Apron Thrift Girl

playing an antique appraiser

It isn't just the discovery of a great thrifted find that makes me love what I do but it's also the research behind every item. My childhood friend Ginger and I used to be private detectives. Anything just a tiny bit odd became a mystery for us to solve. Trixie of course was my greatest inspiration for mystery but early on I found that I had a skill for finding things. If my dad lost something he'd describe the item and have me go look for it. Nine times out of ten I brought the item to him. I loved finding what was lost, spotting what was missing and looking for clues for the tiny mysteries of life. Thrifting is very similar. As sappy as it sounds sometimes I feel like a thrift sleuth or a thrift detective. Sure you can find something amazing at a garage sale or thrift store but until you discover the story behind it you might as well just have a simple figurine that you purchased for $30 and not the Meissen Figurine that you could sell for $600.

My mother is too sick to fly but very much wants to see my brother and family who have recently moved to Virginia. They were planning to take a camper there but again she was just too sick. Their latest thought is taking the train across the states. They need a private car with a restroom. I've decided to start a travel fund for them by selling items that they don't want any more.

I learned everything of course from my parents. They are the thrifters that influenced me by taking me to thrift stores, hitting garage sales and appreciating antiques. Their house is filled with old items that my parents purchased for next to nothing. My dad and I went around the house this week while my mother slept and we'd fill a box with items I could possibly sell. Later in the afternoon I'd sit down with my laptop and research the items. I'd share what I found on each item with my parents and the approximate value. They would decide if I should take the item home with me to sell. My dad started to looking forward to this every day.

With some of the items, I just couldn't uncover the mystery. This is a bronze combination lock. Somehow my dad still has the original combination to it. Apparently this has been in my family for over a 100 years. It doesn't have any markings but it is very unique which I hope might attract lock collectors.

This was challenging too but in the end I discovered that it was a French 1886 Lebel Bayonet .

This is a belt buckle marked Holt Newman. It's also marked Sterling and 10K gold. I didn't find much on this artist but the precious metals alone should be enough to sell the belt. Does anyone know much about Holt Newman?

These are my father's old cuff links. Some are sterling while others may be collectible because of their image such as the cable car.

My dad is hoping that this is valuable. I didn't find much information on it but I knew going in that it was quite rare. My father spoke to someone in a museum of trains (possibly this one) and the curator told him that he had only ever seen just one of these before. It's a brochure for the Overland Limited that was only left in the train cars of very important people such as a VIP politician.

It's a stunning book full of photographs and text about the train ride on the Union Pacific Railroad. I could only had time to barely begin to research most of these items so I still have quite a bit of work to do when I return home.

It was such an honor that my father wanted me to research these items for him. I actually found more information on the items not pictures but they mostly had a value between $10-$50. I'm hoping that these items above will turn out to be valuable for him so that they can take their train ride to Virginia.

As friends and family discover that you are a thrifter either hobby or professional, you'll find people asking you more and more questions about the value of items. Some will ask if you will sell something for them. Others simply have a curiosity about an item. Some will drop boxes off at your house and tell you to do whatever you want with them.

We leave Aberdeen and head to Bainbridge Island tonight. We shall do some errands, visit friends and camp for a night before leaving the state tomorrow. I'm going to thrift on the island for a couple hours first thing tomorrow morning to see my old "dealer" friends before hitting the road toward home.

How to Plan a Thrift Trip for the Road

Anytime that a family trip is in the works, I'm always thinking about it through my thrift shopping eyes. New uncharted thrift territory always makes my heart beat a little bit faster. You never know when you might stumble on a thrift store where every item hasn't been fully researched or a store where the prices were the same prices from 20 years ago. It's that mere hope that keeps me planning and charting for every new trip.

When we were planning to take our trip to San Luis Obispo, an ATG reader suggested a Goodwill Outlet in the area. This was going to be one of my highlights for the journey. I miss the Seattle Goodwill Outlet very much as the Santa Rosa one is just not the same. No more vintage quilts, vintage linens or vintage children's books.I can still find some good items but nothing compared to Seattle.

Our plans changed of course when we decided to come and visit my mother instead. Our time was much more limited.

Here's how I typically design our thrift route within a vacation or trip.

• Plan our drive complete with overnight stops and destination hotel/campground locations.
• Find out where we might stop for meals.
• Before we travel I search under Local and type in Thrift in Google or Bing. Here is what thrifting in Aberdeen looks like. One of my favorite thrift stops on I-5 is Grants Pass, Oregon. 
• Traveling on a weekend? I either look up local sales on Craigslist (on my smartphone) or we pull off the freeway and drive through towns looking for Garage Sale Signs. The kids love trying to spot the signs first.
• I search for any local Auction Houses in the small chance they might have an auction while we are there.
• Before my iphone, I used to have a folder for each destination on our journey. In each folder there would be gluten free restaurant information, health food store information, antique store addresses, local parks and a list of the thrift stores including addresses and maps.
• If you find yourself at a thrift store, ask if there are any other thrift stores in the area that you should hit. These might not have made it on the map.
• If you have children, include a list of children & dad activities for them to do while you escape to a few thrift stores. Parks were a favorite of ours. Luckily geocaching has taken the place of parks. I get to adult thrift while the children get to kid thrift.
• A GPS is a wonderful tool if you have one or or if you can borrow one for your journey. To me it is one of the best Thrift Tools on the planet.

One thing that helps as a professional thrifter is that you sort of have the excuse to thrift because it can mean bringing in money. Dave is now fully supportive of this work and makes the time for me to thrift. He wasn't always so keen on me doing this though so if you have a non-believer husband just work with him slowly. If you are planning to thrift as a business hopefully when the money starts to come in,  your husband/partner will see the benefit of you popping into a thrift store to look for a valuable item to ReSell. Thrifting is my passion that became my job and luckily Dave has always somewhat understood this. Now he sees this as more than just my passion but dollar signs as well.

I went into Salvation Army yesterday and came out with a few books worth $80. I was hoping to find some non book gems but they couldn't be found. A local reader mentioned a different thrift store that I'll visit today. Maybe I'll have better luck.

Vintage door with glass window $14.99.

Fabric 99¢ a pound. What I love about smaller, more rural stores is that the prices can be quite lower than urban stores. You might have more luck with finding vintage items.

Vacations can take on a whole new meaning when you mix in a bit of thrifting. We also look for souvenir t-shirts, beach gear, and inexpensive toys or books to keep the children busy on the next leg of our journey.This saves us money rather than popping into retail shops to buy expensive keepsakes.

Do you have any Thrift Travel Tips that weren't mentioned here?

ReSelling Cast Iron Pans - a reader's perspective

I was so touched when a reader, Sunita, contacted me to thank me for my post about ReSelling Cast Iron Pans. She not only found some pans after reading the post, but she bought them and listed them on eBay. I asked her if she would mind writing a guest post. I thought it might be nice for you all to hear her experiences on reading a tip and what followed after.

A Reader's Perspective by Sunita

I found ATG not very long ago. I love reading all her thrifting finds and even more so when she posted re-selling tips. She made it look easier. Yet something was holding me back. The fear of the unknown? The fear of failing? What it was, I never will know.

 One fine day though while I was at Savers, something  hit me. It was their 50% off sale and I decided to invest $30 and buy clothes. Clothes that I think will sell and list them on eBay.I bought some plus sized clothes and some brand names. My first sale was a XXL Gap Cardigan for $6.99. I jumped up and down when I saw it go green. This is was back in June so yes people less than 2 months ago.

There is learning curve to it, how to describe the clothes, how to list an auction, what to price it. But that's the fun part of it. It's almost like gambling, the addiction of seeing how much one can get for their investment. I started going to thrifts every 2-3 days and quickly was up to 20-30 listings. Then eBay announced Free Auction Insertion for 10 days. I jumped on it. I took photos in the afternoon and evening and listed at night. My sales were doing well. It was going to get better.

Remember ATG's post about the Griswolds? I was searching CL when I saw an ad for a barn sale which had Griswolds. I decided to go bright and early. I picked up 6 cast iron skillets and 1 waffle pan.

Waffle Pan.

Cast Iron No 8 Skillet with Lid.

I cleaned and seasoned them. I listed the waffle pan and the no 8 skillet with the lid. The waffle pan sold for $79.99 and the skillet for $39.99.

I paid $60 for the whole lot. I still have 2 listed and I am keeping the rest.

I am going to keep this short and sweet. Ask any questions and I will happy to answer them. Thank you Selena for letting me guest post. A very big thank you for the all your reselling and thrifting tips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Sunita for sharing your story with us all. You can follow Sunita's blog here. Have you followed a tip that you made money on? I'd love to hear about it.

mold - a thrifter's foe

Those who follow me on Facebook may have seen my post on Friday about picking up an entire bin of vintage scrap fabric. I was very excited about this find for a mere $10 even though our van was already full. I gave it the scent test at the estate sale and I could smell a little bit of a moth ball smell but not really anything else.

It wasn't until we arrived at our campsite in Medford and we opened up the back of the van that the dreadful stench of mold was apparent. My heart sank.

Now when I say bin, I don't mean a plastic bin. I'm talking about a vintage round bin that could hold a large amount of beautiful fabric.

These photos are just a sampling of the large amount of fabric in this bin.

My dad asked me last night "why are you throwing fabric all over the lawn?" I'm sure the neighbors not only thought the same thing but also that I lost my mind to then take photographs of the fabric on the lawn. The life of a blogger.

Some of the patterns in this fabric are so unique and fabulous.

Unfortunately this post doesn't include a solution to the mold problem. I have had zero success in ever getting rid of mold in fabric or ephemera such as old letters, receipts and especially books. With plastic and glass, the item can be cleaned and the smell dissipates. I've tried to place a book in an airtight container with baking soda, I've tried to leave it in the sunlight and I've used various de-smelling products that they sell to booksellers. None of them could make it go away.

This website mentions that mold can spread when the moldy item is disturbed and the mold spores become airborne. They compare mold spores to seeds in the way that produce more spores. This means that if you have a moldy book that open up in your home, the mold spores could go airborne. They do require moisture though. I've had a moldy book next to a non moldy book and the smell has definitely spread to the non moldy one.

What am I going to do with the fabric? Unless someone here shares a magic way to remove the smell, I'm either going to give it away (some people don't mind this smell) or throw it away. I rarely throw anything away. I'm the person who yells "stop" when I see a free box at the base of someone's driveway. But I don't want mold in my home. I've brought other items home that didn't seem to smell when I'm out in the thrift field but when I opened up the book at my desk the familiar damp smell of mold appeared.

My first suggestion if you want to avoid mold is to smell everything, especially if you are a ReSeller. I won't sell a book that is moldy unless it's very faint and the book is rare. When I list it, I will describe the smell and make sure the buyer is aware of this problem. Any form of smell whether it is smoky, moldy, musty or smells like a perfume should be noted on anything you ReSell. It is part of the condition of the item.

Do you know the secret to removing mold from Fabric? Can my great vintage Fabric Stash of 2010 be saved?

*********

An update: Thank you for all of your Fabric Stash Saving Ideas. I'm planning to bag the fabric up and take it home to California and try everyone of your ideas to see if this incredible collection of fabric can be saved. Thanks again to all who commented with their ideas and tips.

Thrift Share Monday - On The Road

This last weekend of thrifting was one like no other. Friday I thrifted in California, Saturday I thrifted in Oregon and Sunday I thrifted in Washington. We left on Friday morning but not before I sneaked out to hit a couple estate sales. The first one was over priced but the second one was small and fabulous. Another regular thrifter (who collects and ReSells military items) and I were the only ones there as the seller kept bringing out more items. Sometimes we would ask if he had any of a certain item for sale and he would disappear and could out of the house again with a bag or a box. Our favorite was the bag of costume jewelery. I wasn't able to photograph any of these items but my favorite find was a sterling broach with a topaz style stone in the middle. I also bought a bunch of Sonoma and Humboldt County history books for .25 cents each. 

I had to rush home, package a late paying auction item, close down my computer and pack the car. We left later than we wanted but still got on the road and headed toward Sonoma before noon. My fabulous husband being the understanding man that he is, didn't even blink when I exclaimed "estate sale sign" after we had arrived into Sonoma. He turned left and dropped me off while he entertained the children in the van.

Vintage Handmade Christmas Tree with glitter. 

I spent 20 minutes there and filled the already packed van. It was a great start to the day.

Mt. Shasta. From my childhood home I could see this mountain to the North. My view was nothing like this photo taken up close in the town of Mount Shasta though. We stopped at the Black Bear Diner for dinner and could see Mount Shasta from our booth.

We arrived in Medford, Oregon on Friday night and stayed at the KOA. Note to self- "don't ever camp by I-5 again." I barely slept at all and I was set to meet my blogging friend Sandy at 7am at Starbucks on Saturday morning. I woke up at 5:55 and felt like I was hit by a truck. When I looked in the mirror I grimaced. Still, lack of sleep never stopped a thrifter did it?

Sandy, the Reluctant Entertainer, was a perfect thrifting companion. I was a little worried in the beginning when she mentioned to me that she didn't need more stuff. I needn't have worried though because she shopped and shopped right along side of me. You can see her purchases (including the most incredible hanging lamp ever) on her blog. Please ignore the photo of me-that's what a thrift girl looks like with no sleep and having dressed in a tent.

The best sale we hit was the last one. I must of spent 30 minutes there hoping that I wasn't driving Sandy crazy by my circuits around the tables. I wanted to make sure I that didn't miss anything. These were .25 cents each.

I bought this book as well as a slow cooker book. I paid more than I normally would, $5 each, but they were in new condition. I thought that they would be perfect for the Fall.

My find of the morning was a Longaberger Basket. I can't resist them. I love their durability, their designs and the fact that they are so darn useful. This one (including the lid) was $10. That's just ridiculously cheap for a Longaberger basket. This one little basket made my entire weekend. Do you have items that do that?

What I didn't take photos of were the many items that I bought for Cerys. I found her a nearly new pair of Columbia boots for $2, 4 pair of Mini Boden shorts for $4, 10 long sleeve tops for $1 each that I'm putting away for her "New School Clothes" bin and a bunch of tights/leggings. 

I found lots of 25¢ craft items and new in package games. It was one of those sales were the prices were simply perfect and I didn't hold back.

Dave sighed and said some words that aren't fit for my blog when I returned to the campsite with my load. Usually the van is packed on our way home but not to our destination. I think we need a Thule cargo box and I'm wondering if I can thrift one this week. It's mostly the camping items taking up so much room. 

We are now in Aberdeen and I'm at my father's old oak library desk looking over the town of Aberdeen and the harbor. This is the town where Kurt Cobain grew up. I spent three very sad years here. It's really nice to return with my husband and children with such a different life. At the end of the day it was being in Aberdeen that led me to Chicago where I met and fell in love with David. It's lovely to see my parents but hard to see my mother in pain. I hope this week we can help her smile and laugh and forget even for just fleeting moments. Thank you for the your thoughts and prayers for my mother. It is greatly appreciated. 

Don't forget to head over to the party at Southern Hospitality.

What did you find this weekend?

ReSelling Tip Post - Everyday Food Magazine

Every week at Apron Thrift Girl I'm going to share with you an item which might be worth picking up as you are thrifting. The items that I suggest may have a good ReSelling value to them. Like stocks and bonds or gold and silver, the market always fluctuates. Something that might be a good seller now may drop in price drastically over the next few months. Also as any experienced eBay seller knows, there are certain seasons where some items do better than others. Before you buy any items that I suggest, please do your own research to understand the market of the item that I mention here at ATG.

This week I'm going to discuss the topic of Magazines: Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Before I chat about magazines I wanted to mention how to become a ReSelling Tip Post Sponsor:

Apron Thrift Girl features a weekly post about a second hand item that her readers can look for while thrifting to ReSell. If you are interested in sponsoring a single post the cost is $5.00. This will include a small banner/small button on the post and a link to your service, store or item. This would be ideal if you wish to drive more traffic to your Etsy store, eBay store, ReSelling Product or Service. If you wish more information on demographics and monthly pageviews, please fill out the Contact Form from the navigational bar with your request.

Magazines are a very interesting item to research. Some back issues do extremely well while some you can't give away.

What I do with magazines that I know sell pretty well in lots is to slowly collect them. I store them either on a shelf or in a box until I have a large number of them. Everyday Food is a great magazine to collect. I try to buy them for 25¢ each or I pick them up in the free pile.

47 copies that included Issue #1 sold in May for $92. At the same time though 54 issues with #1 sold for $47. Another lot of just 6 from 2008 sold for $13.02. There are some lots though that never sold. Before you start buying do your own research to make sure you feel comfortable investing in this magazine to ReSell.

Selling on eBay is never really predictable which is why I wouldn't invest a lot of money in these, but every lot that I have ever sold gave me a little profit. A couple years ago I sold #1 by itself for around $27.00.

Here's a shipping tip. Magazines with advertising cannot go Media Mail. Many ReSellers say that they will go Media Mail but they are not allowed to be shipped this way. I try to send them in a Flat Rate Priority Box or offer them Parcel Post. Media Mail can be inspected at any time.

BONUS TIP: Does anyone remember Sassy Magazine? I have maybe 40 back issues of this magazine that I bought as a teenager. If you do a search on it you'll be surprised at the prices this 1980's magazine can fetch.

I apologize for the two day delay with announcing the winner of my 500th post giveaway. We are leaving town this morning to go visit my mother and I've had to do so much preparation including close down ReSelling Venues. I think we're nearly ready to go. The car is packed, our house sitter is here and my thrift map of California, Oregon and Washington is ready. 

Here's the winner.

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 47

#47 is Dogsmom. You can see her blog here. I'll be in touch as soon as we return from our journey north.

Thrift TV

Last week I visited a blog that mentioned a television show on the History Channel called "American Pickers." I immediately watched a preview on YouTube and darted over to the tivo and set it to record every upcoming episode. Dave and I watched our first episode that night and I was completely and utterly hooked. That week I would mention the show to people in person and online it appeared that everyone had heard of "American Pickers" except me. How did I miss this? I asked why they never told me aka kept me in the dark and everyone had assumed that I was already watching it. I'm quickly catching up watching an episode every night.

I loved practically every minute of this show. As Thrifters we speak a different language than most of our social circle. We talk about a "thrifter's high" about "scoring" about "digging" and the "buzz" of leaving a sale with our van full of boxes of junk. As I watched Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz pick through barns and basements I felt their passion for not only their job but for each item that they touched. It's what many of us do every single weekend. Their passion is our passion.

To watch a show that I could relate to in so many ways was completely refreshing. Some of it was odd such as the use of the word "rad." I gladly left that word behind in the 80's but Mike does it with such childlike energy that you can't help but smile. I'm also often surprised when they buy something for $100 with plans to sell it for $150. I sit there thinking of packing it, eBay fees and the work involved with the item. I wonder if these high prices for items they purchase are for tv only. If I sell something for $150, I hope to not pay more than $20 for it. And then there are the scenes where they are in a dusty barn walking on boxes of stuff and they only take away a handful of items while I'm itching to make an offer on the entire barn. I'd love to know the back story on their business. You are actually able to follow their eBay auctions here.

I watch every American Pickers with a notebook in hand. I write down items that they discuss on the show and the following day research each one. It's like a free Thrifters education course.

Watching this show got me thinking about other shows that might be great homework for a Thrifter.

Antiques Road Show

 

Pawn Stars- History Channel

I haven't watched Pawn Stars but a FB friend thought I would enjoy it if I liked American Pickers. Watching the preview, I think she's probably right.

Man Shops Globe - The Sundance Channel

Imagine getting paid to travel the world to shop at flea markets as well as from artisans and crafts people. I haven't seen an episode yet because we don't have this channel. It's interesting that a review said that one problem with the show is that they don't mention any prices that Keith Johnson pays for these items. He is a buyer for Anthropolgie so you can guess that the difference for what he buys and sells might be drastically different. I'd still love his job. Has anyone seen this show?

I keep debating about doing some vlogging. Maybe in the next year you'll see the first episode of "American Thrifters." What would you want to see in a show that focused on Thrifting? 

Do you know of any other shows that would fit into this category of Thrift TV?

discounted martha stewart

Now that Martha's craft empire is growing and spreading, I am beginning to find her in places where you wouldn't quite expect to see her. I needed some more Bentley's Pomegranate White Tea from TJ Maxx which they sell it at a discounted price of $3.99. When I went to check out, I noticed a display with a few of Martha's items.

I practically gasped aloud when I turned the scissors over and saw that they were only $1.99. The corner rounder was $3.99. Dave and the children were waiting for me in the car so I couldn't look for other signs of Martha. I went back yesterday though in search of more scissors but they were all gone. I never seem to have enough scissors even though I thrift them whenever I can. They are like socks in my house, they simply disappear.

Yesterday we also stopped by Big Lots and found some more Martha Stewart. I picked up a couple craft kits to give my nieces for Christmas. I love that I'm beginning to see Martha supplies for much less than they sell at Michaels.

Here are some places to search for discounted Martha:

• TJ Maxx
• Big Lots
• Grandin Road (found some amazing discounted items there)
• Micheals (look for discounts after Halloween or Christmas etc has passed)

When I left TJ Maxx and got back in the van to Dave & the kids I told him that he should be glad that I only popped in to get my tea. That place is dangerous for someone like me, even on a frugal budget. There are so many fabulous things and I swear things were mischievously trying to lure me in with their hugely discounted prices. I didn't escape unscathed though. This cup managed to find it's way into my bag too at the sweetened price of $6.99.

During the school year I make a cup of tea with my breakfast but never seem to be able to finish it before we need to leave to school. I generally take my Cath Kidson cup with me and because I have a bit of a clumsy nature, it spills on the bumps or when I am attempting to take a sip. This cup should prevent all future spillage. The cup itself is ceramic, the top and sleeve are silicon. Come September I'll be armed with my new cup and ready for that drive to school. 

Back to Martha......Have you found discounted Martha anywhere not mentioned here? I'm wondering if she has shown up at Tuesday Morning, Marshall's and Ross?

Investing in Inventory

If you are going to be a professional thrifter then it's important to think of it as a legitimate business. This means having a business license, opening a business bank account, keeping track of your spending, your profit, your mileage and filing your taxes. I'm planning on writing a post when I return from Washington about how I keep track of everything.

I've worked hard the last few months ReSelling everything that I can get my hands on. I've been listing lots of books to go on my various book venues and I've been busy selling on eBay. My bank account has been growing steadily. I like to have an average balance of $3000.00 in my account. This allows me the freedom of making a big inventory purchase.

I had that chance on Friday when I hit an estate sale. I had arrived at 6:30 a.m. I was the 14th name on the paper list that awaits every estate sale in our area and waited until the 9am opening. Two women who didn't want to follow the rules sneaked up on the porch and were attempting to get in before me and quite a few other people. If they let 15 people in, I would have been closed out of the advertised 2500 books available. I subtly mentioned this to the other men behind me in line that the women were in the 20's on the list. They took my bait and began to converse with the women. The women were not too nice though and said they weren't moving. They did get in but not before me thankfully.

I had seen photos on an email from the estate sale company so I went in search of a cabinet of large books. There were two book scanners and two other old school booksellers that I knew of. I skipped the living room which probably had the most books. This was a good move since all 4 booksellers stayed there. I went into another room and started looking through the books. The prices were mostly $3 and $5 but some were $1, $10, $15 and even $20. I immediately started filling my box. Some books hadn't been opened while others were dog eared with highlighting but even those usually didn't have a creased spine and were visually in very good condition.

When I was busy looking through the books, the gentleman running the sale came in and said that there are art and architecture books in the garage. I made my way out there quickly and found one of the booksellers but without a scanner. She sighed when I started scanning even though I kept to my side of this large cabinet and didn't crowd her. Funny enough she warmed up at the end and even asked me to scan a couple books that she had picked up. I didn't mind, since she had been overall pretty nice and I already had a huge stack of valuable books. We talked as we looked through books about the pros and cons of scanner technology. I think she was sold on one by the end of our chat.

13 Banker Boxes of Books.

After I went through the Art & Architecture cabinet twice I had 3 1/2 banker boxes of books.I managed to move them into the hallway, threw my hoodie over them and began in another room. I looked through every book in practically the entire room. I got 2 1/2 more banker boxes of books in that room. Headed to another room that might have been scanned quickly but still a lot of books to be found. I shopped for 2 1/2 hours in all before I had to go. I didn't eat a proper breakfast that morning because of nerves which meant that I was starving and my eyes were starting to go all wonky. I left in the end with 7 completely full banker boxes for a total cost of $840.

sample of books

The books were a fascinating array of many topics including; spiritual, natural health, philosophical, natural foods etc as well as art and architecture. They were such a pleasure to look through even when I was on speed mode to get through them all as quickly as I could. It was fun to go back on Saturday and look through everything again at a slightly slower pace. I bought 6 more Banker Boxes on Saturday when everything was 1/2 off. I spent $315 on Saturday. Both purchases went on my Business Credit Card which means that I can actually process many of the books and hopefully sell enough to completely cover the Visa bill. Having spent $1155, my personal goal would be to sell the books for around $4400. The cost of them initially is higher than I'd like to pay so they may bring around $3000. I've already listed 60 books with a value of $1000.

such a lovely collection of books

Even on Saturday, I was still finding $50, $60, $70 and even a $200 value book. And in the end I never got through everything. I shopped for two hours until closing. Let me tell you I was a wreck all weekend.

a valuable gem. planning to list on Amazon for $148.88.

I try to buy 2-3 large collections of books a year. I used to do this on Bainbridge but hadn't found a collection since I moved to California. The investment of money into a book collection is what helps bring continuous monthly sales of books throughout the year. When I had 700 books in my inventory up on Bainbridge, my sales were averaging between $3000 and $4000.

Even with non book items, I buy many things in the summer that I simply don't have time to process. I'll sell my summer purchases all year so that my income stays steady. August through January are some of the best ReSelling months of the year. As soon as I return from Washington I'm going to kick it up a notch and get many things listed through my book venues, on ebay both as auctions and BIN items (possibly open a store) and began to fill my Etsy store in preparation for the holidays.

Have you ever made a large thrift purchase? Either for business or personal?

Thrift Share Monday - July 19

Thrifting isn't always the most relaxing thing to do, especially if it is your job. It can be very hard work even though I love what I do. I arrived at an estate sale on Friday morning at 6:30 am, shopped for 2 1/2 hours and pretty much exhausted myself for the entire weekend. Have you ever done this? It really set the pace for the next three days. It was worth it though and I'll share about my great book purchase of 2010 with you tomorrow.  I kept my non work purchases to a minimum this week. Here's what I found.

This little squirrel is a Russian pull-along toy that I picked up for .50 cents. It was the toadstool that got me though. I can't resist a sweet toadstool.

The first sale of the day on Saturday was in Sebastopol at the home of a woman that used to make organic baby clothing. This organic material is some of her scrap material that I paid $1.00 for.

Some wooden tags for .50 cents.

A Vintage Christmas wall hanging. Look at the detailed work that went into making this. If you pop over to Goody Girl Red you'll see a muffin tin of supplies that I think was purchased at the same sale. Some of Shara's supplies may have gone into making this.

I went back to this sale at the end of day and bought quite a few vintage ornaments from Poland and Czechoslovakia when they were half off. 

I was relieved to have found so much book inventory this weekend because I won't be able to properly thrift for the next two weekends. We were set to leave for Southern California on Friday but my mother is getting weaker and weaker from her chemo. We are taking an emergency trip up to Washington to see her. My heart has been a bit heavy this week but I'm glad that we had some money in my business savings to make this journey. I'll be talking more about the importance of a business savings account tomorrow.

Don't forget to pop over to Southern Hospitality to join her thrift party.

Did you thrift this weekend? What did you find?