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This is the 2nd thread for 2024. Post your Challenge numbers here each week starting on Monday. You do not need permission to join, just post your numbers and I’ll add you in.
For information and rules on the Challenge, go here. Please note 2024 changes to the rules in this post here.
First week of this post begins on Monday August 19.
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TWENTY WEEKS DEATH PILE CHALLENGE STARTS TODAY!
This week you need to clear twenty items from your death piles. You can donate, trash, or list, as long as you get them out of the house*. OUT of the house, not in a box to be found six months from now. 😁
Ready? GO!
*Okay, if they’re listed, they get to stay in the house until they’re sold. 😉
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I listed 27 items. I would have more, but I decided to schedule the rest over the next two weeks while my parents are visiting.
Their visit will also get in the way of the challenge. However, I will do my best now before they show up. I’ve got a pile of empty boxes on top of some death pile boxes. I’ll want to clear those up first.
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I created 6 listings this week.
I will work on the 20 items. I plan to take some items to the flea market but I’m not sure that counts so I will try to clear 20 other items by posting them on Ebay.
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@ChistineR – I’m pretty sure Amatino’s challenge is just to either list or get rid of 20 items in your deathpiles. So, anything you get out of your house including taking them to a market, bringing them to a donation spot, or throwing them in the trash count!
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Nope! I managed one day of organizing and creating a pile of items to donate. I’m going to be filling my quota for the week with donations rather than listings, just because of sheer lack of time this week. But I’ve been finding it awfully difficult to make the time available. And listing after such a long break is a killer! I think we can commiserate, Christine!
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I listed 24 items last week.
Of those, 13 were part of the challenge. I also donated or threw out 8 additional items. So, I met the 20 item challenge with a total of 21.
My parents are visiting, so I’m not going to do any additional listing this week. I have scheduled about one item a day until next Sunday, so I will have a small number to report next time. None of them are part of the challenge.
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My post (above Sharyn’s) for 20 items listed was for the week of 8/12 – 8/18.
For last week: 8/19 – 8/25 I listed 30 items. 20 were from my DPs to meet the new challenge goal of 20 DP items dealt with last week.
Thanks again to Amatino for proposing the new challenge to jumpstart the second half of 2024 – I’m loving being able to pull from any DP box!
Wishing everyone a productive week!
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@Amatino thanks! Yes definitely having some issues with being tired and keeping my booty in the seat and listing. I only got 6 items up that day. Some things going on this week, flea market, vintage market and a wedding but I hope to have a couple of good listing sessions.
If we are counting the market, I’m good on the 20 items for sure. It was a great market. Got rid of a little bit of inherited costume jewelry, clothing, unlisted art work.
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Last week’s winner was Sharyn. Congrats on great numbers!
Julie is still whipping our collective booties with her terrific listing numbers. If she wasn’t our Honorable Mention for the year, she’d be so far ahead of us we would have no hope of catching up! LOL. Congrats on your hard work, Jules!
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How wonderful for you, Lacy! After the time you’ve had, I’m glad you had a great show.
Ah.. but did you and Christine SELL the 20 items from DP at your Shows? If you took them there, then brought them back home, they didn’t count! 😉
Of course they sold. You always sell so much stuff, Lacy, it’s quite impressive how much you pack into your markets. I’m thrilled you guys are finding alternate ways to reduce your DPs. I’ve had to fall back on merely donating mine due to simply not having the time to do any more, nor the space to continue to hold onto them. We have a local Street Market coming up in October, perhaps I should get myself a pile of DPs to offload there and follow the herd* to the markets! 😁
*(Herd? Piggies? They all sound so unflattering, don’t they?)
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Thanks Amatino. I’m motivated to list. I had insane vet bills plus both a crown and a filling replaced all within less than a month!
42 listings. My death pile was untouched, unfortunately.
I’ll be visiting my mom next week so I might not remember to post here for a week or two.
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Zero listings on Ebay for me last week. Sold well over 20 death pile items between the flea market and the pop up market. Also dontated a lot of our clothing left over from the flea market.
The garage is still pretty full, but I really need to turn some attention back to Ebay after our relatives leave Tuesday.
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37 listings, all new items. None were death pile. However, went through several boxes and at least 20 DP items are off to be donated. Mostly books that have too little value to deal with.
My brother is coming for a visit this week from Colorado. We have to move my dad into Memory Care Saturday and it’s going to be a big job. I do have at least a day and a half with him helping me with DP items and it’s going to be awesome. We’ll make a big dent. He’s also an Ebayer Scavenger, so he knows the ropes! He and his wife just bought an antique mall in Florence Colorado, so I can’t wait to hear about that. We have scavenging in our veins!
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I listed 10 items. Most were scheduled from the previous week. As I mentioned, my parents were in town, so I didn’t have time to do much listing. None were DP.
My mom brought a bunch of stuff up for me to sell; mostly art & books. She also brought up some clothing that her friends didn’t want anymore. I’ve told her to stop, but she forgets. I will get rid of it otherwise it will be become more DPs that I don’t need!
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Zero listings and I didn’t make the DP challenge either. It was an insane week. I will have to make up with double this week!
Treasures won the week ending 8/26, congrats and well done on all your hard work!
According to my schedule, we have to get rid of/list/donate 18 items this week. I will try to do 37 so that I catch up with last week as well. That sounds like a lot, but I am pretty sure I can donate or trash that amount without too much difficulty. When I first started eBaying, I got a lot of genuine honest-to-goodness junk. Paring down will be a joy!
Wishing you all a great first week to the last third of the year!
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I listed 25 items last week. Of them, 17 were from death piles and 2 were donated, for a total of 19 against the 18 challenge.
Since I missed the previous week, I like Amatino’s idea to make up for it. So, I’ll need 19 for the missed week plus 17 for this week, a total of 36. Since I listed an extra last week and another in the first week, I’m reducing it to 34. Doable, but definitely a big challenge! I’ll only list DP items this week!!!
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Winner for week ending 09/02 was Lacy with some great listings. Well done!
Sharyn, I missed two weeks in a row, now, so we’re both playing major catch up!
Christine, our HVAC went out this week too. I’m so grateful we’re not in triple digits any more! Still, when it’s in the 90s it’s a little hard to find the energy to do much. I’m super lucky that I have the mini split unit in my sunroom where I’m doing all my quilting work.
Just got another quilt off the frame yesterday. We have a Crazy Cat Lady challenge this year and this quilt is one of my faves. The custom quilting took 12 hours over 3 days, and the customer is thrilled.
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Amatino that quilt is amazing! Lovely work and so charming.
Zero listings for me last week. Moving my dad took SO much time. I was able to do some sorting with my brother however, and donated at least 15 DP items. Not looking better for listing this week either. Just really slammed with things.
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Wow you are really talented! I am not crafty but created some succulent planters in 60s low pottery planters with Temu mushrooms and I’m working on creating some match holders out of mini bell jars with pretty paper on the lids and a strike sticker on the bottom. I also ironed on some cute patches to my daughter’s sweatshirts for resale. If you would have told me I’d be doing this stuff a couple of years ago I would have thought you were nuts.
I have my mom’s nice sewing machine and I’m following some makers on Instagram who use vintage fabrics to make simple things like tote bags. Maybe someday I’ll get slow enough to give some of that a try. I’m horrible and have no patience for threading the machines but my husband will do it.
We only have about 3 heat waves a year this bad, and it’s really nice now to have the ocean on-flow cooling us off again at night. I watched a lot of tv those evenings and felt guilty about it.
I’m running a clearance on summer clothing at the market this weekend and I should sell enough art to meet the 20 item DP challenge, but maybe not make up for last week. My husband really wanted me to get the car back in the garage and it almost fits, but the hard goods that I’m not taking back to the market need to be dealt with because they are still encroaching a bit into the car area. He’s being really patient with me.
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First, that is an amazing quilt, Amatino! I love it.
Second, I’m going to bow out of this group for awhile. It’s a wonderful group of ladies and I appreciate all of the motivation and kindness shown by everyone here, especially Amatino who keeps us all going and who has faithfully logged our numbers week after week.
I’ve gotten a bit scattered and unfocused lately and am trying to streamline as much as possible. I just wanted to hop on here and let y’all know so when you don’t see me posting weekly, you won’t think something bad happened to me. I’ll check in from time to time but I won’t be posting my weekly numbers.
Best wishes to all!
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Good for you, Julie! Take care of yourself.
I listed 26 items (all DP) and donated three.
That’s 29 against my goal of 34. That leaves me with five I still need to catch up, so this week’s goal is 16 + 5 = 21. (double-check me, but is that correct?) This seems more reasonable especially since I found two boxes of magazines that should be easy to list or pull out ones to throw out / recycle. I’m pretty sure I can catch up this week.
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Amatino – your customer’s quilt is amazing and your quilting makes it stellar! I love it!
Julie – your weekly presence here will be missed! Your dedication to listing was very motivating for me, now I’ll just have to imagine you listing away every week. I hope your focus improves with your break from the forum.
I listed 31 items last week. But only 8 of the 31 listings were DP items. I donated 9 DP items in order to make the 17 DP items dealt with goal for last week. That was disappointing to me, I’d hoped to make the DP goal each week just through listings, but it was a busy week and I just couldn’t accomplish it. This week will be no better as I’m leaving for a short vacation in the morning. But I guess any means of reducing the DPs is still a big plus.
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Julie….here’s hoping you have a wonderful rest of 2024. You will be missed!
As for me, I have to admit that I’ve been in the glumps, which makes it even harder to list. Feeling swamped and so behind and Brookhaven only a few weeks away. Hoping to get my mojo back this week. Fingers crossed.
Zero listings last week. I did get some DP items priced for Brookhaven.
I did pick up some fabulous vintage fabric…two big boxes of it….for two bucks at a yard sale last weekend. If anythings going to inspire me to list..that’ll be it!
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I pulled out those two boxes of magazines I mentioned earlier, and I listed exactly 21 new items to meet my goal. I started working on other DP as well as some newer stuff, but they haven’t been listed yet. So, just met the goal and that’s it.
This week’s goal is then 15. Yesterday, I washed enough dishes and men’s shaving razors (random) to about make those 15 listings, and I have more to wash today to get to that number. I feel I’m on my way.
I hope everyone else is doing well. I know that I working towards this challenge a bit more seriously because I’ve promised my family that I’m going to give them back enough space in the basement to set up a small workout area. My first goal is to reduce my DPs, and then I will set up an online auction to sell off old inventory that has been sitting for years. I will also sell off some DP electronics that I don’t feel like testing, so I guess that will reduce the number of items I could be listing for the challenge by about 3 or 4. Don’t worry, because the boxes of stuff that weren’t DP when we started the challenge will be towards the end of it! LOL
Anyway, please join me in this challenge. You can always restart now with 15 and say you didn’t meet the goal a week or two.
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Oh dear Sharyn, I’m going in the reverse direction: I didn’t meet any of my listings goals last week. I was out of town for a few days and then I just couldn’t get going on eBay again. I only listed 5 items before I left and none of those were from my DPs.
The good news is that I’m finally listING again and I’ve already matched my listing number for last week today. Hopefully I’ll get back to DP listing as well, or at least make the 15 DP items goal for this week by donating items.
Wishing everyone a great week!
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Sharyn…I’m in! I’m just approaching it from a different direction. We emptied my DP storage unit into the carport late June, thinking we’d get through processing it in July. Then, I was very sick for six weeks…pretty much the whole summer. I have this semi-full carport staring at me every day. My show starts set up in two weeks, so I have to focus on going through the carport and pulling everything I can for the show and getting it priced and ready. I have shelving that I am putting DP t0-be-listed boxes on, and keeping it organized. The pile of boxes is going down every day. Just not being listed. Some of it is being donated. As long as it goes away, one way or another, it counts, right?
Zero listings, but actually a pretty productive week.
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Life took a major turn this week. 😑 I listed 16 Halloween items before that. Not really death piles. Had to cancel my live markets. I’m home from the hospital now and figuring out how much ebaying I will be able to do for the next month. It’s a real shame because I was looking forward to getting my EBay act together after kind of over sourcing. And needed to finish freeing up part of my garage. But I’m relieved I have some capacity to do it after this. Hopefully by November, it will be back to normal. It’s a good time to go through old listings. We were kind of at an empty Nester transition time, but having an event helps you get into perspective, wanting to leave your house literally in order. Seems like I have a sourcing ban comimg. Needing to work on time management.
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Christine…gosh I am so sorry. Sending healing thoughts your way.
You are right…having an event does put everything in perspective. When I went through my thing in the summer, I kept thinking about Charlie having to deal with all my stuff if I was gone. It’s a sobering thought, among many other thoughts.
I hope that your recovery goes well.
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@VL thanks! I had bought a little bit of cool stuff for decoupage Halloween projects and booth sales. Boo. I did get to do a little Fall display booth before this happened. I love changing it up. During my break from live sales I will turn my focus to accessible ebay items, updating old listings and probably can do some Facebook Marketplace. Will miss the booth! Hope you are having better days yourself. Will be figuring out what I can handle and it will be more gradually.
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Apologies for my long absence, ladies. I had the quilt show this week and it was one incredibly hectic week! I have created an album with photos from the Show so that you can enjoy the fantastic artwork our little town creates: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KBxKZc75sZfybPiU6
Winner for week 9/9 and 9/16 was our industrious VT! Go you! You have really been putting your foot down and cannoning down that finish line! Congrats, VT!
That brings me up to date, I think. Now for last week’s posts… I am going to miss Julie. I hope she gets herself organized as much as she wishes and visits us often.
@Sharyn, I’m in. In fact, last week I got rid of 19 items, putting me at week 2 of the challenge. I plan to try to catch up with several weeks this week. I’m hoping I’ll do the 18, 17, and 16 items to get me almost up to date, and I’m getting up at 6 AM every morning so that I can put in an hour or two before my day begins. How’s that for dedication? 😉@Lacy, so sorry to hear you’ve been sick for the summer. Sending healing wishes your way. And absolutely count donations. That’s pretty much my entire operation right now. I don’t have time to list, but I do have time to get rid of the duds so that when I start listing, I know I have the good stuff!
@Christine, goodness! I definitely send healing wishes to you! I hope that your recovery is swift and uneventful.
That makes last week’s winner Sharyn! Congratulations!
Last week I listed zero but I got rid of 19 DP items. I’ve not worked it much yet, but I’m loving this challenge. I’m working on the stuff that is NOT in totes or bins, so it’s very visible when I’m clearing spaces and even Himself is impressed!
Wishing you all a fantastic week. Don’t forget to use your shipping supplies coupon today!
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First of all to Christine – I’m sending healing vibes and I hope you return to excellent health ASAP!
I listed 31 items last week. And I caught up (through donations) with all the DP items that needed to be dealt with for me be up to date on the DP challenge. I really wanted to have all my DP numbers completed through listings but that hasn’t worked out for me.
My husband and I should have flown out this morning for our anniversary trip but we had to postpone it due to both our cats getting sick. We’ll lose $1,000 on our vacation house rental and we may have to replace some of our carpet. It wasn’t pretty.
Thankfully the cats are getting better after an emergency vet visit. I guess we might have one more trip that won’t happen as we’ve missed two now and they say those things usually happen in threes.
Wishing everyone (and your pets) a healthy week!
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I listed 18 items last week. 15 were DP and met the challenge while three were newer.
I am wishing everyone healing powers towards their (or their pet’s) health issues; whether minor, major, physical, or mental. We all need prayers, happy thoughts, and good doctors & vets.
@VT – One of my cats had an issue recently. Prior to our vacation in May, we noticed a big lump in the back of our cat Hops. Not like a growth, but like a big extended butt. Ends up he was really constipated. We had to take him to an emergency place, and, for over $900, they removed the poop and gave him a little cat enema. It started happening again in August, and this time we called the vet for an office visit, and he did something similar. It still cost us over $400. He was put on a high fiber diet, just like we humans need to do as we get older, and I’m plying him with MiraLAX mixed with a treat.
@Amatino – You (and your community) are so talented and creative! There are some really nice contemporary designs as well as plenty of cat themes. So cute! -
Oh my gosh. Everyone is going through things this year. Here’s hoping things start going better for all of us! Amatino what a lovely quilt show. So many wonderful creations!
I managed two listings last week, but more importantly I purged a whole bunch of DP items, including over 30 men’s ties I had planned to list on Ebay years ago. I have no interest in them now, so out they go. I also got a bunch of DP items ready for the show next week. Y’all are very inspiring!
Onwards and upwards, ladies!
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@Vintage-Lacy – Good choice! I was given a large bunch of ties several years ago. I grouped them up into many listings. I’ve sold one listing a year for the past three years, and not for great money. I did not pay for them, but it was not worth it.
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I listed 14 items, and they were all DP. Ten of them were vinyl records, that I had to research first and then test. This took me several days, so I listed those plus four other items during the weekend.
This week, I am already making drafts, so I’ll be able to spread out the listings better. Challenge is now 13.
@ChristineR – From this and your other posts, it seems like you threw out your back or something similar. I wish you fast healing and a quick recovery. Sounds like you are making progress. Once you get over this issue, perhaps you can find out if there are preventative measures you can do for yourself. Personally, I perform stretches every morning and go to a chiropractor every other week.-
@Sharon thank you. Unfortunately I had a cardiac event that caused me to pass out and fall. All fixed up now. This week I’m improving and was able to stand and take photos and then sit on my pillows and list on my phone, which was encouraging.
I’m getting used to listing on the app now and I kind of like using the dictation feature. I also like the app version of Terapeak. It’s pretty easy to change the period of comps and it calculates sell through for you, at least on very common items.
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Damn, well I am glad that you are feeling better and are able to continue with eBay. Take care of yourself!
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@sharon thank you. Last couple of days I definitely feel improved. Even made it to one thrift store today and walked briefly around Target. still uncomfortable in the car.
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Happy Monday, everyone!
Congrats to VT for her win for last week.
Well done on getting 2 listings up, Christine. I hope that you continue to get better.
Thrilled that everyone is doing so well on their DP items. I managed to get my 18 items out and started on my 17 but failed to finish. Boo. Well, I’m still progressing. I’ve got to finish my 17, 16, and 15 and then I’ll be up to date. Of course, by then it will be next week, so I’ll still be one week behind BUT… I’m getting my DPs out of the house so I’m taking it as a win!
Still no listings for me, unfortunately. I had hoped that my quilting business would have settled down by now to allow me to return to eBay, but it has not. The machine I was working on declared war, full out combat mode, and the hubs, who is a sewing machine repair tech by trade, lost his temper with it. Fortunately, I was given a replacement machine. Same machine, newer model. When this machine started acting funky on its very first day, Himself told me to research getting another brand. Serendipitously, a brand that I’ve been following for a long time had a Road Show this weekend and I scored a new machine with over $4,000 in discounts plus another couple thousand in additional freebies. I’m horrified to report that a longarm machine costs the same as or more than a small car! They know this, so they are kind enough to do an estimate of how many quilts you have to do per week to pay for it! They don’t tell you how to find this much business, though. 😜
The machine is expected to arrive within a week, so I have a few days to list and sell the new (working) machine as well as sell the older machine for parts, to get them out of the house. Then I have to clear and set up the room for the new machine to come in and to allow me to start working as soon as possible so that I can get those quilts out to pay for the machine! Oh, and I have to make all the stock for the Christmas Boutique I have in 6 weeks. Yikes!
Perhaps I should plan to return to eBay in the New Year?
Wishing you all a wonderful week.
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Charlie had a health issue last week and spent several days in the hospital. He’s home now and recovering well, but it was scary. Needless to say no listings for the week. However, I still had found some time to sort through the DP and did donate five large boxes of items, including a whole box of china teacups I had planned to put candles in, long ago. Out they go!
Here’s hoping for a much less eventful rest of the year for all of us!
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Oh VL – I’m very sorry to hear about your husband’s health issue. I understand how stressful and scary a health issue for a spouse can be. You have my empathy and good wishes for a complete recovery for Charlie. And good wishes to Christine for your continued recovery as well.
Amatino the quilt show was fantastic, thanks for sharing the photos! As someone who has pieced a few quilts myself I understand the time involved and the artistry of it. I’m very envious of all the beautiful quilts you documented as well as of the intricate quilting – I’ve never done any quilting myself, just piecing. It’s wonderful!
Re: eBay I managed 37 listings last week. None were DP but I did make the DP goal for last week through donations again. A friend whose sister is an eBay seller sent me 157 sewing patterns. My friend goes to garage sales with her sister, but her sister doesn’t sell patterns so my friend bought them and shipped them to me. So I’ve got lots of items to list. Yikes.
Now that we’ve dropped another $1,000 on getting our cats well my husband and I are planning a long weekend trip this Friday, we’re driving just in case we need to return home quickly. Fingers crossed!
Wishing everyone a great week.
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