Christmas in July

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185519798442

An anomaly in the world of resell is Christmas-themed products selling in July. I recently listed holiday needle kits, and they sold quickly. I purchased a mystery bag of sewing-related items and this kit was part of it. 

I listen to a certain thrifting podcast and have learned some information on listing terms. 

Antique: Items that are over 100 years old. 
Vintage: Items that are old, my criteria is 1980s and earlier. 
Retro: New items that are made to look old

eBay now offers sellers the option to post videos. My next purchase is a rotating display stand for those types of videos. 

On a different subject, my family and I like Princess House lamps. We each have one. This recent find had a cracked lamp top. 

When I did a search to replace it, I was surprised to see the lamps fetch from $40-$100+. While I did not find another PH lamp, I did find a lead crystal one with flowers ($1.99 at thrift) that nearly matches another of my thrift shop find lamps. 

The last second hand find to highlight is this Goorin hat. I don't find too many of them and sold a blue one that I now wish I kept. This black and white checkered is beyond cute, but just a tad small for me. 

The fan is retro. I am tempted to model that hat, all I need to complete the outfit is a pair of Dr. Martens!

Upcoming Blogiversary

Celebrating my 11 year blogiversary next month. The frosted cake donut with sprinkles is one of my decadent indulgences. I hear Levi jackets are trending, and I've got a red-tag one. 

A while ago, I signed up for AdSense and then promptly forgot about it. It is those irritating ads you see that break into the blog post. Well, those irritations just paid me $100. I am unsure how long it took to earn that $100 (pretty sure it was a few years), but that is $100 I didn't have before. 

Reseller update: In August 2019, my listings on eBay totaled 4. Three years later, my listings hover around 1,700. Last year, I made $5,000. This year, I made nearly $10,000.

I was all gung ho on reselling thrifted quilt books. Turns out the popular ones are also the popular fabric designers such as Kaffe Fassett and Tula Pink. I will be reducing that inventory, 3 cratefuls of it. 

My business goals continue, and after viewing this video

I created one of my own for my eBay store. I went ahead and purchased the iMovie software. Eventually, I will be adding more video to my listings. 

My next asset purchase will be another 5 shelf rolling wire rack. The first rack is overflowing. I have enough death pile inventory in sewing patterns to fill up another two shelves. 

I met a so-called "Peddler" during my family leave stay in Washington. Keith owned the Comfort Inn where I had a room for two weeks. He had been an eBay seller for quite some time, and encouraged me to become an Amazon seller. 

He mentioned his wife was successful reselling vintage glass. He suggested carrying a hand-held blacklight, and anything that luminesced was worth checking out. Just pass the light along the rows of glassware at thrift. 

My newest BOLO is yarn and have already sold a few skeins. Mostly I find acrylic, or the quality yarn is priced too high at thrift. 

There you have it - until next time~

Tami

Radio Silence

My mother at 94 years old left this world on July 11th. She died peacefully surrounded by friends and family. A celebration of her life memorial service was held on July 20th. I flew in prior to her passing and stayed to settle the estate. This type of loss makes you question your own life. Grief overwhelms you.

My short breaks from the bedside vigil were to the one place that gives me comfort and joy - thrift shops. I found another blue Ball jar to add to my collection. I haven't decided on the quilt blocks. 

I was able to send back 3 bankers boxes full of inventory to sell because a U-Haul was rented to empty mom's apartment. A 6'x12' trailer was filled to capacity. There is a huge photo archive to cull through and digitize.

I will be back in Fort Bragg, California, in a couple of weeks and hope to share some more interesting images.  

Happy 4th of July holiday

The red and white crocheted blanket and USA patriotic wall hanging were both purchased last month at a 1/2 off thrift sale. It was almost criminal that I spent less than $5 for the two. I image the cost of just the yarn alone on that well crafted crocheted piece was over $30.

I bought the red and white blanket to sell, but now I just can't part with it. 

I sent a quilt to be completed at the long-armer as a birthday present to myself. My next project is a baby quilt. It should be a quick put-together of bordering the blocks, and sewing everything together. 

Recent listings on eBay were a group of needlekits. Those finds come in batches, so when I buy them, I just scoop them up. Even better if they are Christmas ones. I don't really examine them until I prepare them for listing. 

This kit I am especially fond of because I made the original when it came out in 1990s, and is displayed on the mantel each holiday season. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185481816565

It will be Christmas in July for me because people buy holiday items all year round. Two of my listed kits sold next day. 

This display was at my fav hospice thrift - I would snag that flag quilt had I been in town.

We are back in Bragg - Fort Bragg, California. I hope to have more whale/fish pics in an upcoming post.