Posted by Was sitting outside the other day pondering that summer was almost over and kiddies would be heading back to school in a few weeks. (Where does the time go?!) And I let my mind wander to my business and starting thinking about how it’s been going this summer. I came up with this lighthearted list of ups and downs!
On the UP side, August sales are looking a heck of a lot better than June and July. I had ten sales in the first five days. Hoping it keeps up. 🙂 Surprisingly I’ve sold several doilies!
On the DOWN side, my mailman (who is the best) came up to the house the other day with a package and he said (looking very sad), “They’ve refused your package.” Turns out a July customer sent back his package marked “Refused, return to sender” because he changed his mind about the item. Alas, this had “free shipping” on it. I had to fully refund the buyer and am out the $$ I originally spent on postage. Poop.
On the UP side, I’ve been working through my “death pile” items—either listing them or putting them in the donate pile. Still have lots more to get through, but progress is being made! My goal is to have it all cleared out in three months time which seems doable given other stuff I have going on in my life. Of course it would help if I would stop buying, but I don’t want to do that…at least not entirely!
On the DOWN side, been dealing with some rude folks the few times I’ve been out hunting–like the guy who didn’t want to wait for his turn in the checkout line at the estate sale and jumped ahead of me (when it was my turn!) and tried to thrust some money at the estate sale guy. Sheesh. Wait your turn buddy.
On the UP side, my husband now keeps an eye out for free stuff by the side of the road that I might want to sell. Yesterday while out biking he picked up a worn metal box with foreign money in it that a neighbor had set out. How cool is that?! It’s got some Canadian money I’ll give my Dad who regularly vacations in Canada.
On the DOWN side, I’ve fallen behind in tracking my expenses! Yikes. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that anymore…then I did. This week I MUST sit down and spend a few hours getting caught up!
On the UP side, despite not spending much time hunting I have found a few good things here and there. Today my neighborhood thrift store offered up this beautiful Fossil black leather computer tote in barely used condition.
And I spotted this nice vintage carved and painted wood box, likely Polish or Ukrainian.
And up the best UP side, I still love doing this. I’ve been fond of vintage stuff since my teen years, so it feels like a wonderful gift to be able use this decades-old passion in a part-time business. And bonus, I’ve been learning tons! I feel like a sponge trying to soak it all in—from Italian ceramics to mid-century paintings to fabulous crystal.
Hope you are following your passions too, and having more UPs than DOWNs. 🙂
Karen
P.S. I have some cute vintage fall blazers and coats on sale and will be adding more items to my back-to-school sale.
Hunting for Vintage 
Neat roadside find! I have no idea if they are worth anything but the Canadian bills I can see in your photos haven’t been in circulation for a long time. Some places may still take them but if the cashier is too young it could be tricky….lol. We have $1 and $2 coin now. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Liz!! I had no idea about the Canadian paper dollars. (Haven’t been there in a few years.) Hmmm…maybe I’ll add these to a lot of foreign money instead. – Karen
LikeLike
No problem. I live here but after a quick Google I was still a bit surprised to learn it’s been almost 30 years since the $1 bill! Time flies! Hope it’s worth more by now!
LikeLike