Back In The Saddle Again!

We are Finally here! After months of planning and packing, our cross country move is done. We have a larger home and a much warmer climate, I will not miss those long cold winters back east at all.

There's tll plenty to do here, the eBay room is a total mess, but I know that with patience and determination, it will be a nice organized space. The room is almost twice the size I once had, but with one draw back, I lost the basement space. Our solution for that was to buy a 10 x 12 storage building and use other places in the house for all the stuff that won't fit in the shed, it's full. lol

I was finally able to attend an on line auction recently (as if I need anymore stuff!) and was quite pleased with the few items I bid on and won. I spent a total of 26.00. lol There's just something about an auction that can't be beat for fun and excitement! I'll take an auction any day over a yard or garage sale. I think I may have found a local auction that is on Sundays here so when DH is home it will be something we can do together, I'm blessed that he loves them as much as I do. :)

Here's some pictures of the not so pretty eBay room......

Dollar Days Are No More.........

 
 

 One of the last items I won for a reasonable bid,  just sold.
Murano Art Glass Rooster

The days of bidding a dollar or two and winning are gone. My on line bidding and buying have slowed down dramatically. Opening bids are fairly high on most auctions and some are down right ridiculous these days. I still look, but not nearly as often as before. You could find me perusing the auction listings daily in recent months, but since one of my favorite auction listings site recently changed their format, it's really hard to find or even hope for a bargain.

I was talking to one of the auctioneers on the phone one day and he was telling me what it costs to get set up to run one of the online auctions and my mouth dropped to the floor! No wonder opening bids are so high, even on low cost common stuff. This particular auctioneer hasn't raised his opening bids yet and almost always has something on that I can use for our business..whew! I can hardly wait for the estate auction held on site to start, wonder if there's a bargain still be found at these? Of course there are yard and garage sales where an occasional bargain can still be found, but even those, at least for the items we buy, are getting harder and harder to find.

The Auction Junkie

Gotta Love Those Auctions!

 What do these three items have in common......they all came from different online auctions. All three were bought for next to nothing and sold on eBay for a good profit.
 If you're not utilizing auctions, both locally in your community and/ or on line, you're missing out on a great sourcing venue for eBay inventory. I check the newspaper for local estate auctions and frequent auctionzip.com and proxibid.com for on line auctions. Although I do shop occasionally at thrifts and garage sales, the majority of my items come from estate auctions. Don't mistake estate sales with estate auctions, there's a big difference. Estate sales have pre-priced items much like a garage sale, estate auctions are run by an auctioneer with live bidding.
The Auction Junkie

• Duncan Royale Civil War Santa

• Bought for 9.00......sold for 175.00

•  Daum Nancy Art Nouveau Vase

• Bought for 45.00...Sold for 405.00

                                 

Check out this great MSN video: Awesome Kid Sings Katy Perry

Check out this great MSN video: Awesome Kid Sings Katy Perry

I love it!! LMBO!

All In A Days Work......

These items were recent finds at two different on line auctions and are now on eBay.

1. Fiesta Vegetable Bowl with Porky Pig in Rose Color
2. Jeannette Shell Pink Cake Stand in Harp Pattern
3. Northwood Vase Jewels and Drapery Pattern
4. Jeannette Cake Stand
5. Northwood Vase Feathers Pattern


This is what I consider a fun "All in a days work" for sourcing inventory for our eBay store. It just so happened that a couple of auctioneers I really like were having on line auctions and these were just a few of the items that were being offered. Now the thing I like the most about on line auctions is that it gives me time to do my research before putting in a bid.

The online auctions are usually posted at least a week in advance and some are posted months in advance. By researching, I can see if an item I'm interested in is worth bidding on, or find that it's a dud as far as re-sell value goes, not everything is worth bothering with. Of the four items above, there's only one I probably paid too much for, but I love it and if it doesn't sell, it's something I will keep for my own use. :)

What you need to remember is to always factor in the "buyer's premium", plus tax, packing and shipping charges and bid accordingly. It's almost like bidding on eBay except you won't have the buyers premium to pay, the seller gets to pay that. lol  You're also unable to go in the last few seconds and out bid your competition...darn it!

  Rita  
The Auction Junkie

Winter Shipping.....Freezable and Fragile Items

Hey there, Hope your New Year is off to a great start! :)

I received a package today consisting of body lotion that had been shipped via parcel post mail and that's what prompted me to write this article as they were frozen and may be ruined for use now.

Now, just so you know, I'm not picking on this seller, I'm not, it just reminded me of my old truck driving days and freezable loads and is something to consider when you're shipping an item that has potential to freeze in these cold winter months, and it also pertains to delicate china. Did you know that liquids such as beer is a freezable product, even though it has alcohol in it?  So what do you do to keep that product from freezing? If you're a team driver, it's not such a big deal, the truck is generally always moving, but for the solo driver and there's no warm area such as a bay at one of your terminals, you idle the truck. The vibration from idling is just enough in most cases to keep the liquid moving, thus keeping it from freezing.

In the case of lotions, perfumes, makeup and the like, wrap well and if it's too heavy for 1st class mail, eat some postage and ship it priority instead of parcel post. If you live in a cold area and schedule pick ups for shipping, Never let the items sit out all night or morning in the cold waiting for the carrier to pick them up. Lotions and such will freeze and burst open, if not then, then when they are delivered, the heat hits them and they begin to thaw (they expand)........and it can ruin the product.

The same goes for delicate china, porcelains and so on. These items are subject to extreme temperature changes and will easily crack or break just from handling them (unpacking) or even from being banged around by the various postal workers. When receiving a delicate item, let it come to room temperature before unpacking it, if it hasn't been damaged during shipment, it'll have less chance of cracking or breaking when you handle it. Believe me, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches and have a happier customer.....


The Auction Junkie

eBay Winter Listing Challenge

I didn't get much listed for the first week of the challenge...only 9 items, with 1 sold. My sales have been better this year then others, despite the economy. I'm Thankful for that and previously listed items have been selling in batches, some days there are no sales, others have several.

I have attended 3 live online auctions in the past week. The first two had wonderful items, but the items I was interested in went way too high for possible resell and I didn't buy anything. The third auction had a few items that I bid on and won. After researching though, I'm not so sure I made good choices, only time will tell and I shouldn't be buying anything with all that I have here already! When your addicted to something, it's awfully hard to quit!  Every time I manage to get downstairs, it reminds me of that show "Hoarders".... if I don't get more listed and sold, my house is going to look like one of those.....yikes!  The pictures below only show a fraction of what is downstairs.....