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Photography is my biggest time suck. I spend AGES on editing to get the photos looking good. I know… OCD and perfectionist and all that, but my insides wince every time I look at one of my photos that is not done well. If I could cut my photography time in half, I’d probably triple my output! It’s reached a point where I don’t want to list bc I don’t want to have to take the photos. Very discouraging.
My storage system is simple and fast and so easy I can ask a neighbor to get something for me if I have to. When I list, I pack the item ready for boxing, so my weights and measurements are already correct in the listing. Doesn’t take as long to do as you’d think and I’ve not lost any money on shipping since I started doing it. I have a packing station, with all my packing needs together. I have a tape roll that I use for packing boxes, the tape dispenser mentioned ^ above that I use for small pieces of tape such as securing bubble wrap or something, and all my stuff in one place. My packing is really fast and efficient now (spellcheck saved me from spelling efficient incorrectly – this thread must be jinxed! LOL)
So, for me, I think my scavenging and cleaning is one area where I could probably go faster, and photography is my personal nemesis. With solutions in those two areas, I’d be unstoppable.
Re the tape dispenser, I bought this one from Amazon back in 2016. It is one of the best purchases and I would put it on the Must Have list! In fact, strongly considering buying a second one for my listing area. I paid $13 back in 2016.
I see they have this one now for only $20 but I don’t know if it matches the quality of the first.
How very odd! When I posted yesterday, neither ChristineR’s post nor Vintage Lacy’s were showing. Yet today they’re posted above mine!
Congratulations folks. Into the home stretch!
I list curtains as panels, and then add in the number I have of each. That way a buyer can buy as many or as few as they want.
The only caveat – you MUST use flat rate shipping so that you can charge extra as they add on panels.
Hey Molly, no stress. I updated your numbers for last week and, with those and this week, you’re now level pegging your twin for points. You’re quite the listing demon, aren’t you! 😀 You go, girl!
I managed 5 listings this week. Tried out a borrowed DSLR camera to see if it improved my photos, but not only did it not handle the lighting better, it took me longer to edit bc it didn’t have a 1:1 ration option. Gave it back and reverted to my Coolpix. I have about 3 listings ready to go, but they need shipping information, and one has a blurry main photo, so I have to redo it.
Three weeks until I depart for the UK. Three WEEKS! Yikes!
I will try to update the post for those weeks, but am not sure of my access capabilities. I’ll definitely log in and follow y’all, but I might not be able to put up the schedule.
Oooh, this is such an exciting race! I see numbers in the 700s, 800s, and 900s, with only 125 listings between the top 2. While ChristineR is the hands-down winner for our Twin set, the other twins are in a nail-biting finish! Such fun!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I gave up on consignment. To do consignment, I have all the hassle of listing, storing, packing, shipping, only get part of the payment, and if there’s a return or the item is broken, who’s responsible? Only took me a couple sales to work out that owning the item outright meant that all the money, as well as all the responsibility, belongs to me. Now I regularly refuse consignment requests.
Facebook nailed me in the beginning, buying items that weren’t such a good find (the rabbit hole I mentioned) but I’ve netted some really great deals since I started being more careful about the posts I check out. Offering to sell to folks who are moving has gotten me some fantastic specials, as well as some inventive swear words! LOL. I also made friends with the guy at our local dump, who calls me if there’s something really good dropped off, and spread the word in my local retirement community that I’ll take ANYTHING if they want to give it away for free.
Scavenging is one of my businesses: I also teach belly dance, do the bookkeeping for a bunch of rental properties, and take care of my husband’s business.
AfcThunder – look at Facebook sales groups in your area. There is usually a buy/sell page in every city. There can be good stuff to find, but the prices are usually high. Folks selling individual items want top dollar – don’t go down that rabbit hole! But what you want to watch for are the “moving sale” or “estate sale” or “everything must go” posts. That’s where you really clean up.
Also, if you have the cojones, when you see SOLD on a for sale sign at a house, you can stop by and let the owner know that you’re willing to clean out anything they want to get rid of. Let them know up front that you’re paying rock bottom prices, but a lot of folks don’t want to move stuff, they’d rather just get rid of it. Especially in the more upmarket naighbourhoods. You do have to have rhino hide for this one, though. Some days the language is quite… colourful! 😀
You can buy a split pack air conditioner to install, it’s quite simple and you only need a couple small holes drilled. We used them all the time in Africa and they work very well. They’re expensive here in the States, but I found a few under $500. Worth the expense for no damaged good, IMHO.
I have a 16×8 ft shed with a single ac that I run in the summer. I don’t run heat in winter. We have humidity here in Texas, and I’ve noticed that it seems to build up in the shed. I had a “fuzz” on a leather jacket and tarnish on silver goods stored, since the ac is on, no problems.
LOL. No, my husband doesn’t sell at all, he is a sewing machine technician. A shop in AZ went out of business and we bought it out – everything except the building. The machines are not new, they’re all service machines. Some of them he will rebuild and sell as refurbs, others are only for parts. The parts and spares will be sorted into those items he needs to keep for repairs, and those that were stocked as sales items in the shop we bought out – things like feet, accessories, and needles. The refurbs and sales items will go into my eBay store to get rid of them. He has no interest in dealing with the public. I do all the marketing, admin, customer contact, bookkeeping, etc. He just does the repairs. When your husband retires you get twice the husband and half the money. Now he’s too busy with this stuff to bother me, and we have extra money. *wink* It’s a truckload of extra work for me, though – I obviously didn’t think this one through far enough! LOL
About half of the ladies just added lights. I’ve spent the last 10 days consulting individually with each one about how to put it together and coordinating the final results. Some of the ladies purchased new clothing especially for the event and then added lights, some purchased lighted items. I am the one with the lit up skirt after the big “wings” about 8 seconds in. I had a lit up top and skirt, but passed on my top to one of the others (further back in the troupe) who did not have enough lights. For my outfit, I actually sewed a new tulle skirt made out of two full circles, then sewed about 120 feet of LED lights into it. I created special pouches to hold the battery packs, then created a belt light system for the hip belt. Over that I sewed a chiffon full circle skirt, so that the “hardware” was hidden and only the lights shone through. I also made a lighted headpiece. I bought lit up fingerless gloves.
One of the ladies heard from a friend that we won first place, but I’ve not had official notification yet, so I’m waiting to find out if it’s true.
