YUUUUP!

I was cruisin the Craigslist Tuesday and came across an ad for a Storage Auction.  Well you know what was the first thing that came to my mind.

That’s right, I’m a secret storage wars fan.

I love seeing what the producers plant they happen to find in the storage’s.  So my curiosity got the better of me.  The auction was tuesday at 11am, it was a cloudy overcast day.  I thought for sure it would be less crowded than a weekend.

That Grey Honda Mini van waaaaaaay down there by the sign is mine.   I went in and signed my name and took my place outside with the rest of the minions.  Luckly I had my trusty negotiator with me.

Don’t let that sweet face fool you, she is hard core.  Next the auctioneer(es?) came out and we began.

Sorry in advance, there will be a lot of butt shots as I was trying to take pics on the sly.  She read the rules just like they do on the show.  Cash only, 24 hrs to clean out the lockers, and we were off.  There were a whooping 14 lockers up for auction this go round.

We reach the first locker and it is small, possibly only 4×4.

Lots of clothes and house hold items.  It went for $120, this is definitely not California.

Some lockers were big and some small, some filled, and some almost completely empty.  The cheapest one went for $25 and most expensive but not largest was sold for $325 to a guy that came from Alabama!

There was some playful banter amongst the regulars but nowhere near as high priced or competitive as the show.  There was also no safes or ming dynasty antiques either.  The whole ordeal only lasted about an hour but by the end of that hour my poor assistant was looking like this.

I decided to pay her in cheeseburger that day.

I Saw the Sign

Found this today at Goodwills half off yellow tag sale.  It about sums it up right now.

Knee Breaker

I had 3 UPI cases (unpaids) and one that bought and wanted a refund cause he bought the wrong thing.

What I have learned, it is true that if they have ZERO feedback there is a high likelihood they aren’t going to pay.  Block the bidder because they may try to bid on something else and leave you a retaliatory feedback.  Also don’t stretch out the days you give them to pay, unless they have emailed you saying they will pay on a certain day.  I need to hire one of those knee breaker collection people to handle all my dirty work.

I have re-listed the items and all but 1 has already resold AND been paid for.

Here’s the sales for this week.

Touchdown T.D. Popple Vtg Sold for $15.00

Dora Backpack & Map (this was one of the UPI, already paid for ) sold $14.99

 Polaroid 600 Instant Film 10 Pictures Exposures Pics NEW SEALED exp. 05/05 Sold for $24.99 (This was another UPI that sold again right away)

Leap Frog Tag Junior & 8 Books lot sold for $29.99

 American Girl Doll Guitar Island Luau Ukelele RETIRED Sold $12.99

Dr. Seuss Big Green/Blue Book of Beginners Sold $10.00

Vtg VALENTIN kids mag. paper Treasure Trails & WEE WISDOM 50′s & 60′s Sold $7.50

Not a bad sales week so far.  I have been trying to list at least 3-5 items per day in an effort to get to 50 listings but people keep buying my stuff so I am just holding steady right now.  Such a thing to complain about right.

Saturday Morning Surprise

It had been a few months since my teacher storage shed sale lady hosted a sale so naturally I though she just didn’t want me showing up again to her sale.  I have been to her sales at least 3 times (here, here, and one other time I was to embarrassed to post) before, even helping her unload her storage sheds once.  So I was very surprised to see her listed again last night on Craigslist.  I thought for sure if she saw my mini van roll up she would immediately close the doors.

She is ever so sweet though and of course remembered us right away.  She has a fondness for my middle pygmy.  He is quite the charmer with the ladies, I think it’s his big blue eyes.

Again her sale did not disappoint.

I was surprised to see that I was the only one there for quite sometime.  About 2 hrs into my dig another lady came up.  Of course she knew my middle pygmy, I think everyone knows him.

He’s been on a Sesame Street kick lately so he ended up with just 1/3 of her Sesame plush.  We had to cut way back, but at $.10 each I could splurge.

All the DVD’s and games $.50 each, some were brand new.  The learn and fly globe was $1.

Books $.25 each or 5 for $1, I grabbed many more than 5.

Lastly she thought we needed a big bin of Thomas the trains and tracks.  Wait for it….$35!

I almost feel criminal having her all to myself.  Good news is she is going to have another sale week after next (Feb. 4th)!  I would like to spread the word and not only get her more business but pass along the insane deals she is so generously hosting to mothers, teachers, and bargain hunters in general.  I have told her I would be more than happy to help her with her next sale so I will be out there as well.  Hey, I would be out there anyway.  Mark it on your calenders and I’ll see you there!

 

 

You Have Sold An Item

What sold this week.

Dora Backpack and Map $19.99

(Had to open unpaid items case, not looking good)

 Polaroid 600 Instant Film 10 Pictures Exposures Pics NEW-$20.00

 Applebee’s Gift Card $50-$46.99

 Maclaren Jr Quest Activity Ctr DOLL stroller, play cot, rocker bounc pink choc. -$39.99 (and she paid to have it shipped over night for her daughters b-day $26.35!)

Alf clipper guy $6.50 (He went to Australia)

  Vintage charlie mccarthy ventriloquist dummy doll eegee co. -$20.50 (not paid yet)

 Delphi Roady XT XM Home & Car Satellite Radio Receiver-$45

 NEW CRANIUM THE FAMILY FUN GAME FACTORY SEALED NIB- Best Offer $10

Manhattan Toy Groovy Girls Style Pinktastic Retro Roller car-$14.99

DISNEY PIXAR MONSTERS INC SULLEY & MIKE PLUSH DOLL -$15.00

Well, nothing to terribly exciting.  I need to get busy listing all my new glorious finds.

Money Saving Mom has an excellent post up about reselling books.  You can check it out HERE.

$1 American Girl Doll(s)

I woke up today with a list of things I wanted (needed) to get done, and no motivation.  Me and youngest pygmy dropped Ebay boxes to the post office and I figured since we were already half way to the GoodCents store we could go and just browse around.  When we got there the regular Goodwill was having a 50% off yellow tags sale, and it included books which is rare.

I ended up spending far to long in the Goodwill and by the time I got round to corner to the “line store” there was a long line waiting for us.

We were dead last in the line so I didn’t have high hopes of snagging anything phenomenal.  We rolled in and scooted down the first isle, it was muy crowded today.  I happen by a bin and see a kind of dirty storage bin but I was in need of some and it looked like it would clean up fine.  Then I open it to make sure it was empty.  I slam the lid shut again.  Look over my shoulder and slowly peak in again.  It was indeed not empty.

I thought no way could the professionals have missed these, there must be something wrong with them.  I didn’t want to take a chance on anyone snagging them away while I was inspecting so I stuff them in my cart and made my way to a quiet corner.  I take her out, turn her over and was sure I would see blank, but no, there it was.

Or I should say there they were.

Two American girl dolls.  One I think is Kit

and the other maybe a My American girl doll.

And some accessories!  I nearly died.  One sad thing is it looks like someone took scissors to the long haired girls body.   Total cost for both dolls and accessories…$3!

I could have walked out right then and been happy but I rounded up a few more items.  A lamp I thought was oh so cute.

Maybe he just reminded me of this guy.

A replacement Spongebob remote.

And a neat book of old cars.

A bin of clothes, 4 curtains, a purse, 4 kids books,  and curler set rounded out my trip for a total cost of $25.43.  It’s the days I am least hopeful in finding something that end up being some of the best.

Side question:  Do you all think it would be worth the $36 to repair the body of the American Girl doll or just list it as is?

Questions

Since one person asked I thought others might be wondering.

When do I go to the Good Cents store?

In the begining I would go up to 4 times a week, but being that the store is roughly 15 miles from my house I needed to start adding the cost of gas into my figures.  I have since pulled way back.  I would still love to go every day like some of the people I have met up there it is just not logistically or financially smart.

I normally try to make it up there on Mondays because that is also when Goodwills here do half price on their clothing at the regular stores and I pass 3 of them to get to the Good cents store.  Also if I am on that side of town doing laminating for the school I will sneak in there.

What time does it open?

Our GoodCents store here opens at 10am(ish some days), closes at 1pm to restock, and opens back up at 2pm.  If you go though you can expect the line to start forming with the professionals up to an hour early.

Do you have a list of prices that you pay?

Honestly there is no exact set of prices for anything in there except clothing which is $1.79 per pound.

Curtains are $1.50 each

Toys between $.25-$1.00

Housewares $.50-$2.00

Shoes $2-$3

Kids books $.25

Other books $.50

and really there are just no category for some things you find in there.

I can say though I have never paid over $5 for a single item.

Some of my previous Good Cents posts can be found below.

Good Cents &  Good Cents &  Good Cents & Good Cents & Good Cents & Good Cents & Good Cents & Good Cents

As for the Paypal debacle they have decided all is legit I guess and unfrozen the account.  I ended up having to have the buyer call them and straighten it out.  He had no clue why it was frozen either.

Strike against SOPA and PIPA

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January 18th, 2012 is the largest online protest in history, to stop the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA. Join in by blacking out your site and urging everyone you can reach to contact Congress now.

Email optional. Fight for the Future will contact you about opportunities to meet with your Senator and other campaigns. Privacy Policy

January 18th is going to be amazing. Sites are striking in all different ways, but they are united by this: do the biggest thing you possibly can, and drive contacts to Congress. Put this on your site or automate it by putting this JS into your header, which will start the blackout at 8AM EST and end at 8PM EST.

Many sites today will be down in protest of SOPA.  You can go HERE to sign the petition yourself or you can head over to SWAGGRABBERS to find out what it is all about and how it will affect all of us.

Please sign your support and make your voice heard!

Resolutions

Not the New Years Eve kind of resolutions though.  I checked my Paypal account and to my surprise there was a dispute!  They informed me I needed to go to my resolution center.

So I am super nervous now.   I have heard awful horror stories about Paypal putting your whole account on hold for various reasons.  They seem to be questioning the buyer in this case though.  Basically from what I could gather from the not to clear reasoning is that they are not sure if this was bought with a stolen credit card or was used without the buyers permission.  I guess.  Again going through the resolution process was as clear as mud for me.

Paypal says they will get back to me.   My professional opinion, this stinks.

Anyone else had to go through the Paypal dispute process?  Please do share:)

Noncents

What a day!  I started off with laminating for the school and since I just happened to be on that side of town anyway…

I swung by the Goodcents store and picked up a few things.

Retired Build a Bear Dragon.  I am hoping to work the Year of the Dragon angle on this one.

Furbies, just a hunch.

Fisher Price Tuff Stuff CD player with microphone!  I just recently saw one of these on another Ebay blog, I wish I could remember which one, but the completes look promising.

I needed a new work out hat.  No worries, it will be washed several times first.

Roaring lion backpack, super cute.

I found a bunch of neat old kids magazines, Jack and Jill, Treasure Trails, and Wee Wisdom from the 50′s and 60′s.

Some super sweet Valentines ones too!

Little fabric alphabet book.

Youngest pygmy thought she absolutely NEEEEEDED these boots.

We also ended up with a slide whistle in the cart somehow.

All I have heard for the last hour is whistling, and they are in bed.  Hopefully sleep will win over the slide whistle soon.

So that was my profitable trip.  It was a super busy day today but I am hoping tomorrow will be a bit more relaxed so I can work on some listings.