Sunday SUNDAY!!

Sunday is a big day in my eBay world.  No one knows for sure, but the rumor is that auctions that end on Sunday evening get more eyeballs and therefore more bids/higher prices.  I guess people log on more right before the work week?  Who knows.  Anyhoo, I have been ridiculously lazy and I only have 8 items ready to go for tomorrow night.  Fortunately, they are good things that I found buried in my hoarder's paradise:

a Vince cashmere sweater
Current/Elliott skinny jeans
a TSE cashmere turtleneck (this one is luscious!)
Two cool Silence + Noise cardigans (this is probably the bestselling Anthro brand for me)
Some Eileen Fisher stuff (not really my style, but a reliable profit source)

I have this FABULOUS pair of John Fluevog boots that fit me.  I want to keep them, but I know they'll make me tons of money if I list them.  Plus, I am keeping this amazing pair of Lucchese handmade cowboy boots so I really don't need the Fluevogs.  What to do, what to do??  This, dear readers, is the thrifter's dilemma. Sell or keep?  Keep or sell?  It can be very hard to part with some of the more special items.

Good things are coming to my blog, y'all!  My first giveaway (coming soon, I promise) is going to be the killer app of giveaways.  You will definitely want to stick around for it and tell allllllllllllll your friends!!  I am also working on a redesign (who am I kidding... what I have now is barely a design to begin with) that will make this blog more fun.  Mucho thanks to Ashley of FreckleberryFinds.com for helping me figure out this whole blogging thing.  Wahoo!!

My Basement = Thrifting Moratorium

First of all, I can't believe I actually showed the wider world (or at least the few of you who read this) my basement.  This isn't even the half of it!  My husband, a somewhat compulsive neat freak, gets hives when he sees the piles of stuff.  I will acknowledge a slight problem, but I'm working on it!  For the time being, my husband and I have a sort of detente - I list, keep (and put away), or re-donate what's down there, and I don't get to thrift for resale until it's mostly handled.  While there are lots (and I mean LOTS) of forgotten gems down there, I am suffering from thrifting withdrawal.  This cleanup could take a WHILE.  Unless you've thrifted competitively, you have no idea of the rush it can be.  Finding a Gucci bag or a pair of Louboutins is a ridiculous high.  I wonder what I'm missing by not hitting my favorite spots...

I'll write about this more in another post, but eBay is changing.  Yes, it has changed in many ways that are hostile to sellers, but that's not what I am talking about here.  Things that used to sell quickly are sitting much longer, and labels that I used to pass up are selling for more than I might have thought.  Topic for another day... I'll leave you hungry for more!!

Don't call the producers of Hoarders on me

I clearly need a professional organizer and a 12-step program.

Those shoes sold for WHAT?!?!

Sometimes I wish eBay had a mechanism for sellers to find out why buyers are willing to pay what they do for certain items.  I had a few auctions end tonight.  The Jimmy Choos went for big money (but still well below retail) to no one's surprise.  The silence + noise dress did well too, considering I got it for a song.  The one that kind of baffles me is the $61 someone paid for a pair of JELLY SHOES.  You know, like the shoes we first wore back in the 80s that smelled pretty bad by the end of the first week?.  Made from rubber or plastic or other such non-breathable, artificial material.  "But Thriftissima, these shoes are TORY BURCH!!  That alone makes them valuable!"  Really?  I can be a label fiend with the best of them, and I like Tory's clean, relaxed aesthetic.  But there is no way I'm paying more than a few bucks for unlined plastic shoes.  Not even if they were made by the red sole man himself.  I really want to know why this person was willing to drop the price of a decent pair of leather flats on these.  I suppose I'll never find out because I am too afraid of the feedback beast to ask.

I fully acknowledge that I am being somewhat hypocritical here.  I am making fun of someone for paying a lot for these shoes but I purchased them at the thrift for the very reason that someone would pay a lot for them.  Catering to label addicts is pretty much my business model... I depend on the irrational bidding frenzy of buyers who want that designer's whatever at any cost.  These shoes are just ridiculous.

The Holy Grail

Thrifting with eBay in mind can be a huge rush.  The best shopping moment I ever had was about three years ago when I found these two leather jackets in a tiny little thrift with a lot of random stuff.  I didn't know much about them, but they were obviously of really high quality and obviously vintage.  So I bought them - $40 for both.  Little did I know that these jackets were ridiculously valuable.  They were made by a San Francisco company (now defunct) called East West Musical Instruments. This company made jackets for Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison - pretty much anyone who was anyone in the music world in the 60s/early 70s.  They are rare and awesome.  I was completely shocked and stunned at the auction madness that followed.  I started each jacket at $299 (I thought I was being greedy and would have to relist at a lower price).  At the end, each one sold to an overseas buyer in an uncomplicated transaction for just shy of $2000 each!!!   I have had some great sales since, but nothing has even come close to these jackets.  I am always hunting for more, but I doubt I'll find any.  Hope springs eternal.

If you are an eBay seller, or even just an avid thrifter and you run into one of these jackets,  BUY IT.  I have to say that again.  BUY IT.  I don't care how much it costs.  BUY IT.  You won't be disappointed in the dough-re-mi that you roll in once your sale is complete.


EBay is weird.  There are some high end labels that are impossible to sell.  I can't even give away Marc Jacobs or Moschino.  No one wants my cool Chloe pants.  Coach bags are a hit or miss.  But there are some things that almost always bring me a tidy profit:

• Labels sold at Anthropologie.  All Anthro labels have the RN number (this is a registration number and is unique to each manufacturer) 66170.  Which makes them easy to identify.  The only complication is that Urban Outfitters, as the Anthro parent company, shares this RN and Urban Outfitters is a tough sell.  A little research and you will be able to tell the difference just by looking.  A smart phone with Google helps a lot here too :)
  
• Eileen Fisher/Flax/Peruvian Connection/Exclusively Misook/St. John.  Most of this stuff is really not my style, but the eBay universe loves them.  If you can get a modern item in excellent condition of any of these labels for under $10, get it.
• Japanese high end designers:  Miyake, Comme des Garcons (Kawakubo), Yamamoto.  Items from any of these labels always do well for me.  They're hard to find, but worth the hunt.
• Eskandar.  Ugly linen stuff that sells for a fortune at retail and a smaller fortune on eBay.  Snap it up.
• Marimekko-patterned items aren't huge high-dollar sellers, but they are consistent.  I have never ever had to relist a Marimekko item.
• Vintage Pucci.  If you find a vintage Pucci item in velvet fabric, thank your lucky stars and start counting your money.
  
• Diane von Furstenberg - vintage and the wrap dresses do really well.  Leave the licensed stuff and the QVC stuff behind.

That is just a small sample to whet your appetite :)  A few small caveats, too:

• BEWARE OF FAKES.  eBay is a fake minefield.  99% of the designer handbags you see on eBay are fakes.  Don't buy fakes, don't sell fakes.  They're gross and fund bad, bad people.
• Beware of licensed merchandise.  Sometimes it sells, but most often it doesn't.  Christian Dior, YSL, and other designers made money licensing their names all over the place back in the 80s and a lot of that stuff is crapola.  Make sure you know what you're getting.

Most importantly, HAVE FUN!  I definitely do.  At some point I will offer advice for good listings and how to manage your eBay sales as a business (even if you are only a hobbyist).  Anything else you'd like to read about?  Let me know in the comments!

I just need a purse...

Last night, the hubs and I met some friends for dinner at this quasi-new Turkish restaurant in DC (it's restaurant week and a fun time to try new places). We got a babysitter and everything! Just like old times. Anyway, since we don't go out without the little guy all that often, I decided to dress it up just a little. I wore a black and white knit jersey wrap dress and some cool platform stilettos. Both of those were purchased retail (on sale) at Nordstrom. I threw on my purple beaded twist necklace for color and immediately realized that the purse I was currently carrying, my Kooba Sienna anniversary edition in brown, just wasn't going to cut it. It looked clunky and too casual. I turned to my overwhelming collection of thrift store-purchased purses - there had to be something sitting in inventory that would work with the outfit. Behold the Kate Spade beauty I found. Crappy cell phone pic aside, it's a beaut - purple embossed leather with gold hardware and monogrammed noel lining. It matched my necklace perfectly. And it cost me $7.98. I definitely had to sift through a lot of plastic crap to find it at the thrift, but the reward was worth it. I seriously felt like I was getting away with something when I put my money down to pay for it. I will probably re-sell it at some point and make some money. But for the evening, it was the perfect bag for my outfit. This is why I love thrift store hunting.

What's this all about?

First, a litle bit about me. I work a day job. I spend lots of time during the business day in meetings, talking on the phone, writing documents that generally end up in a concurrence do-loop, and staring off into space wondering how to turn my favorite hobby into something a little more profitable. I LOVE to shop. But I hate spending tons of money on most things (handbags and shoes are notable exceptions). TADA.... Enter the thrift store! You would not believe the kinds of things I find. High-end barely used designer denim. Runway dresses. Every designer from Anthropologie. Barely worn Manolos (on occasion - these are a rare treat). Coach bags. Kate Spade bags. Even a couple of Longchamp and Gucci bags. All 100% authentic! And all under $10 apiece. My guilt is nonexistent when I plop down my credit card and no one knows that I didn't spend a mint on this stuff.

The best part about all of this? Not everything I find is my size. But I know each item is desirable and will fit someone in this great wide world. I buy up everything fabulous (my apologies to other shoppers, sort of) and sell the things that don't fit or aren't my personal style on eBay. It is truly win-win! I get to shop and make some money, and designer-hungry, budget-minded people get screaming deals. I love it so much that this is often how I spend any free time I have in the evenings after my son goes to bed. My husband says that our basement looks like an episode of Hoarders. He is kind of right.

Some friends have suggested that I blog about my experiences thrifting, selling, and bargain shopping in general. I have encountered some weird characters along the way! From time to time, I will probably do giveaways to help reduce the level of basement storage. And of course, if you want advice on thrifting for resale, I am happy to entertain questions.

That's all for now. Welcome to my world!