Thrift Shop Commando

I will admit there is an underbelly to being a reseller. It means storing a. lot. of. stuff. There are things you haven't listed, things you have listed, and things you end up keeping. Most of my listings are small items so that translates to needing very little storage space. I pick up fabric lined baskets at thrift to keep things organized.  There are only so many places one can hide the unlisted stuff. The Mr. just blew a cog because I haven't been listing and moving through the product.  How to Bid on Online Auctions: There is an art to winning bids in online auctions. I have found the best method is to lurk and bid at the last moment, then cross your fingers and hope you have won.  When I first started listing on eBay, all of my listings were auction style. So, the listings would end and I would have to relist them. Luckily, I had little on the boards then. After I discovered fixed price listings, all of them were converted to that option.   Haricots Panaches This consists

Each new gardening season brings challenges and adjustments. This year, I planted the seeds directly into the greenhouse. Last year, I started seeds in little starter pods and nearly all of them germinated. I've got potatoes growing, in seed form are radishes, beets, tomatoes, watermelon, and butternut squash. Pole beans have self-seeded and are sprouting. A couple of sunflowers and tomato plants survived the winter.  The asparagus fern is a result of me not cutting it in time. I let it grow into a protective shade fern during the summer months and then cut it all back in the winter.  The artichoke went into the greenhouse because the deer would eat it to the ground and some other burrowing animal would bite it off at the top of the root.  I will give a greenhouse update on my "Z" challenge post.  Introducing my website where all the magic happens.  Grammasonacid.com Still in its infancy, I have yet to fully capitalize on it. It hosts my videos, blog posts, and link to my

Find your niche. It took awhile for me to settle on the eBay categories that were good sellers for me. When there are sales in a certain category, it encourages me to list more. For the slow movers, I either deeply discount or remove from listing altogether.  Categories I have abandoned - clothing, crocheted blankets (but not the squares), children's toys (wooden blocks have not sold but are still listed), and craft books.  Floating Island Take a stale Savoy biscuit and cut it into thin slices. Saturate it with Kirsch and Maraschino, cost them with apricot jam, and sprinkle the latter with currants and chopped almonds. Put the slices one upon the other, in such a way as to reconstruct the biscuit, and coat the whole with a layer of sweetened and vanilla-flavored whipped cream.  Sprinkle the cream with slithered pistachios and currants; set the whole on a long shallow compote dish, and surround it with vanilla-flavored English custard, or raspberry syrup.  The Escoffier Cook Book

I had always known sourcing from estate sales was profitable but those types of sales used to be few and far between. I have been able to attend 3 estate sales, with the last one being the estate of a book collecting naval historian.  The Mr., who has no interest in thrift shops, said he would be interested in going to estate sales when we retire.  I have been selling on eBay since 2002. It took awhile to find my niche and I have settled in. I did try my hand selling vintage clothing on Etsy but wasn't very successful at it.  English Birds' Nests Soup The nests used for this soup are those of the tropical swallow, and their shape somewhat resembles that of a rind of a quartered, dry orange.  In the first place, prepare a chicken consomme containing a large proportion of nutritious ingredients. Set three nests to soak in cold water for twenty-four hours, the object being to swell the glutinous elements of which they are composed and to make them transparent.  When they have soak

For those just joining in the party, one of the main reasons I became an eBay reseller was to get out of deb t. I accomplished my goal. I began 2019 five thousand dollars in debt. While not all of my debt elimination was from sales (stimulus payments, income tax return refund), it contributed to at least half of me getting there.  Debt and the worry it brings is not worth sacrificing one's health. Granted, I was given the gift of time when we went into lockdown, to list everything I had been hoarding for  a little while years.  The Deathpile for resellers is anything you haven't listed yet. Mine includes CDs, sewing kits, Boy/Girl Scout stuff, and more from my own collection of books. Camo Build A Bear wearing the Angry Birds knit cap is a forever companion, rescued from the auction boards after being included in my "list everything" lockdownitis.  Deathpile #1 books, books, and more books Deathpile #2 needlework kits and boy/girl scout stuff Deathpile #3 Sewing pa

There used to be an antiques/junk shop on J street in Sacramento. It was filled to the brim nearly floor to ceiling with stuff. In the back was the book room. I remember row upon row of cookbooks. Kicking myself now I didn't snab the best of the bunch.  One of my best-selling items is vintage cookbooks. Betty Crocker red plaids, any retro year. The New York Times Cook Book (pub. 1961), the Fannie Farmer cookbooks. I don't remember the cuisine from the 1970s being particularly appealing, it was the rise of vegetarianism but those vintage ones sell.  One of the challenges within a challenge is "Connection Challenge" to grow a new friendship with a blogger. I hope to discover some amazing blogs on my AtoZ journey.  Cardinal Strawberries Set some fine, cooled strawberries in a timbale; coat them with raspberry sauce, or a puree of fresh raspberries, and sprinkle the latter with slivered fresh almonds.  The Escoffier Cook Book