Black Friday Bust

My Thanksgiving was delightful. Lots of good food, conversation and laughs at our small family gathering. But I woke the next day somewhat sad. No great mystery…with the holidays here I find myself thinking a lot about my mother, grandmother and aunt, now all deceased many years. It’s a bittersweet season. (Maybe you can relate.)

So it was with this little cloud over me that I went to my neighborhood thrift store for their “big” Black Friday sale. There was a small group of us who rushed in when the doors opened at 8:00 on a bitterly cold morning. (Thirty-seven degrees fahrenheit is darn cold for Silicon Valley!)

Alas it was no good. Some of the shelves were actually sparse. I thought, “Seriously?! On a sale day you’ve been promoting!” And I didn’t see much new merch from when I had been in a few days prior. I went around the small store twice and found just one thing I wanted to buy– a cute reproduction Victorian transferware goat mug that I’m going to use as a toothbrush holder. Everything else I picked up and examined just wasn’t good enough–either in quality, condition or profitability. I was quite disappointed. Let down actually.

I was going to head over to a garage sale one town over that, judging by the photos, was going to be more like an estate sale, but I just said, “The heck with it” and went home. Such was my frame of mind.

At home my next task was to package up some orders and take them to the post office. Not a fun job, but mildly gratifying. And I realized that some of the things I was wrapping up had been bought at that thrift store in months past, which made me think a little more kindly towards them.

Like this mid-century cameo (Mary looks serene. Jesus looks a little peeved!)…

And this Royal Copenhagen dog figurine. I normally shy away from collectibles like this, but the comps were decent, so I took a chance. In the end he took over a year to sell and I had to reduce the price.

Earlier this month my vintage boy scout sash sold. The buyer needed overnight delivery on this so she paid extra for that.

And this fabulous 1960s ceramic duck ashtray sold. I’ve had this in my store for years. Maybe three! I came close to donating it, but decided to wait till after the holidays and thankfully he sold. Not really worth the wait though or the effort to pack him up for such a small profit ($10 or so).

The only thing I did buy on Black Friday to resell is a bit of a gamble. I saw a lot of antique lace bits (collars, hankies, etc) on eBay. The seller included lots of photos (all dark), but never unfolded any of the items or specified size or condition other than “very nice.”

So it will be interesting to see what I really get and if anything has value. (I thought a couple of the pieces have potential!)

The rest of this weekend I’m focused on listing more items in my Etsy store where I have quite a few things on sale and lots of items that might be perfect for your aunt Mim or sister Charlotte. Take a peek.

As always, happy hunting,

Karen