last posted. I started some posts, but never got around to fully finishing them to publish. Let's see if this week will be better.

For the past few weeks, my thrifting has been minimal. I have been getting out, but it's usually during preschool time. I only have about a hour and a half which isn't very long for the Goodwill Outlet. I did rediscover a very small thrift store 2 weeks ago. When I first rediscovered it, I had the kids with me, so it was hard to shop. However, the first day I noticed they had a great collection of kids books, so I went back last week. I scored 60 books to resell and only spent $7.00. They had more that I would like to go back and buy as well.

Last week, was a better week then the one before. I had sales almost everyday which came up to around $145. I've been using all the net income to help pay off some debt we have. We've also did a few nights at Great Wolf Lodge and the hubs and I spent a weekend in Chicago in August and September. I love trips and it's nice to fund them without hitting our savings. In January I will start saving for our Disney trip that will be in the fall. I saved up $4k for our trip last year, however I did it over 2 years loosely selling. This time I plan on saving up around the same amount, but will only have about 10 months. If anyone is interested in following me on this goal, I would be more then happy to share it on the blog.

This week I'm focusing on listing as much as possible. Even though I haven't thrifted much, I still have a nice amount of inventory that I can list. My goal is to hit 100 listings as soon as I can. Ideally, I would like to have this done in the next week. Right now, I'm around 70, but I have alot of listings ending in the next week.

How has your week been?

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-10-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Last week seemed like another slow week on Ebay for me. I only had 3 sales, but it did total $75, so I'm not going to complain and try to be thankful for what I was able to unload. I think sometimes it's easy to read other blogs and forums and see what awesome sales everyone else is having. But, then I have to remember that Ebay is a ~~addiction~~ hobby for me. Everyone has their own situations and goals, which don't match or meet mine. Most days I have all 3 kids home, so I don't have chunks of time to take pictures, write up descriptions and list. When they go to bed, I usually just plop in a chair and zone out. Ideally, since I'm paying for the store now I would like to sell $100 a week. It's not alot, but I'm happy with it, so that's what matters. And..I surely can't beat myself up over it. Most of my friends that stay at home don't make any extra money on the side, so even if I only make $50 that's not to shabby.

This week I'm hoping to focus a little more on listing. I was battling whatever you want to call my sickness last week and it's still lingering. I started new meds yesterday and today they have me dragging. In case you missed it, its 1 cent auction day on Ebay. I'm going to try and work on listing throughout the day, but today we are having an all family nap and I guarantee I'll be the first one asleep.

How was your week?