The 2008 Garage Sale Challenge

Getting my shopping shoes on …
 

Thursday, May 1 - Weekly trip to Rosedale Goodwill, spent $107.70.  Dishes, glassware, serving pieces, doodads, and six old brass pencil sharpeners, in the shape of a globe, a cowboy boot, a piano, and a couple others. 

Friday, May 2 - Drove to Fremont for the weekend, to finish cleaning out Mom’s house prior to estate sale. 

Saturday, May 3 - Finally found my childhood dolls in Mom’s garage.  Mice have nibbled on the boxes, but the contents are fine.  Dozens of Barbie outfits and shoes, Barbie & Ken’s matching armoire/closets, 3 Skipper dolls, numerous Barbies with ratty hair.

Another box held my long-lost Chatty Cathy, all dolled up for a date with Chuckie … stained dress, one leg detached, and a punk haircut I don’t recall giving her.

We had a great conversation:

Me:  “Whatcha been doin’ in the bottom of this box for the past 45 years?”

CC:  “Cookie all gone!”

Yes, she can still talk.  Pretty cool, all things considered.

On the way back to the hotel, hubby Ray and I stopped at St. Vincent de Paul.  Spent $20.18, which included some Pyrex bowls and Corelle plates, an assortment of mugs and swanky swigs, two sets of dishes (still in truck, so no clue to maker or pattern), and a looks-like-new Burberry blazer for Ray (under 5 bucks).

Sunday, May 4 - Had planned to go to the monthly Alameda Point Antiques & Collectibles Faire, held on the main runway at the old Alameda Naval Air Station base, but we were too lazy to get up at 6 a.m.  It’s held the first Sunday of every month, rain or shine, and they don’t allow the sale of anything less than 20 years old.  Alameda is an island in San Francisco Bay, and the runway is right next to the water, with a great view of the San Francisco skyline.

After all the work at my mom’s the day before, we decided to skip Alameda in favor of sleep and a late breakfast, then headed off to the local thrifts. 

First stop, EcoThrift in Hayward, which I had discovered a couple weeks earlier.  On my previous trip, I purchased 15 pieces of 1960s Villeroy & Boch “Bon Appetit” china for $4.00 total (less than 30 cents per piece).  I listed each piece individually at a starting price of $9.99, and all 15 pieces sold the second week of the auction.  Total sales price:  $209.85, before eBay & PayPal fees, so my actual profit was around $190.00. 

Apparently, EcoThrift is fighting global warming by not opening on Sundays, but they didn’t mention that on their website.   We kept driving.

Second stop, Thrift Center in Hayward, which we’d never heard of.  They’re maybe a mile from EcoThrift, and they have a huge sign on the street corner that proudly announces they’re Closed Sunday.  Even so, their parking lot was full, the doors were wide open, and there were SALE banners flapping in the breeze.  Everything in the store was either 30% off or 50% off.  I spent $97.74 on assorted dishes and glassware, including 9 Frankoma coffee cups for $2.00 each, that will be listed and sold in lots of 3.  Ray got a great Tigger tie while we here, and I found a terrific leather purse imprinted with artwork from old maps.

Final stop, on our way back to Bakersfield, was Savers in Milpitas.  I love Savers (which is called Value Village in the Pacific Northwest and Canada), and the one closest to my house is 100+ miles away.  I had a filled “Savers” card, so I received 30% off everything, and spent a total of $56.11, mainly on dishes, glassware, and Pyrex.  Ray scored his second cool tie of the day, a lovely black silk tie featuring a very modern Mickey Mouse.

Total Garage Sale Challenge inventory expense, Week 1:  $280.00, plus mileage cost of $12.00.  No listing or sales fees, and no listings or sales, due to being out of town.  Everything is still in the back of my ‘burb, to be taken to the office on Wednesday for photos and listings.   My non-Garage Sale Challenge sales for the week were $820.28. 

Here’s a pic of the Russel Wright spun aluminum ashtray that sold for $255.00 on Sunday, while we were driving home.  This is the ashtray my father used while I was growing up, found under a pile of magazines at my mom’s house last month. 

It was listed before the Challenge began and, technically, I didn’t buy it, since I don’t have to pay for anything acquired from my parents’ estate sale.  The ashtray is signed on the bottom, and I’ve learned a LOT about Russel Wright in the past week.  It’s definitely a name to look for.

Too bad we can’t count the sale of personal stuff for this year’s Challenge.  eBay sellers need to clean their closets, too, and most of us start out by selling things we already own.  It’s the low-risk, tried-and-true way for raising a little cash to get a new eBay business off the ground.