A Few Days in the Life

Sometimes when the day comes to a close I wonder what I actually got accomplished. Does that ever happen to you? So I decided to chronicle a few days to see what I’ve really been up to and give you a bit of a peek inside my life.

Friday Morning

Browsing for online bargains in the wee hours. (I typically spend 5-10 hours a week sourcing online.) I found a listing for a hand-woven tapestry. No one had bid on it yet, but I found it quite appealing and placed a modest bid. Did some research on it and similar ones from this design house sell for close to $300. Could be a nice profit in this. Hoping no one else is interested!

Received an email from my thoughtful friend Carol (who always saves boxes and packing material for me) introducing me to a friend who is moving and has stuff she’d like to sell. I contacted Jane with a list of the things I typically buy.

Later morning I packaged up three orders and dropped them at the post office. Afterwards my youngest daughter (home on college break) and I enjoyed a yummy lunch of Turkish/Greek food at Anatolian Kitchen.

Since my youngest daughter is not interested in being a model for me (other than hands!) and my eldest was at work, I resorted to modeling this necklace for my “scale” photo for the listing. Knew I needed to show how large the stones are on a person. Not a great photo (the lighting was too dark in the room), but it will suffice till I can replace it.

Friday Afternoon

Got a couple of the sterling souvenir spoons photographed and listed. Part of my listing time included researching what the spoons sold for recently (using Worthpoint) and current sale prices. One of the spoons I haven’t listed yet has a most curious maker’s mark–a triangle with what looks like a bug in it. So far I haven’t found out the maker on http://www.925-1000.com/

Will check other sources. Took photos of other things but wasn’t happy with the results.

Received the wacky vintage hat I had won a few weeks ago. They had packaged it in a poly shipping bag where it got a bit crushed. (What were they thinking!) But worse, the circumference measurement was off two inches from what they had listed and it is quite small. Poop! It’s still sellable but this certainly limits it. This makes the second item in recent weeks that didn’t have an accurate listing much to my determent. There is something to be said for sourcing for items in person.

Also received my order of shipping supplies. While I do take advantage of the U.S. post office’s free priority mailing boxes, I still have to buy padded envelopes and smaller boxes for lighter items that ship the cheaper first class mail. Was relieved to get the envelopes as I had run out. (Most of my jewelry ships in a brown kraft box tied with baker’s string tucked into a padded envelope.)

When it stopped raining I sat outside on my stoop and started polishing one of the ’50s brass trivets I bought a few days ago. I’m using chemically, toxic Brasso and it stinks to high heaven. Can’t use it inside the house. (Usually I like using baking soda and lemons to clean brass.) But with a lot of elbow grease the Brasso is removing the corrosion and discolored parts. Got the large trivet half done before I got cold.

Heard back from Jane. We’ll try to connect soon.

I received an offer on a piece of jewelry. Despite the fact that Etsy does not have a “make best offer” feature, I receive offers from time to time. Most of us do. She was asking for a $55 discount on a pin!! Holy smokes, did she really think I would say yes?

Saturday Morning

I emailed the gal back about the offer thanking her for her interest, but saying I couldn’t accept her offer. I didn’t make a counter offer as we are too far apart.

Checked on the tapestry auction. It has 34 hours till it ends. Still no other bidders, but that doesn’t mean anything. Many auctions get bid up in the last few seconds.

Got two spoons and this pretty spinach jade bowl listed.

“Took a break” to clean out the fridge. Long overdue. As I was working I kept hoping to hear the cha-ching sound on my phone that indicates I’ve made a sale. February was a great sales month for me and I’m feeling like a negative Nelly that March won’t be nearly as good. It’s strange that after six years I still worry about sales.

Saturday Afternoon

Drat! Just checked the tapestry auction and I’ve been outbid. Should I bid again?  I really don’t want to overpay for this. Cooked up some honey mustard chicken and roasted Brussel sprouts for lunch.

On the plus side a vintage sterling charm bracelet I bought on eBay a few days ago just arrived. It’s a heavy one with 1950s-1970s charms of .800 to .925 silver that I bought at a reasonable price. As a charm lover, I plan on keeping a couple of these for myself and selling the rest. Won’t be a huge profit when all is said and done, but that’s okay.

I particularly adore the cage with the dice, the Cleopatra bust, the baby cup, the abacus with movable bits and the articulated fish. Such a fun and chunky bracelet.

Relaxing now. We watched “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” movie, then it was off to read my mystery book in bed.

I’m done for the day.

Sunday Morning

Got my coffee and whipped open my laptop. Rats, no overnight sales. So far it’s been a very slowwww month. My family always rolls their eyes when I say stuff like that. One of my daughters asked recently, “Will you ever be happy with the number of sales you have?” That got me thinking. My business is only intended to be part time and I wouldn’t want it to become too busy, but it still has room to grow.

I plan on stopping at my neighborhood thrift store before church. We’ll see if there are any gems to unearth today! There are a few regulars I always see. One is a sweet elderly woman whose husband drives her, but he sits in the car reading while she shops. We always say “hi” and chat a bit. After church I’ll be going out for lunch with a new friend.

Sunday Afternoon

Finally back home after being gone from 9:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Found one good thing this morning at my thrift store…a red leather Fossil purse. It appears to be unused and even had the little card telling how to care for it. While unused by human hands it did have an empty spider sack inside (!) which I have cleaned out.

Not sure yet if I’ll bid again on the tapestry auction that ends soon. Right now I just want to relax.

Well, hope you enjoyed this peek. I had fun writing it. 🙂

Happy hunting,

Karen