Well, It’s Been An Interesting Few Days

Here’s the scoop…

Shipping Monday

On Monday I was faced with a good problem–the weekend had produced a number of orders and that meant I had a tiring morning ahead of me to get all of them packaged. It took two hours and I filled two blue Ikea bags which is something that hasn’t happened in a long, long, long time. After I dropped them off at the post office, as a way to celebrate, I went thrifting at my neighborhood thrift store. Naturally!

Buying Monday

The store was darn busy and it looked like I was going to leave empty handed but in the end I found a few things. I thought this oddly-shaped vase with a marble-like glaze was intriguing. I picked it up and peeled back the store’s price sticker and discovered it was an Arabia of Finland piece! Nice. I’ve sold this brand before and look for. This particular piece of lusterware dates from 1932 to 1949 and was a definite buy. (Listed for $48.)

In general I’m not buying much dinnerware these days, but I spotted this stack of 10 “Sun” Stonehenge Midwinter bread and butter plates and was smitten. Circa 1970s, it’s such a bold, happy, unfussy pattern that I think it will appeal to the buyers of today. (I can imagine my daughters wanting these.) So I grabbed this heavy stack and carried it around the store with me.

Back at home I found that most online sellers are listing the plates individually from $15 to $30. Wasn’t expecting that.

I’m not sure how many people buy single plates so I looked at the recent solds on ebay. Here’s what I found.

So these plates are not fast sellers on ebay. Still I am hopeful.

And I bought a 1992 Led Zeppelin “Physical Graffiti” songbook as one does. The music of Led Zeppelin featured in my youth and I think many from my era can still remember all the words to “Stairway to Heaven.”

This songbook is listed from $22 to $49 depending on condition and selling platform.

Total paid for all three: $13.89

Selling Tuesday

On Tuesday I had a Facebook Marketplace meetup at my house. A guy came by to pick up a lot of scientific lab glass flasks for $50. He said “Would you take $40?” and I said no. Fine. And then we got talking. And I mentioned that I had a lot more scientific glassware. He wanted to see it and it just happened to be all on my back stoop. Long story short he wanted to buy all six boxes of glassware. He wouldn’t give me a price so I said $200 which he thought was fair. And honestly that was an outstanding deal.

He went off to get more cash and came back with $140. And I looked at him and was thinking “oh no, no, no.” Then he asked what he could buy for that. I said pick out boxes you really want. Well, he paused, went to his car and came back back with $30 more dollars. “Could this buy it all?”

And this is where I paused and thought for a hard minute. I could have played hardball and stuck with my original $200 quote, but the truth is I have made hundreds of dollars already from this lab glass haul from years ago and I really, really wanted to get rid of these last boxes–all of them. And while I wish he had been more upfront in negotiating, I said okay. And we parted on amicable terms and I helped him load it in his car.

As it turns out this lab glass may be used in an upcoming movie set to open in theaters in 2027. It features a mad scientist and they want to create an over-the-top laboratory. Is this story legit? Well, he certainly went into enough description that made me think so and he said he’d be happy to keep me apprised of their progress so I can see my glassware being used. I didn’t expect that! Time will tell. I’ve gotten somewhat jaded over the years so I’m not holding my breath!

Downsizing Wednesday

I spent Wednesday morning making Moroccan Lamb Lentil Stew that will be one of our dishes for Thanksgiving. I amended the recipe here and there and I like the results! But I also spent part of the day going through a few of my bins of store inventory pulling more items for charity. It’s not easy for me. Letting items go represents a financial loss and perhaps points to an error in my judgment. It’s humbling.

Still removing deadwood is a good move. Stale inventory does no seller any favors. But I found one piece that I had deactivated from my store a year or so ago because it had lingered too long. And then I rediscovered it in one of my bins and thought “it’s not a bad little thing!” Rather whimsical, nicely made and usable, plus it’s signed. So I gave it a fresh listing and it’s already in someone’s cart. (Which obviously does not mean they’ll buy it, still it’s encouraging.)

I’ll close now, wishing you happy hunting,

Karen