" No Money Mama "

Last weeks eBay adventure #2!

2012-02-23T10:52:00.002-05:00

My eBay sales last week were 57% higher than the week before. For 2/15 - 2/22, I sold 13 items that totaled $133.88. Much better than my previous week's 7 items for $84.93. I have already surpassed my total for the month of January and I still have about a week left in February. I'm not where I need to be to officially make eBay my "job", but I'm getting closer. Wish me luck!

When it pertains to an item, I like to describe it as "super soft" in my listing titles. In my experience, items with it in the description get more views and sell faster. I sold a lot of maternity clothes last week. Here are my sales for 2/15 - 2/22:

Artlist Collection, The Dog 12" plush. I paid .90 and it sold Buy It Now for $16.99. I would never buy my child a stuffed animal off eBay, but some people do.

Wilton football helmet cakepan + instructions. I paid .19 and it sold for $5.99. This was a newer and more generic cakepan, but it still sold.

Abercrombie & Fitch size 8 corduroy pants. I described these as super soft in my listing title. I paid $1.94 it sold for $9.99.

Rewind maternity size 5 capri pants. Rewind is not really a good name brand, I only bought them because they were in really good shape. I will probably not buy this brand again. I did not advertise the brand name in my listing title. I paid $1.94 it sold for $7.99.

Motherhood Maternity large dress. This dress had 36 views and 9 watchers (that's a lot for me) before it sold. I paid $3.49 and it sold Buy It Now for $12.99.

Gap Maternity black capri pants. I paid $1.94 it sold $9.49.

Motherhood Maternity medium overalls. I have heard overalls do well on eBay and I know maternity clothes sell well for me, so this was the best of both worlds. I paid $3.49 and it sold Buy It Now for $14.99.

Hollister size 1 corduroy skirt. I described this skirt as super soft in my listing title. I paid $1.94 it sold for $9.99.

Motherhood Maternity XL skirt. I also described this one as super soft. I paid $1.94 it sold for $10.49.

Motherhood Maternity petite large jeans. I think these went a little faster and for a little more than my maternity clothes usually go for because they were petite. I paid $3.49 it sold for $15.00.

BCBG Max Azria size 2 pants. I paid $1.94 it sold Buy It Now for $9.99.

J. Crew size 0 "City Fit" capri pants. These took a while to sell. J. Crew usually sells pretty fast for me. These always had 5 or 6 watchers but just didn't sell. This was probably going to be the last time I listed them, but they sold. I paid $1.94 it sold for $7.99.

Goodwill Wednesdays

2012-02-22T09:15:00.003-05:00

I only found a few things on my latest Goodwill trip. Maybe it's quality over quantity? I know I need to get more inventory. Wish me luck! Here's what I found:

Fresh Produce large capri pants. I have never bought or sold this brand before, but I heard it does well on eBay.

Tory Burch size 2 capri pants. I love the giant ric-rac trim, too bad I don't wear a size 2 (yet)!

BCBG Max Azria size 2 pants. These already sold Buy It Now for $9.99. I know I priced them too low. While listing, I noticed the stitching on one hem needed a little attention. Nothing too bad, I know I can fix it. Oh well they're sold, I guess I better fix them.

Banana Republic size 8 "Martin Fit" velvet pants. Like new.

Oh! Mama small maternity capri pants. Remember I told you that I have good luck with maternity clothes. They usually always sell the first time around for me.

Linked up to:
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Thrift Share Tuesday
Flea Market Finds

Last weeks eBay adventure!

2012-02-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

I'm still trying! This week, for my smaller items, I have started using my wood dining room table for my photo backdrop instead of my tile floor. It is easier and looks nicer. The larger items are still going on the tile. My eBay sales were not quite what I was hoping for, but I'm still on track to have my best eBay month ever. Only 7 sales, 2/7 - 2/14, for a total of $84.93. Here they are:

Old Navy size 0 quattrefoil print skirt. I paid $2, sold for $6.99.

Kanye West medium T-Shirt. I paid $2, sold for $9.99.

Kids Nike large reversable athletic shorts. I paid $1.40, sold for $7.99.

Kids Spyder small layering turtle neck. I paid $1.40, sold for $19.99.

Gap ladies size 10 skirt. I paid $2, sold for $9.99.

J. Crew size 6 ladies capri pants. I paid $2, sold for $9.99.

Juicy Couture XL pants. I paid $2, sold for $19.99.

Goodwill Wednesdays

2012-02-15T17:07:00.003-05:00

I think my most recent trip to my favorite local Goodwill was a success. All of the clothes I bought were half off. Each day, that Goodwill in particular picks a color and if your clothing has a tag that color it is half off. I usually just buy the half off clothes unless I run across something really special. Every dollar counts when you sell on eBay. Here is what I brought home.

Lots of maternity clothes.

Ladies size 8 Elie Tahari skirt.

Ladies Banana Republic size 10 jean skirt.

Gap Kids embellished t-shirt.

Two Royal China by Jeanentte Ceramic pie bakers, $2 each.

4 1/2" Nino Perrucca plate, $1.23.

Vintage Baldelli 10" wine caraffe $1.91. I kind of like this one and wouldn't mind keeping it.

I'm pretty excited about this one. I have an e-mail into Replacements.com for more info. It's a big old bowl. Maybe it used to have a pitcher and was a wash basin? It is 15" in diameter and 5" high. It is from Pitcairns Limited and was made between 1895 and 1901. No cracks or chips, just a little darkening. Only $3.93. I wouldn't mind keeping this one too.

Creepy owl. It is pretty big, 16" high. I am keeping this and I'm in the process of painting away the spooky. My kids are a little afraid of it, so I hope it turns out. I'm going to post the end result either way.

eBay maybe?

2012-02-09T14:37:00.003-05:00

I'm a stay at home mom and I love it. Now that all three of my kids are in school, (1st grade, 4th grade, 7th grade) I need to get a full time or part time job to help bring in some more money around here. I still want and need to be there for my kids though. There are always going to be times when one or more of my kids will be home sick, have school vacations, projects due. There is always something, I'm sure you know what I mean. I have been selling things on eBay over the past few years. Nothing constant just once in a while. I want to take it to the next level and make eBay my new job.

I still have a lot to figure out, I need to get more inventory and learn more about what sells. I usually sell clothes: kid's, men's & women's, but I have been branching out lately. I always start with things from my house, I consider them free. I have also been having good luck finding deals at my local Goodwill. I started doing this seriously in the middle of November 2011, here is my breakdown so far:
11/15 - 11/30: $78.46
12/01 - 12/31: $118.73
1/01 - 1/31: $236.03
I'm definitely not there yet, but I think I can do it! I'm getting better every month. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there considering this. Join me and let's do this together!

Here are a few items I have had good luck with in the past few weeks:
Wilton character cake pans:

I bought this Wilton Strawberry Shortcake cake pan at Goodwill for .47, someone bought it less than 24 hours later Buy It Now for $16.99.

One time use coupons:

This 10% off Pottery Barn coupon came in the mail and I was not going to use it. Someone bought it Buy It Now for $19.99. After that worked out so well, I remembered about a 15% off Pottery Barn coupon code that I received in an email. It sold 10 minutes after I listed it Buy It Now for another $19.99.

Formula coupons. $20 in Similac formula coupons sold for $14.05! Since I don't have a little baby, I would get annoyed when I received these coupons in the mail. Now I save and sell them, I usually get them a few times a week.

Cool name brand maternity clothes:

These Gap Maternity jeans from Goodwill were $1 and sold for $12.99. Maternity jeans, capri pants and dresses have been very consistent for me. I have also had good luck with Motherhood Maternity and Three Seasons Maternity brands.

I'm going to keep you updated on my eBay progress, special finds and any tips & tricks I figure out along the way.

Free piano, yes please!

2010-06-10T09:02:00.003-04:00

Recently, the No Money Mama was at a local yard sale and I was lucky enough to stumble upon a FREE piano! It looked nice and it worked. I did a little cleaning, listed it on Craigslist ( my first time ever ) and 30 minutes later it was sold for $200! One man's trash is the No Money Mama's treasure. Now if I could only do this a few times a week, every week I could be the Some Money Mama.

Add multiple pictures to your ebay listing for FREE!

2010-04-29T14:07:00.010-04:00

Maybe everyone in the world knew about this except for the No Money Mama. On the off chance that there is someone out there like me, that does not know, here is how to add as many pictures as you want to your ebay listing for FREE! I figured this out through trial and error. Right now on ebay, your 1st picture is free, then they are .15¢ a piece up to 12 pics. Or you could also use the picture pack for .75¢ for up to 6 pics or $1.00 for 7-12 pics. You could also pay for a 3rd party snazzy template that allows you to add multiple pics. But again, my way is FREE and when you are selling stuff on ebay, every little bit helps!

1. I used Internet Explorer. Open up 2 tabs, 1 for ebay and 1 for photobucket or something like it.
2. Start your ebay listing, upload 1 pic from your computer for free in the "Bring your item to life with pictures" section.
3. In the "Describe the item you are selling" section, add your item description.
4. Click over to the photobucket tab, click on the thumbnail picture of your item.

-This will take you to a screen that shows your picture by itself.

5. Right click on the picture and copy it.
6. Go back to your ebay tab and paste your picture where you want it in the item description.

7. Repeat as many times as you want, once again for FREE!

I've been framed!

2010-03-31T12:37:00.005-04:00

The No Money Mama has had a few inexpensive ($1.99 at Michaels) blank MDF frames for a while. I always thought they were a great idea, but I never really did anything with them, until now. I like my crafts cheap, easy and fast, this project covers all three. Today we will be working with: 1 blank MDF frame (or any flat frame), decorative scrapbook paper, scissors, small screw driver, paint brush, acrylic paint and Mod Podge. Optional items are 24" length of 1 1/2" wide grosgrain ribbon and a little help from a drill.

I placed my scrapbook paper face down on a table, then on the back of my frame, I unscrewed the little screws and levers that hold the back of the frame stand and then placed the frame face down on top of the paper and traced the outside of the frame and inside of the picture opening. I then cut paper along the outlines. For my ribbon frame, I had my husband drill four small holes about 1/4" in diameter in the middle of the blank area on the bottom half of the frame. Two holes were 2" in from the each side and two holes were 3" in from the each side.

I then painted the entire frame with two coats of paint that coordinated with the scrapbook paper that I was using, I used Apple Barrel brand Light Pink on one frame and Green Apple on the other. After the paint was dry, I brushed Mod Podge on the face of the frame and placed the paper face up on top of the Mod Podge. I pressed down on the paper with my hands and rubbed all over it to avoid air bubbles. After the Mod Podge was dry, I brushed Mod Podged over the top of the paper and the sides and back of the frame, then let it dry. I screwed the little screws and levers back on the backside of the frame, replaced the glass, added a picture, then replaced the back of the fame. For my basic frame, I was done. For my ribbon frame, I took a small screw driver and carefully pushed the paper through the pre drilled holes, then I threaded the ribbon carefully through the holes, tied a bow and trimmed the ends of the ribbon. Walla! Sweet custom frames. My frames are very girley, but with a different choice of paper they could fit into any decor.

This little birdie!

2010-03-16T15:02:00.014-04:00

The No Money Mama has seen this awesome Spool Sewing bird tutorial around for a while and I just adore it. Let's just say sewing is not my thing, so I thought to myself, "What about paper?" Today we will be working with: paper, glue, scissors and pipe cleaners.

I have been holding on to this super cute monkey paper from Michael's, just waiting for the right project.

And yes, the hot pink monkeys are flocked! It kind of reminds me of the PB Kids Emmy collection. So, I made a few changes to the original Spool Sewing bird tutorial, and here it is. My birds were printed out at 100%. *Please note, I did not create the original Spool Sewing bird pattern, I only made a few slight adjustments to turn it from a sewing project into a paper craft.

Cut out the body and belly out of coordinating papers, I got three bodies out of one 12" x 12" piece of scrapbook paper and plenty of bellies out of another coordinating piece. Fold the flaps to the wrong side. then punch the holes in the belly as shown (make sure only 1/4 of the hole is on the inside of the belly, we need a very small hole for the pipe cleaner legs to fit through.)

Glue the belly to the body. Put the glue on the flaps of the belly and glue to one side of the body, starting tail first, let it dry, then glue the other side. I used Elmer's glue, but now looking back I think that Crazy Glue would work even better.

Glue the flaps of the head and press together. After the entire bird was dry, I used a chop stick to poke out any little dents or wrinkles.

Push the pipe cleaner into one leg hole and out through the other.

If you are going to wrap the legs around something, you can leave the pipe cleaners alone and you are finished! If you are making a free standing bird, measure about 2" of the pipe cleaner on each side for the legs and cut. Fold little "L's" at the bottom of the legs and use the cut off pipe cleaner scraps to wrap around the "L's" and fashion your bird feet. So "tweet"!

If these walls could talk!

2010-03-05T12:15:00.020-05:00

Ok, this is my first post on my first blog, so here we go! Being the No Money Mama, I don't usually have a lot of extra money, so I'm always on the look out for a deal. Boy, did I find one. Target has Circo wall decals for their super adorable Love and Nature Collection (I love the owls and little birds) for $14.99. They are not available online, just in the stores. The decals are made of a low tac vinyl that can be repositioned how ever you like. Use them only on relatively smooth walls. I never really liked the look of wall decals before, I hate the clear border around the objects that they usually come with, it makes them look terrible and cheap. But these were just so cute, I thought I would give them a try. When I got home I peeled one off and put it on the wall. I was not impressed. A super cute flower was surrounded by a horrible clear, but still obviously visible border. I knew it would always bother me so I considered returning them to the store. Then I thought, what if I just cut the "clear" border off and just left the image of the flower? That is exactly what I did. I could not cut the decal by itself, but I could cut it if it was still on the paper backing. So it took a little time and effort, but I cut all of the decals out with scissors then I started sticking them on the walls. I just placed them and smoothed them out with my hand.

My four year old daughter helped me with the layout and design, after all it was for her new big girl room. These decals came with a big tree and lots of different colored flowers, animals, birds and owls. I made the tree the center piece. There were more than enough decals, so I was able to place others in different areas around the room. They were very easy to rearrange. My daughter loves them, I think they came out great and you can't beat the price! I loved the way this looked so much, I bought a coordinating sheet set and a matching owl pillow. We call her "Pillowl". Super cute, fast easy and cheap, what more could you ask for?

P.S. Another No Money Mama score, the day bed was only $99 at IKEA!

I put this pink owl on a branch next to her window, above the bed.

I put this tan owl on a branch next to her door, underneath the light switch.

She loves her new big girl room (and owls), can you tell?