Trash To Cash Wednesday

Let's talk estate sale!!! I organized the estate sale for a friend who's moving to California and was a little overwhelmed with the amount of stuff she couldn't take with her. Why did we choose to have an estate sale instead of use craigslist or have a garage sale? When you live in a gated community there are several rules and regulations, one of which might be "no garage sales", such was the case for my friend. When we started to inventory the items for sale, we were pricing for craigslist, however, we realized we had a few room fulls and it would take several days of phone calls, questions and appointments to sell everything. So, the idea of doing a one day, 5 hour sale seemed like the best option. Another benefit of an estate sale is you can generally ask a little bit higher price. When items are staged in a home, they just look better. I'm happy to report the estate sale was a huge success! We raised over $5,000 selling items she no longer wanted. I also benefited, as my sweet friend allowed me to sell some of my craigslist items and ebay clothes. Remember the dining table and hutch I picked up last weekend? $50 for the entire set... Well, we cleaned her up, gave her a little oil and here's how she turned out...We priced the table and chairs at $300.00. I wanted to keep the base of the hutch, so we offered just the top for $75.00. I wasn't sure anyone would want just a top of a dining hutch, but I gave it a try. My table was the first item to sell and the hutch went at 25% off for $56.00! That's a $306.00 profit! And I got to keep the piece I wanted. Overall I made $904.00. I learned so many things from hosting the estate sale

1. It's a ton of fun going through someone else's stuff, especially when you can pre-shop.

2. Most people are honest (we had a few trying to get the 25% -50% off price before it was time- taking off price stickers, making secret piles, etc.- it irritated the home owner so much she decided not to sell the office unit at all- we put it on craigslist and got full price in the first few hours it was listed)

3. Maybe I could do this for a business

4. Sometimes your "trash" is worth a lot more than you think

5. Service is good

Needless to say, it was a pretty crazy week getting ready for the sale. So, how did I do on ebay? My biggest week yet! Here's my top sellers:

Banana Republic silk, skirt suit sold for $14.99.
Ralph Lauren Petite overalls sold for $18.50
I love J.Crew, but these size 8 floral crop pants were a total wild card. Despite the crazy fabric these sold for $13.25. I'm not usually one to buy something out of season and wait to list it on ebay. However, when I found this Girls XL gap leather jacket I waited three months until it cooled down a bit. It sold for $9.99

This Abercrombie and Fitch size L sweater was also purchased at an estate sale a few months back. It was worth the wait as it sold for $19.09
Banana Republic is a great brand to resale on ebay, however this wool skirt is only a size 0 so I was a little reluctant. It sold for $10.50
I purchased this size L Land's End purple t-shirt dress for $1.00 and listed it for $7.00. I received an email asking if I would do a $15.00 Buy it now- of course! Sold for $15.00
I love this Ann Taylor Loft size 8 dress with shrug. It sold for $21.50
Top seller of the week... This Tommy Bahama size M Hawaiian print halter dress. Sold for $46.00.

So how was the week?

Ebay Profits:$775.68

Craigslist Profits:0

Estate Sale:$904.00

Costs: 111.00(clothes), 63.81(ebay fees), 35.26(paypal fees) 100.00(cost of estate sale items)

Total Profit:$1369.61

This was my biggest ebay week ever! Combine that with the success of the estate sale and I almost have enough to pay for the computer. I need $2500.00, it's been 3 weeks and I've only got $455.17 to go.

PS: I'll be having a garage sale this Friday for those of you who are in the area.