Good Day, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams. Wow! Wednesday, and where is the time going to? I know all of that thrift shopping, yard saling, junking, and searching of treasures and supplies, right? Make sure to have some fun too.
I was curious, and having another thought about things. Don't laugh cuz I know ya'll do it too:) Once we have done all of the searching, and hunting for items needed we take them home, and what do you do next with it all? I know that we all have different ways of doing things, different things that we do in preparation, and we all have opinions as to what we should do for our sales. The biggest decision of course that we are face is are we keeping it, or are we selling it?:)
I love shopping at Thrift Stores, Yard Sales, Flea Markets, do some junking, and . . . don't tell anyone . . . once in a while you just might see my feet hanging out from a dumpster too! Now, once I get all my refound treasures home I like to set them all out, and make notes to everything I got. You know the usual of things like where I bought it from, how much did I pay, the date I found it, and so on. Then comes the next step of cleaning, and closer inspection of everything. I always worry about damaging things, and so I gently wash them to the best of my abilities. Since I worry about possible damage of things I carefully do them one by one, and take my time with them all too. As I am doing this I am also inspecting pieces for any other damages that were there, and deciding if they are going to be resold as is, or if I shall reuse them with repurposing. After everything has dried I like to take the time to get the old notebook out, and spend some time researching some of the pieces too. The values of them, and what can be done with them from there. Not only am I using the internet, but sometimes books are used in reference of some pieces to get a better idea of value, selling prices, and what they should be offered at in today's market.
This really doesn't seem like a whole lot of procedure in doing these few things, but it is time consuming. I enjoy doing it as I learn about the pieces, and can also connect with them by better viewing them in different ways from when they were purchased.
You know if you have something to add with this, or maybe share with us here you are more than welcome to do so. I love hearing about different ways of things. There is no right, or wrong to things here. Just a great way to share, and to learn from everyone. So, hit that comment button, and do your thing!:)
Thanks for visiting, and sharing your time with LilacsNDreams! I enjoy it all. Come back, and visit again soon.
I do the same as you, except I do it all in excel and have pages for each category, so when the item sells it is easier for me to find it and then list date sold, price, fees and shipping. It gives me a bottom line.
ReplyDeleteI don't always wash the hard goods before putting away, I may save that just before photographing, except for the textiles which I do wash. I also sort by categories, kitchen, toys, vases, bedroom, etc. into separate boxes.
I do some research, just to get an idea of value and is the item a common vintage item found on the market. I then tend to pull items in groups or colors to photo, edit, research again, and list.
You are very correct in saying it is a time consuming process. Sometimes I back off from thrifting, just to save me time from collecting more really cool items that need processing. But, in any case I always have my 'eyes' out.
Reminds me I need to get to the Goodwill, yesterday they had a really cool 60s vintage sweater and if it is there today I can get it for 20% off.
Victoria.....
ReplyDeleteYou are so organized compared to me! Right now...since November really, and a very long story with a very unhappy landlord....but our house has been in a shambles. What I had for 2 spare rooms/craft rooms has changed upstairs. 1 room is now a bathroom...when it gets done, and the other room has had new walls, painting, and so on. Other 2 bedrooms are 1/2 way painted, and waiting for rods in new closets that were added. So....everything has been brought down stairs, piled into other closets, and so on.
During this time I went through inventory, and have been downsizing. Some items have been listed for sale, some items to the side to repurpose with, and when I am done...I go through it again when I feel like it. At some point we will be moving out of state, and really would like to make it an easier move. Things will be easier to set back up, and then....I can be more organized by doing a better job of how my inventory is noted, and such.
I know of many others who use the spread sheets, excel, and documents to do their inventory. After this weekend I am glad I did not have some of that on the computer in files...I had an issue, and lost files. Sad on that part, but almost have a new computer again with all the available space now:-)
Very very time consuming yes, and I do wish that some buyers could understand more of what we as sellers do. We don't just go out, and buy items to resell online, but there is sooo much more that we all as sellers do.
Good Luck with the Goodwill, and hope you got what you were looking for. I cannot wait to move...different goodwills, different thrift stores, I will be about 5+ miles from a "big" flea market that happens once a month on the weekend, and just some good olde shopping!
Thanks for visiting, and sharing with us Victoria. I always enjoy hearing from others, and having them share with us as you have done. Take care, and Good Luck to you!:)
Kim
LilacsNDreams