Aloha! When I'm not lounging around in my favorite coffee shops in downtown Walla Walla writing profusely while sipping on a tall cup of bold or, whenever I feel like splurging, guzzling down a venti-sized caramel frappucino, I'm diligently taking photographs and working on listings for my eBay business, Lords of the Fly.
The large majority of our sales have been through our fixed-price items in our eBay store. Lately, we've opted to complement those Buy It Now listings--on a weekly basis for now and, hopefully, more frequently in the future--with a nostalgic throwback to the good old days of eBay...the 99 cents listing.
Yes, there's always a risk, more so in an unsteady economy, that we could take a loss. But the marketing psychology behind the move is akin to driving in slippery conditions: Turn your wheel in the direction of the skid!
What?!
Call me crazy (don't worry, I call myself that all the time), but nothing in life worth striving for ever came without risk. Sales have been down these last couple of months, so I'm simply retrieving the old welcome mat from storage, giving it a good dusting, and laying it out there for the global marketplace to tread upon.
My metaphorical welcome mat--the 99 cents sale--says loud and clear in my language of origin:
So here are some of the items that I'm listing today. First, a mention of the artwork at the top of this post. Caesar Hernandez was a prominent watercolor artist in California. His paintings have sold for hundreds of dollars. My listing of this particular item for a starting bid of 99 cents without any reserve (a set amount that the seller determines ahead of time that is unknown to the buyers, unless the seller chooses to tell them; if it isn't reached, there is no winner...thus, no real risk to the seller) is probably the highest kind of risk I could take with my eBay item(s). Ah, but what the heck? What's life without risk? Besides, read the beginning of paragraph 5 again.
Collectible Vintage Set of 3 Teddy Bear Porcelain Thimbles
Collectible Vintage Duck Figurine
Collectible Vintage Brooding Hen Salt or Pepper Shaker
Collectible Vintage Bee, Hive, & Flower Salt or Pepper Shaker
Collectible Vintage Leanin' Tree Greeting Card featuring
Norman Rockwell's 1947 Saturday Evening Post Cover--"Family Outing"
National Geographic--October, 2009 Back Issue
The Tallest Trees
Collectible Vintage Schramberg Cow Figurine
Collectible Vintage Konica Minolta AF Maxxum 70 SLR Camera
With Quantaray Lens 28-90 mm f/3.5-5.6
Dipinto A Mano Hand-Painted Vintage Collector Plate
Venezia Ponte Di Rialto
Vintage Collector Plate
Mission San Juan Capistrano, California
We earnestly pray that our eclectic 99 cent auctions will be a fruitful venture and a great win-win experience for our buyers and us. We truly believe it keeps us entrepreneurially sharp, focused, and motivated to honor the heart of the buyer. Empathizing with our customers and uplifting their perspective will help us make steady progress on the road to becoming better sellers.
Afghan Girl with the Haunted--and Haunting--Green Eyes
June, 1985 National Geographic
(Hawaiian Odysseus Photo of Cover)
PROLOGUE
I'm one for seeing the glass half full.
So while a good deal of the world may be focused on the Mayan calendar ending in December of this year, it's life as usual for me.
Add to that the fact that I'm looking at 60 imaginary candles on the invisible cake this July, well...let's just say that I am a full-fledged member of a universal club that is very appreciative of the life God's given them.
In 2000, I formally opened up a part-time business selling fishing flies I'd tied as well as fly tying materials on eBay.
In the latter part of last year, bone-weary from a bagel baking job in Redmond, Washington, and simply exasperated with the schizophrenic economy, I made the significant decision to abort the rat race I was quickly losing.
Returning home to Walla Walla County, 250 miles southeast of my sojourn in the Emerald City of Seattle, I kicked my online business into full gear.
Admittedly, it was a scary decision, but after much soul-searching, hours of heart-wrenching discussions with my wife, and a total overhaul of my theretofore makeshift business plan, I took the plunge.
And God's favor has incessantly rained upon me ever since.
Not that I'm rolling in the dough, mind you, because I'm not...not yet, anyway.
My blessings have come by way of the people I've encountered in my global entrepreneurship.
And in the end, the golden contact we make with our fellow men is more important than any earthly treasure.
That said, I've been struggling in the last couple of months, desperately trying to understand this minority segment on eBay that purchases items knowing full well that they are not going to pay for them.
When I ask eBay for help, I am told that the global venue is a buyer's market and that sellers are expected to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct regardless of how some buyers abuse the process.
The eBay reps continue: "You know, sir, this is a reflection of our economy."
What? That people can get away with doing wrong to other people?
What? Aren't sellers part of that economy, too? Don't we lose big time when you reinforce the bad behavior of non-paying buyers by lacking consequences with bite?
In short, I come away from those phone calls with eBay customer support feeling, well, entrepreneurially impotent.
Okay...
So then there's the subsequent fallout. I start feeling angry...I have to stuff that anger...with no adequate venting, I get to a point where I'm feeling sorry for myself.
And that's not a good place for anyone, let alone a businessman, to be.
THE BEHIND THE SCENES STORY
God is like this wonderful and timely GPS. When He sees us going down a wrong path, He doesn't treat us as mere marionettes and--with ethereal puppeteer strings--control our movements or force our decisions or rob us of our freedom of choice.
He simply provides more opportunities.
In the early part of April, 2012 (exactly 16 days prior to this writing), I discovered in my eBay inbox that I'd just made a sale of the magazine below to a woman in Australia.
Afghan Girl, Found, 17 Years Later
April, 2002 National Geographic
(Hawaiian Odysseus Photo of Cover)
I was elated! Promptly, I processed, packaged, and mailed the item off to the buyer.
Less than two weeks later, I received the following positive feedback--
thanks arrived today my son has included her in many art essays for school
Now, I'd known briefly about the 1985 Afghan Girl cover story (see top photo) while researching for my description of the 2002 National Geographic issue, but as events would have it, I actually obtained the latter issue first. I don't remember where...could have been at an estate sale, church bazaar, or thrift store.
So that's why I made the sale of the 2002 issue first.
Soon after, however, I got my hands on not just one, but two of the 1985 issues. My interest, like a single lit match in a dry forest, burned brightly and ran rampantly with new possibilities.
I remember gazing obsessively--as have millions of people all over the world--at the image of the Afghan girl with haunted--and, yes, haunting!--green eyes.
On impulse rather than analytical forethought, not worrying in the least about crossing unspoken professional marketing boundaries, I emailed the Australian woman a courtesy thank you for her nice feedback and then...yes, I dared it!...asked her if she could provide me with some background information about her feedback comment. I explained that I occasionally blogged about some of my eBay experiences.
When I awoke this morning to the light Walla Walla rain and checked my eBay status, I found an email from, I thought, the Australian customer. It was a well thought out response to my request. I was about to send an appreciative email when I noticed that there was a second message in my inbox.
Upon reading the second email, I learned that the response had actually been written by her son, a high school student.
Here is what the intelligent and eloquent young man wrote--
Afghan Girl Article
The following is in regards to your request to hearing about my, well, obsession is the best phrase. Firstly, I'd very much like to say thanks for my purchase. I received both issues & they're exactly what I wanted!
Now, you say you wish to hear a human interest story to put on your blog. Well, my obsession with the Afghan girl is nothing compared to her story, a single individual whose beautiful eyes captivated the hearts of everyone who saw them, eyes that reflected the plight of all refugees of war. That's remarkable, a true testament to the nature of humanity and the power of a well-told story, and an amazing piece of art, things of which I've always loved.
I don't quite remember the first time I saw the photograph by renowned photojournalist Steve McCurry, but since then I have been a passionate fan. He is now one of my photographic idols. What I remember, however, is being caught up in the beauty of the image like everybody else. I'd been taking photos for a while at this point, and when I saw this, I was blown away. Not only was the subject amazing, but I was swept away with the lighting, the composition, the focus, the simple beauty. I rushed off and read up on the story. Since then, it's been one of my favorite images.
I've since used it as an example in as many projects for school as I possibly could, from English (in a theme of journey and belonging) to Visual Arts. As recently as three weeks ago, I've used her story as an example in one of my first assessments for university (subject on the future of Afghan women). The Afghan girl isn't just simply an amazing piece of photojournalism and a beautiful photograph. It also captures the human spirit.
Today, I'm in possession of both issues of National Geographic--the Afghan girl's complete story. I am in possession of not only collector's items, but a piece of history as well, and I thank you for that with all my heart.
This has been something I have desired for many years now, and I'm sure it will continue to inspire me.
Sincerely,
Alexander Johnson
EPILOGUE
Just as I was moved by the awesome and memorable Afghan Girl cover, I was absolutely blown away by the thoughtful and equally inspirational response from the young Australian man.
Alexander, you're a credit to not just your parents, siblings, relatives, friends, and acquaintances. You're an embodiment of all that is hopeful and cause for thanksgiving in our world. May the good Lord bless your every endeavor--in your budding university life and in your future occupation, relationships, and global ambassadorship.
Thank you for blessing me with one more beautiful remembrance of why I do the work I do on eBay.
Aloha and mahalo,
Hawaiian Odysseus
Finding the Afghan Girl
National Geographic Video on YouTube
I also invite all who are interested to read a related post that can be found with the following link:
Konica Minolta AF Maxxum 70 SLR Camera With Quantaray Lens
28-90 mm f/3.5-5.6
(Hawaiian Odysseus Photo)
It's of no small irony that the week after I listed this beautiful pre-owned camera on eBay, I received the official confirmation from an ophthalmologist in Walla Walla that I needed to have cataract removal surgery.
Now, that's disconcerting news enough. But to learn that both eyes needed the surgery, well, that took me for a loop.
Both my parents developed cataracts and had to have surgery in their late seventies. So the odds of my getting cataracts at an even younger age were even greater. Sure enough, I won the cataract lottery--not just once, but twice.
(Hawaiian Odysseus Photo)
On paper, cataract surgery seems simple enough. After local anesthesia is applied, a needle pierces the lens and breaks it up into small pieces. Through a suction process that, for personal reasons, I really don't want to and am not qualified to write about, the pieces are removed. An artificial lens is then installed. If all goes well, after a relatively short recuperation period, the patient is able to see quite clearly.
I was surprised to learn that cataract surgery is the #1 most common medical procedure in our country.
So what does all of this have to do with the camera I listed?
(Hawaiian Odysseus Photo)
Well, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then God's head must be swelling. Let's look at a timeline to understand a little bit more about man's attempts to make an artificial eye--the camera!
1021 Ibn al-Haytham, an Iraqi Arab scientist, wrote Book of Optics, introducing the basic concept of a camera and the usage of a pinhole or lens to focus an external image onto an internal surface.
1685 Johann Zahn developed the first handheld camera, but it would be many more years for the design to be implemented successfully.
1814 The first photograph was taken by Joseph Nicephore Niepce. By exposing a bitumen coated pewter plate to light, Niepce was able to capture a temporary image.
1814 Expanding on Niepce's idea, Frenchmen Charles and Vincent Chevalier built the first camera that could produce photos. However, there was no way to preserve the photos.
`836 Niepce's partner, Louis Jacques Daguerre, developed the first practical photographic process. Daguerrotype involved an image being made on a light-sensitive silver-coated copper plate.
1840 For the first time, William Talbot generated positive images from negatives to produce permanent images.
1888 George Eastman made his first camera and called it the Kodak. It was the very first camera to go on sale.
1889 Eastman, who had been making paper film for years, replaced it with celluloid. He created a camera that was shaped like a box and had a single speed shutter mechanism.
By the turn of the century, the commercialization of cameras and the advancement in photography technology resulted in quantum leap advances.
(Hawaiian Odysseus Photo)
In the process of doing research and creatively interpolating facts with figments of my imagination-doing my own quantum leaping, so to speak--it struck me recently that it wasn't just coincidence that listing a camera on eBay and being diagnosed with cataracts were such closely aligned events in my life.
These things were meant to happen in close juxtaposition in order that I might understand...and in the understanding, find peace and acceptance.
If man had not been curious and just a wee bit narcissistic in his attempts to be just like heavenly Dad, he might not have attempted to devise a mechanical eye, or camera.
And if he'd given up after his first initial attempts or failed to improve on his predecessors' progress, technology would have gone the way of dinosaurs.
If cameras didn't exist, perhaps it would have been all the more challenging for medical school professors to illustratively and mechanically expound upon the wonders of the human eye.
Figuratively...literally...man would still be stuck wondering what the other side of the moon looked like.
And what would it matter if all of mankind couldn't see very well after threescore years because of increasingly cloudy vision?
As it stands, if all goes well next month--and I'm praying for God's abundant favor, not just for me, but for my camera mechanic, the good ophthalmologist himself--I'll be seeing things a lot more clearly than I do now.
(All images in this post are Hawaiian Odysseus photos.)
Just west of Jefferson Park in Walla Walla, Washington, adjacent to the 9th Avenue portion of Highway 11 which connects the aforementioned city with its Oregon sister approximately ten miles or so to the south--Milton-Freewater--you'll find this iconic iron giant from yesteryear resting in a cyclone fence-enclosed area.
I happened to be walking past this railroad memorabilia this morning. The temperature was menthol brisk, and I was comfortable in jeans and a light jacket over an aloha shirt. The sky--oh, that glorious panorama of azure!--had its celestial gates closed to members of the cloud family, and the sun was out in its brilliant promise to warm things up a bit.
Only a third of the way through visiting February, and yet we're blessed with a mid-spring day.
Good thing I brought my camera! I thought as I found a clean spot on the grass to lay my backpack down. Unzipping my faithful blue and black accessory, I grabbed my simple yet invaluable Fuji digital and jockeyed around the cyclone fence to capture a few images.
In 1917, this Union Pacific #2357 locomotive was built for the Union Pacific subsidiary known as the Oregon Short Line. It was donated to the City of Walla Walla in 1959.
Established on April 14, 1881, the Oregon Short Line was the appropriate choice of name for the shortest route possible from Wyoming to Oregon. The construction of a standard gauge line from Granger, Wyoming through Idaho to a junction in Huntington, Oregon, was successfully administered by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.
This memorial has existed for over five decades adjacent to what could arguably described as Walla Walla's busiest thoroughfare. Yet, as is the case with so many beautiful images, ojects, and--sadly--fellow sojourners of terra firma, we engage in this perpetual habit of neglecting to see what is right in front of us.
In my work on eBay and its close online cousins; in my views and life philosophy; in my spirituality; and especially in my interpersonal relationships, I want to do my part and start seeing--really seeing--what I've been taking for granted.
(This and subsequent images are Hawaiian Odysseus photos.)
Islands 2012 Calendar, Reverse Side
Ever since I've expanded my niche selection in my eBay business, shopping in downtown Walla Walla has become more appealing for me, previously a tried and true I'd rather be watching the NFL playoffs or Storage Wars kind of guy.
It's also another form of being out on a date with my lovely wife...even if I am looking around.
No, it's not what you might be thinking.
My focal point--call me addicted--is stuff I might just be able to sell on eBay.
It's one thing to sell used, sometimes vintage, items. But every now and then, I see things I can pick up at retail and attempt to resell at a humble profit.
So my heart skipped a beat one evening when my wife and I were shopping for groceries--yep! of all places, a grocery store!--and I saw these great-looking 2012 calendars. My head started spinning as I quickly crunched numbers in my head.
Turning to the boss, I discussed my idea and let her know my intentions.
She gave me the proverbial look that wives universally give their enterprising husbands...you know, that look of oh, boy, so you got another harebrained scheme up your sleeve, huh?
I get a bit excited when I see that look. It's a prerequisite, you see, for my future success. It challenges me, it teases me, it gives me just that right amount of come hither promise that is reminiscent of the early days (alright, years) of courting her.
Invariably, she gives me the okay. But it's mostly due to the fact that I've proven to her that my ideas usually work. They might take a while to germinate and then flourish, but with time and patience, they usually pan out.
So when my cat rudely awakened me this morning...and allow me to digress a bit and share with you that unpleasant experience:
I'm dead to the world, sound asleep, dead to the world, and undoubtedly snoring my head off because I've chosen to take a night off from using my CPAP apparatus, when I hear Kona clawing profusely on the side of the mattress near my feet.
Kona has got to be part bobcat. He seldom mews like normal cats to indicate he's wanting something. Instead, he claws at objects around the house. It makes enough of a noise to wake one of us up.
Like me...like this morning...like at 4:45 AM!
I've sprinkled enough water at him to make him tear out of the area like a jet kicking into Mach 5, so I figured I'd fake him out with a sprinkling motion from my hands. But he's too smart for my feint, and he keeps clawing.
Which means I gotta get up!
So I struggled sleepily out of bed, beckoned him to go downstairs with me--or maybe I've got that backwards. In any event, I end up opening the back door for him so he can go out and do his thing.
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate Kona knowing where his bathroom is. I mean, I'll tolerate the clawing as a more desirable event than the alternative. (We went on a trip once, and the catsitter apparently forgot to let him out, and so my poor wife discovered quite the surprise in our bathtub.)
Anyway, where was I?
Oh, yeah...so when my cat rudely awakened me this morning...I couldn't get back to sleep and decided to check my eBay site.
I was pleasantly surprised that a buyer from down under (G'day, Mate!) had purchased and paid for the above-displayed calendar. As you can see from the second image, the sixteen monthly scenes are picturesque and very appealing.
Bingo! I hastened to tell my wife. While the sale afforded us a humble profit, it proved the point once again that with a little effort, ingenuity, resourcefulness, time, and patience, eBay affords anyone an opportunity to sell almost anything to anyone else clear across the globe.
On a personal level, it proved that the opportunistic notion I'd experienced in the grocery store had been worth following up on.
I have much to be thankful for. And that's an understatement.
Not too long ago, I made a sale for the above vintage ad quite by unintentional error and through virtually no effort on my part.
On my eBay message site, I received word from a gentleman inquiring if a listing I'd made had the Lincoln Logs image. Apparently, what had happened was that I had posted the listing with the wrong image.
Red-faced and with the taste of crow in my mouth, I thanked the gentleman for bringing the error to my attention and made the necessary adjustment to the eBay listing.
Lo and behold! A couple of days later, that same individual bought the ad. After eBay and PayPal fees as well as postage (because I usually offer free shipping for my ads), I made $6.54. (I just started the vintage ads niche of my eBay business about two months ago, and--admittedly--I have so much to learn about this fun venture. So, always, I am especially appreciative of my customers, and I'll go out of my way any time to help them find what they're looking for.)
Having this eBay enterprise gives me even greater appreciation for the local, regional, national, and international small businesses and corporations I deal with each week. When I experience great customer service, I make it a point to ask to speak with or at least email their shift supervisors to let them know about the fine job their staff is doing.
Conversely, I never hesitate to assertively communicate with companies when I experience dreadful customer service. Just yesterday, in fact, I spoke with a corporate employee in Spokane about the poor service I received at a local bank in Walla Walla. My intention is never to unreasonably rail against a business enterprise. Rather, my goal is always win-win. If I speak up about things that can and need to be remedied, I help in part to improve that business.
Bringing this practice back to eBay interests, I make it a point to treat my customers well. I offer good products, and--in the case of vintage ads that show their age--I honestly describe the less than mint items and answer any questions customers might have to the best of my ability. This grass roots way of doing business hails in part from being reminded each time I excitedly find an old ad that this was the way our forefathers conducted their businesses...with old-fashioned but never outdated courtesy, integrity, and gratitude.
So, while it might seem trite to some, I quickly admitted my error and thanked the individual for pointing it out to me.
Who knows whether or not that civility contributed to the sale? It doesn't really matter. That's how I choose to conduct my business.
And it's growing. Slowly yet steadily as she goes.
It's a beautiful thing when an eBay sale takes place for us and my wife and I eventually receive positive feedback from a happy customer. This is what I wanted to share with you today.
First of all, in order for you to completely grasp the scope of what I'm about to share with you and have a deeper appreciation for the importance of well-written auction and store descriptions, creativity, and that personal customer service touch, please read or review the following link. It connects you to a previously published Hawaiian Odysseus post.
Scroll on down to the part about the doll(s) above and get caught up to speed on the front end of this transaction. In summation, it was the first estate sale I actually found the courage to get out of the car and accompany my wife to...although I gingerly did so after she'd been in the home for about ten minutes. In fact, she called me on my cellphone from within the house to coax me to get out of the car. (I mean, if you've ever watched STORAGE WARS, the great reality series hit on the A&E channel, my wife and I are a middle-aged Pacific Northwest version of Jarrod Schulz and Brandi Passante...we're really a hoot of a team!)
So, anyway, I quit being a girl and got out of the car...and I'm so glad I did. Because by that one very hesitant yet fateful move, I was thrust into a whole, brand new, and adventuresome world.
And, if I might wax romantic, it turns out to be a pretty cool way to date my wife of almost thirty years.
One of the things that caught my eye at this first estate sale were these two dolls. Since they were nicely covered in cellophane packaging and lying in the midst of a huge stack of cross stitch magazines and scattered patterns, I figured they'd be worth something. The sales tag said $4, and I haggled the price down a dollar. Walked out of the home like I'd really done something! Big shot estate sales buyer then...while a scared little Walla Walla squirrel just a half hour earlier.
That night, I must've spent three or four hours going through the day's estate sale booty and listing them on eBay. I took that long because there were photos to be taken of each item and, even more so, research to be done and creative descriptions to be written.
I don't always hit a home run with my listings. But in this case, I had lots of fun creating the following.
Before I share that with you, though, I want to include the positive feedback I received early this morning from the customer:
"loved item descriptions; very personable transaction; great experience; delight"
There's a little behind the scenes story I want to insert here. After the kind woman bought the first doll, my wife suggested that I make her a deal with the second one. At first, I thought maybe I'd be coming across pushy...and then, I got pridefully motivated when I started thinking how my wife had better entrepreneurial risk-taking skills than I was exhibiting, and so I decided to take a risk.
I emailed the woman and presented her with a 50% discount offer for the second doll. She accepted my offer in a heartbeat. I ended up making a 400% profit in the transaction.
No matter how small or big the monetary value, doing better than a 100% profit margin is a huge plus in my bottom line any day of the year.
I appreciate my wife's input of female intuition and haggling ability, a character trait she claims she got from her father. Now there's a German who could bargain shop a camel from right under its Muslim rider and convince the Bedouin that he was doing him a favor!
Anyway, here's a description. For newbie sellers on eBay, use a written voice similar in style to the way you would speak to your buyers in person. I have a certain dry wit and creativity that blends nicely into my descriptions.
Above all, don't be too critical on yourself. I am a perfectionist addict, so I should be the last to talk. Point being, just let yourself flow. I never do rough drafts in handwriting...I simply let my fingers free-fall on the laptop's keyboard. Kinda like the way I compose my blog posts.
At the end of the day, no one should ever have to tell us that this is the way to think or act or be. As long as we aren't hurting other people or ourselves, we deserve the utter and ultimate freedom to be whom we were meant to be.
Above all, have a great time!
LORDS OF THE FLY COLLECTIBLES--DOLLS
Presents
1991 DAISY DOLL
DAISY KINGDOM, INC.
The winning bidder will receive a twenty-year-old 15" DAISY DOLL from the folks at Daisy Kingdom, Inc.
Take good care of her...although she had proper nutrition, a good lifestyle, and a smoke-free upbringing, she is only half dressed in her bonnet, black high-top shoes, and muslin undergarments.
Word has it that she is interested in pursuing a career in modeling. She has had some experience with Victorian, early American, Amish, rural American, and country/western fashions, but she admits she also has a certain curiosity about other styles of dress and cultural lifestyles. It may be a stretch, given the fact that her stiff porcelain (or is it hard plastic?) face and neck and hard plastic shoulders, along with her hard arms, feet, and boots that she chronically wears limit her flexibility and range. Nevertheless, there's a bit of a gamer and an adventurer in this young lady.
She's looking for work as a nanny or adult care provider, so if you are willing to accommodate her, please remit her travel expenses via PayPal, our preferred method of payment, and we shall send her off to you via USPS Parcel Post (if you live in the USA) or via USPS First Class Mail International if you live across the pond or in parts more exotic.
Thank you very much for participating in our eBay listing.
(This and subsequent images are Hawaiian Odysseus photos.)
The Message's interpretation of Isaiah 54:2 couldn't make it clearer for me...
"Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!"
I am taking God's promise to heart, humbling myself and adopting a teachable self-image.
In my Hawaiian Odysseus life's journey, I have figuratively come to a place where I must no longer run. Rather, I am taking up roots, stretching out every possible square footage of my tents, and driving my stakes deep into the ground. For God, for family, for self...
It's with this state of spiritual, mental, and physical mettle that I approached yesterday's activities with my wife.
There used to be a time that the most exciting part of my autumn Sunday was to watch and cheer for the Seattle Seahawks. While I was wasting three-plus hours being a couch potato, according to my wife, she would be working hard taking care of the chores and errands she didn't have time for during the busy work week.
But nowadays, intent on making a serious go of building our eBay business, taking it to the next level, what really turns my crank is to find hidden treasures in other people's junk.
So we went to an estate sale in one of the more affluent neighborhoods in Walla Walla.
(The Seahawks' offense sucked yesterday, by the way. They could barely muster three measly points against the Browns in a game where each team was trying its very best to lose. In that ironic sense, the Seahawks came up victorious.)
There was literally only a half hour left, and so we hurriedly went through the various rooms of the large, beautiful home, looking for last minute bargains.
We found a few things. The photographs and captions in this post will show you what I bought and have either listed or am in the process of listing for this week's auctions.
I spent a total of $8.50, and I'm looking forward with breathless anticipation as to how my investment turns out.
Along with the item in the photo above, I picked up the following eBay candidates at this estate sale:
Krinkles by Patience Brewster
Investment: Freebie
Bridge Set (external view)
Bridge Set (internal view)
Investment: $2.00
Set of 8 Cross Stitch Booklets
Investment: $2.00
Cross Stitch Doll (pair)
Investment: $3.00
I never thought I'd be playing with dolls. But I guess I'm feeling less pressured to save face and be macho the older I get. Besides, the motivation of contributing to the Scholarship Fund gives me a great deal of freedom to explore, shall we say, my softer side.
The time at the estate sale quickly came to an end, and with a bit of excitement, I shared with my wife the auction strategies I'd be attempting later in the evening.
By the way, even on football and World Series weekends, listing on Sunday night is a pretty good idea. A lot of eBayers find that a great time to look for bargains online.
Me? I am so unorthodox. I list any old time I please, and I usually luck out.
Anyway, we had an hour left before the Sonbridge thrift store closed, so we hustled on back to College Place.
Sonbridge Community Center is owned and operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. It is located at 1200 SE 12th Street in College Place, WA. (If you're ever in southeast Washington, please check this shop out. It is literally bursting at the seams with treasures! You'll feel like you're Johnny Depp playing Captain Jack Sparrow!)
Some of our best finds have been in this place. Yesterday, for example, my wife picked up two great items. She found a complete VCR player for $2.50. I'm looking forward to doing some minimal mechanical adjustments with it, cleaning it, and selling it on eBay.
The other thing was a back massager, that sort of thing you put on a chair or car seat, lean back into it, and enjoy the good vibrations. My better half got it for $1 because the adapter was missing. No problem. When we got home, she dug through a Tupperware full of cords and thingamajigs and found a compatible adapter. She attached it, plugged the device in, and voila! it worked like a charm. I'm so proud of her. We will most likely keep it, but something like that could sell easily on eBay for $40 or more.
Me? Again, I found myself doing something I'd never done before. I went dumpster-diving outside the store. Well, sorta. They have a special area where a bunch of junk and doodads are kept in sacks, plastic bags, tubs, bins, and shelves. It's right outside the store and has a sign that says: FREE.
I like FREE. It's my favorite four letter word that starts with F.
So the following pictures will show you what I found:
Jackson Brand Woman's Handbag or Clutch Purse
Investment: FREE!
Madame Alexander Dolls--Hansel and Hansel
Investment: FREE!
Madame Alexander Dolls--Three Mad Hatters Investment: FREE!
Ghirardelli Chocolate Collectible Tin
Investment: FREE!
And so there you have it, faithful readers. I'm having the adventure of a lifetime deep into the autumn of my life...and simply digging every second of it.
Be sure to check out our eBay store and auction offerings. Here's a link below for your convenience in finding us.
Until next post, this is Hawaiian Odysseus highly suggesting that you support your local thrift stores. They're working for a good cause, and you may just end up doing yourself a favor as well!