Apron Thrift Girl

Thrift Share Monday - silver and gold weekend

Antique Sterling Wine Funnel

As a ReSeller and professional Thrifter I have really very few requirements. For a perfect weekend I love finding sterling, gold and Mid Century Modern items. There are other items I'd love to uncover but really it's those three that leave me satisfied through the rest of the weekend. This weekend I found all three.

Friday I found this Sterling Wine Funnel above as well as a mid century modern light fixture (similar to this one) at estate sales in Novato.

Saturday, Keiran and I were first in the door to a rummage sale where I found these iittala water goblets and a few other items below.

iittala water goblets

Blenko Glass Mushroom Candle Holder

Denby Jet Dots Dish Set

A woman who had travelled from San Jose for the sale had asked me where I was headed once I was in the door. I told her that I'd head toward the books and Keiran would head toward the toys. Ironically as I was cutting down an isle to reach the books quicker I spotted a very large set of Denby dishes. I quickly put them in my rolling cart and continued on to the books.

My mother-in-law who lives in England is a woman after my own heart. She owns at least 8 different sets of dishes with the majority of them being Denby. She purchased most of them in the 70's and 80's. I fell in love with them quickly and even picked out a set for our wedding gift registry from a store called Debenhams.

When we lived in England we would comb the factory stores in search of "seconds" or dishes that were on sale. We even travelled to Denby and visited their factory. Denby is typically sold at Macy's and Nordstroms in the U.S. These jet dot plates above originally sold for around $43 each. At the rummage sale I bought dinner plates, salad plates, bowls and cups. These will be listed on eBay eventually after I get the 4 banker boxes of Heath listed. Sometimes I don't know why I buy dishes since I take forever to list them.

For those that focus primarily on dishes, do you have a certain favorite box to ship dinner plates in?

My last purchase which made my weekend perfect was a pair of gold tone earrings. I bought them because they were a style that I liked and that I think I could sell on eBay for at least $75. After I brought them home I took my jeweler's loupe and saw that they had a faint 14k marking on the back. I tested them with my gold testing kit and they were 14k gold. Not only that but the value in scrap gold alone was $386 yesterday. Today's value is $393. What a surprise.

The weekend was especially perfect as I got to watch both my children perform in the circus. It was a truly magical day watching them and seeing their confidence. Neither of the kids enjoy acting in plays. In fact Keiran wants non speaking roles because he find acting so uncomfortable. Both children shined in the circus. In fact I have never seen Cerys so happy and so confident as I did on Saturday night with her Circus group. It made me a proud mama. It also was a confirmation that Waldorf is the perfect education for my introvert and unique daughter and son. Here are photos from the event. Cerys is on the "tissue" in the 10th photo to the right.

Did you go thrifting this weekend?

Thrift Share Monday celebrates the Art of Thrifting. As a community of readers and bloggers we are able to connect through the process of buying second hand, selling and sharing.

We Thrift  - We Share

Here are some guidelines if you would like to join Thrift Share:

• Your Thrift Share Monday blog post should include your thrifted finds from the weekend.
• Create a blog post with photos of your items.
• Link your Thrift Share Monday post back to Apron Thrift Girl.
• Link to your Thrift Share Monday post on Apron Thrift Girl using inlinkz below.
• If you participate with Thrift Share Monday regularly, please add a button to your side bar so that we can build our Thrift Share Community.

Don't forget to visit Her Library Adventures for Flea Market Finds.

affiliated link is included in this post which helps support the ATG blog.

Flea Market Selling Tip - Removable Price Tags

Scotch Removable Magic Tape

I thrift for tape every chance that I get. When I'm at an estate sale, I'll make sure to hit the office in search of packing tape, scotch tape and even duck tape. There really isn't a tape that I don't love.

Well this cheeky tape played a small trick on me and it was not love at first stick. I had not read the package because typically tape is tape. Right? I loaded it into my vintage tape dispenser and was really disappointed to discover that it wasn't very sticky. Here I was preparing orders and I had to deal with inadequate tape. I went in search of the box and sure enough it's basically Post-It tape.

I didn't even know such a product existed. I took it off the dispenser and stuck it back in the drawer until a few months later. It was at that point that I realized that this tape was perfect for pricing inventory that I didn't want to damage with regular tape or price stickers.

It was perfect for this crepe paper. Part of the fabulousness of this item is actually the vintage graphics. I don't want to chance ruining it with sticky labels and tags.

Don't you adore how many different typefaces were used for this single product?

The price tags used in these photos are from my Free -Garage Sale Pack. I have been using them to price my flea market items as well as my Case at the Antique Society. More details about that to come soon.

These items are going to be for sale at Little Shop Trunk Shows and at Flea Markets this summer.

I can't recommend this tape enough. Scotch is not paying me to write about their tape but if you appreciate this article you can click through to Amazon through my affiliate link.

Thrift Share Monday - Heath Pottery

Heath Ceramics Collection

The pouring rain and wind didn't deter me from this thrifting this weekend. I was out the door early on Friday to wait in line at an Estate Sale that had mentioned Heath in the listing. I made it 2nd in line and once in the door I hurried toward the kitchen. The pottery was there waiting for me. There were so many plates, little plates, tiny plates and mugs. The price was fantastic.

Heath Mug

I usually carry little sold stickers to place on larger items that I want to buy but I didn't have any that day. So I grabbed the plate with the price and went in search of a Sold tag from the main table where we pay for everything. I happily stuck the sold tag onto the Heath and continued shopping.

Heath Ceramics by Amos Klausner

This book on Heath Ceramics went with the set. It's full of stunning photos of Edith Heath, her early pottery and photos from the factory which was in Sausalito, CA. The book is going in my resource library.

iittala bowl

With my new focus on buying what I really want to sell, I'm able to go into a thrift store with positive energy. I went into Goodwill last week and spotted this iittala bowl on the shelf. Now when I buy 2-3 items I feel content. Before I was really looking to fill my basket but it was with those items that are now in my "garage sale" shed. This will hopefully be listed this week.

Owls

I picked up two of these fabulous owl glasses which will be for sale at the Little Shop Booth this Saturday at the Waldorf Circus.

Studio Copper Necklace

Saturday morning I drove out into the beautiful hills of Sebastopol to an estate sale of an artist.  She loved to dabble in pottery, copper and enamel. I found this studio copper necklace.

Studio Enamel Bowl

My friend Jacki introduced me to the world of enameling when I lived on Bainbridge Island. Since then I have thrifted a small kiln, lots of copper pieces and enamel powders. Now I just need to bring her down here to show me how to do it.

This week, I will be preparing for Saturday's Little Shop booth. I also will continue to list auctions in order to take advantage of eBay free auction listings for Store owners. It's going to be a very busy ReSelling week.

Did you go thrifting this weekend?

Thrift Share Monday celebrates the Art of Thrifting. As a community of readers and bloggers we are able to connect through the process of buying second hand, selling and sharing.

We Thrift  - We Share

Here are some guidelines if you would like to join Thrift Share:

• Your Thrift Share Monday blog post should include your thrifted finds from the weekend.
• Create a blog post with photos of your items.
• Link your Thrift Share Monday post back to Apron Thrift Girl.
• Link to your Thrift Share Monday post on Apron Thrift Girl using inlinkz below.
• If you participate with Thrift Share Monday regularly, please add a button to your side bar so that we can build our Thrift Share Community.

Don't forget to visit Her Library Adventures for Flea Market Finds.

Antique Society Anniversary Sale - Sebastopol

Antique Society Anniversary Sale

Years ago when Sonoma County used to be our vacation destination, we always made a point to stop at the Antique Society Store in Sebastopol. I would walk around from booth to booth longing for all the vintage wares and goodness that were for sale. I'd usually spend my "souvenir" money on relics of the past rather than a modern t-shirt or mug souvenir.

Now that we are living in Sonoma County I'm lucky enough that I can go by at any time. It's truly a fabulous store, filled with industrial, mid century modern, arts & crafts and of course vintage and antique items.

Starting tomorrow they are having their 23rd Anniversary 20% off store wide sale.

I was just there on Tuesday and I saw some Cathrineholm, Bitossi, lots of teak and even a few Jere pieces. It's worth visiting as education alone if you are in the area. But I'm guessing that it would be hard to walk away empty handed.

They are open 10-5pm Daily. 2661 Gravenstein Hwy So. Sebastpol CA 95472

Don't forget to Like their Facebook page to keep up to date on events and future sales.

ReSelling ~ Yearly Sales Goal

1960's Home from a vintage Architectural Digest

As many of you know my main drive for ReSelling this year is to save up for a down payment on a house. We are in a rental in the city of Santa Rosa. We want to be back in the country, with our own well, growing vegetables, planting fruit trees and raising our own chickens. This future house is all I think about. When I'm at the store buying water because our own water taste so poorly or I'm buying a carton of eggs rather than heading to the chicken coop I think about my homestead. We have doubled our efforts with saving money and our down payment account is growing steadily.

A month or so ago it popped into my head that I'd like to sell $125,000 worth of inventory. Last year I sold $53,000 so my new goal is double that and then some. I don't know where the number came from but I'm going with it. It may not be this year or even the next year but it's something that I want to work toward. Friends of mine that sell books & toys on Amazon are selling over a hundred thousand dollars in inventory. It can be done. Another friend of mine sold $70,000 at his Antique Store booth last year.

Last night I sat down with the calculator and ran the numbers. I wanted to really understand what this huge goal meant.

$125,000 Sales Goal for the year breaks down to:

• $10,416 a month
• $2,403 a week
• $343 a day

When I looked at the numbers by the day it really helped me understand what my listing goals need to be. If I break that down even more, I could sell $150 on Amazon a day and $193 on Amazon.

At the beginning of the year Dave and I discussed selling at the Santa Rosa Flea Market. If we sold an average of $300 in inventory there every Sunday, at the end of the year we'd have $15,600. Well we haven't been to one Flea Market once but it's the idea that a $300 weekend can bring in such a large amount of money by the end of the year.

I'd like you to think about your sales goal for the year. How much would you love to sell? Now do the math and break it down to the month, week and finally by the day.

Each day, I'm going to add up my sales and see how close I am to my daily goal. This will inspire me for the next day. It will motivate and push me to list, take photos, clean inventory as well as buying inventory that I want to sell.

Here are my ReSelling goals that I'd like to be doing in a years time-

• Continue to build up my store on eBay with a minimum of 500 items
• Continue to sell inventory on Amazon that include books, music, movies and toys
• Have a booth at one of the best Antique Stores in Sonoma County (application is in hand as I write this)
• Attend at least 5 Waldorf School Winter Faires as a Vendor
• Attend at least 5 Vintage Faires/Flea Markets in the North Bay
• Complete an eBook on ReSelling
• Have a minimum of 10 - Little Shop Trunk Shows
• Create an online store for Little Shop (venue still to be decided)

ReSelling may not always be just selling on one venue. In fact, it can be dangerous to have all your ReSelling eggs in one basket. A friend of mine, a few years ago had her eBay account shut down due to a problem at her Half.com account. Thankfully she was selling on Amazon at the time too. I've heard also of ReSellers that have had their Amazon account shut down temporarily. I feel that being diverse, always being one step of the game and willing to change will make us successful.

If you feel like sharing your goals in the comment please do so. I know that your comments from Monday's post about too much inventory helped every one of us. It's reassuring to know that we are not alone. Thank you for your honesty.

I should add that 8 years ago I remember selling a children's book for $32. I sat there in shock that I could sell something so small for such a huge amount of money. It was my first real kid lit sale and I was over the moon. Last week I sold 8 champagne glasses for $250, an enamel pot for $175 and a necklace for $257. In just 7 years I have moved from very small but wonderful sales to 3 digit sales. It can be done. If I can do it, you can do it. Dream big and work hard. I can't wait to hear your goals.

Thrift Share Monday - Narrowing the Focus

Blenko Glass Owls - Bookends

Narrowing my focus has been my priority during the last two weeks. As I've mentioned in the last few posts, I'm changing my direction of my ReSelling business. I'm buying less, I'm buying what I want to sell and I'm clearing out all of the items that I never want to see again. I'm also listing more, I'm finding less but at the same time finding more because my search has narrowed, and I'm loving my job.

Last Friday I drove over the mountain (tall hill?) to Calistoga to an estate sale. I found the owl bookends above, book inventory, a Christmas item for the Waldorf Faire next December and a German clock. While I left the sale with just a box of items, it made it easy to deal with when I returned home. The books went into my "to list" box, the bookends were photographed (and listed on Sunday), the Christmas item in the garage and the clock went on the wall after I discovered it wasn't worth too much.

Saturday I woke at 4:15 and signed up on the Estate Sale list by 4:30. That's A.M. time. Sadly it wasn't my kind of sale. The house was filled with vintage items but not the things that I'm interested in.  I bought a few items to ReSell but not what I had been expecting to buy.

The most difficult thing about this change in buying is the feeling of disappointment that I have when the car isn't full of inventory. Yet at the same time, there have been some days when I've returned home with a van load only to sigh when I've looked at it. The idea of having to deal with it all could be so overwhelming. I'll admit that some days that I left it in the car until I felt like I could face it.

Yesterday morning I woke to gray skies and a light sprinkling of rain. While Craigslist mentioned that the Santa Rosa Flea Market was happening, instead I stayed home and worked on my office. I've nearly sorted the entire room. I sent 6 large boxes of what used to be eBay inventory, to our Yard Sale shed. It felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. I didn't see it as throwing away money because I think I'll make back most of what I spent when I sell it at our next yard sale.

I'm feeling lighter, efficiently focused and happier. It seems silly that unlisted-piled-up-inventory could cause one stress, but it can. I begin to feel so inadequate that I can't get it all listed. At the end of the day it's a simply mathematical equation. I probably buy 20 items to the 1 item that I can list. That doesn't work now does it. It means I'll never catch up.

When you bring home a piece of inventory there may be an hour of work involved. It might be in chunks of time but there is the initial research. There is the moving the item around. There might be the 2nd research since you forgot what you searched the last time and then of course there is the indecision of what really to do with the item. There may even be the time spent photographing the item only to figure out that it isn't really worth selling. Every minute you spend on ONE item is money.

I think we all should really look at the math of buying inventory.

How many items do you think you can really list in one week? How many items do you buy in one week?

I'm trying to get a system in place where I can bring inventory home, make a decision once on what to do with it. It can either go into a "flea market" box, a "to-be-photographed for eBay" box, my yard sale Box or the Thrift Store box. The error occurs when I move the item around from office to garage to office without knowing what to do with it. That indecision can cost me money and stress.

Pin purchased on Thursday listed on Sunday

If I can get my turn around quicker from buying to listing, I think my business will become more profitable. 

Spirit Flute purchased on Friday and listed on Sunday

One thing that has helped my efficiency is storing a small number of items together (albeit in the dining room bay window) that I want to photograph. The following day in the morning when the light is best, I'll take pictures of the inventory.

Later in the day I'll edit the photos and move the inventory to a table in my office. The next morning or possibly that day, I'll begin to list items. This is now simply becoming a habit. The immediate result is that I'm listing more and selling more.

My two immediate goals is filling my eBay store in preparation for summer when I won't work as much. The other goal is completely sorting out the garage and excess inventory by summer. When Garage Sale season really kicks into gear, I want to be ready.

What are you current goals for your business?

Did you go thrifting this weekend?

Thrift Share Monday celebrates the Art of Thrifting. As a community of readers and bloggers we are able to connect through the process of buying second hand, selling and sharing.

We Thrift  - We Share

Here are some guidelines if you would like to join Thrift Share:

• Your Thrift Share Monday blog post should include your thrifted finds from the weekend.
• Create a blog post with photos of your items.
• Link your Thrift Share Monday post back to Apron Thrift Girl.
• Link to your Thrift Share Monday post on Apron Thrift Girl using inlinkz below.
• If you participate with Thrift Share Monday regularly, please add a button to your side bar so that we can build our Thrift Share Community.

Don't forget to visit Her Library Adventures for Flea Market Finds.

Little Shop goes to the Circus

Little Shop goes to the Circus

My daughter Cerys attends an afternoon Circus Class at a Waldorf School during the year. She also attends a camp for 2 weeks every summer. She does everything from juggling to trapeze to working with the tissue (which is pictured above). This year the Circus at the school is celebrating their 20th anniversary. They even purchased an actual Circus tent that came from Germany. It's just gorgeous.

Little Shop is going to have a stall in the carnival area of the celebration. I'll be selling wooden toys, vintage wares, circus items, craft items and children's books. Please stop on by and say hello. Also in attendance will be our cotton candy machine and popcorn machine (acquired from the Prop Sale in Los Angeles - ironically from Disney Studios).

I've decided to use the name Little Shop for my Flea Market & Faire stall. I'm hoping to start attending some vintage markets this summer. If you have any to suggest in the Bay Area please let me know.

I'm also going to begin offering Little Shop Trunk Shows. This will entail me bring vintage wonders and sweetness to your homes. The host will invite their friends, whip up some food from a suggested "vintage" inspired menu, dress up in their Mad Men attire and receive a percentage of the sales. I cannot wait to get the details finalized. If you are local and are interested in booking a trunk show, you can contact me through the Contact button.

Lots to plan & scheme & dream and visualize. I hope to see you on the 24th at Circus Waldissima.

Thrift Share Monday - March

Arabia Cat Pitcher

This last weekend included thrifting at estate sales, Garage Sales, Moving Sales, Thrift stores, Craiglist and a Flea Market. I think I hit nearly every kind of thrifting that there is. The weather was warm and sunny and it felt great to be home again.

Friday was my best day of the weekend with an estate sale with my favorite estate sale company. I found books, jewelry and mid century modern items. I did much better with sticking with my thrift priorities that I mentioned in the last post. I left inventory behind that I could sell but I knew that I didn't want to sell. I spent less but can handle dealing everything I bought. I'm hoping to get all the inventory listed from Friday today and tomorrow.

Saturday took me down to San Jose where I bought 39 pieces of iittala glassware from Finland.

39 iittala Glasses from Finland

The photo doesn't show how fab they are. They are part of the ice style of glasses that iittala is known for. It was fun to thrift in the South Bay and up the Peninsula. I found the Arabia Cat pitcher in Palo Alto at a garage sale.

Adventures of Perrine

This was my favorite find of the weekend by far. It's a book called The Adventures of Perrine and it's my mother's favorite childhood book. She gave it to me to read when I was a child and it quickly became my favorite. My mother gave her very worn copy to Cerys a year and a half ago. I've never ever come across a copy of this until yesterday. It's worth around $75 on Amazon.

Did you go thrifting this weekend?

Thrift Share Monday celebrates the Art of Thrifting. As a community of readers and bloggers we are able to connect through the process of buying second hand, selling and sharing.

We Thrift  - We Share

Here are some guidelines if you would like to join Thrift Share:

• Your Thrift Share Monday blog post should include your thrifted finds from the weekend.
• Create a blog post with photos of your items.
• Link your Thrift Share Monday post back to Apron Thrift Girl.
• Link to your Thrift Share Monday post on Apron Thrift Girl using inlinkz below.
• If you participate with Thrift Share Monday regularly, please add a button to your side bar so that we can build our Thrift Share Community.

Don't forget to visit Her Library Adventures for Flea Market Finds.

February ReSellers Listing Challenge Week 4

February ReSellers Listing Challenge

How did you do in week three and four of ATG's - ReSellers Listing Challenge?

It's interesting how one week away from home can throw off a business. While I did very well with purchasing new inventory on my trip, when I did turn my eBay store off of vacation, sales have been extremely slow. I was only able to list 6 items since Monday. It took me one day to empty the van and sort inventory.

My goal of having 200 items in my store fell rather short. Right now I have 132 live listings.

Rather than be disappointed though in the challenge I feel grateful that I could step away from my business for a week for an emergency visit up north and still be okay. I adore the flexibility and freedom that we have in our line of work.

The other thing I realized is how much I enjoy thrifting on the road. I hope to take a few trips this summer mid weeks to thrift.

What did I learn from this Challenge?

I have made it habit to every day find inventory to photograph. I made time to edit the photos and place the items in my "To List" box. Each morning when I wake at around 5:30, I would sit down and list at least a couple items. This habit will gradually fill my store. I hope to have around 300 by summer since I again plan to enoy the time with the children rather than do a lot of work.

I mentioned this on Facebook yesterday but another thing that I realized (and happen to realized around 4 times a year) is that just because I can sell an item that is for sale at a thrift store or yard sale, doesn't mean I have to. It doesn't mean I want to.

Yesterday I found a little plastic bins with vintage Girl Scout items in it. I had no passion or interest to sell these items online. I felt torn though because they seem like good inventory. In the end I found a 14K gold pin in the collection which is worth around $45 dollars. I smiled when I found it and placed the rest of the items in my yard sale box.

I buy too much every week. I have such a hard time turning away from something that I can sell for a profit. I have offered on ATG Facebook that if anyone in Sonoma County or nearby needs some inventory I have some to sell at near cost. For example I have 6 Vera Bradley bags. I have 2 bins (if not more) of clothing that include brands like Betsy Johnson. As I continue to purge, I will have lots more to pass on.

This doesn't mean that I'll stop buying things that are a mystery. That's where the real money can be made. It just means that I can leave items on a table that I know that I can sell.

I think this challenge has made my goals for 2012 clearer and that has taken some stress away. It's not easy to create and recreate a business year after year. This job fluctuates with changes on eBay, Etsy, in your own life, within your family and of course with what buyers are looking for. Being flexible is the key to success.

What did you learn in this challenge?