Boxing It Up

It's clean-out time! I felt much better yesterday and got into cleaning out closets, sorting through some stuff I had been planning to sell on eBay, and just generally trying to make more space in this little house.

I ended up with about 10 boxes of varying sizes and contents, all ready to take to the consignment auction Thursday (is that tomorrow? I believe it is! Where did the week go?). I am learning what will sell, what won't and what isn't worth the trouble. I winced more than once as I put something in a box, because I will be losing money on some of it and I hate that. But I've learned some leassons in buying and that's a good thing.

Here's a peek into some of the boxes, and why these things are heading to consignment.

Did you know you can take stuff like this to the auction? This box has heat patches we've had for 5 years and never used, two bottles of Calcium pills, one unopened because I couldn't swallow the huge tablets, bottles of lotion that has a scent I don't like, and so on. It was good to clean out the medicine cabinet of all this stuff. Lesson learned: don't toss it--I can make at least a little money back on these kinds of items. Cleaning stuff sells well too, and I've actually bought boxes of partially used cleaning supplies that were great finds. I am hoping someone will think this box is a great find too.

Chipped, mis-matched dishes are just not worth dealing with. If they're chipped they won't sell, and although sometimes a single piece or two of a pattern will sell, chances are it takes more time to list than it's worth. There's a lace tablecloth in here too--it has a hole that could be mended, but I don't need it, and mended items won't sell either. Lesson learned: be bolder when sorting auction finds, and be more careful about looking for chips and cracks--and avoid the "I think I have the match to that somewhere" game.

I don't mind using mis-matched stemware--in fact, I love the variety! But I had way too many wineglasses and some had to go, so this is the resulting losers. I hate to see them go, but really, 25 wineglasses? If I have that much company I'll buy the plastic ones or hit the Goodwill for some to use and then re-donate. Lesson learned: too much is well, just too much. I can use the space for other things.

Linens sell well, but these are odd pieces that don't match, and a pair of curtains I bought at a yard sale thinking I'd use them. That was 3 years ago. Out they go. The basket is full of scarves I bought to sell. They don't sell all that well unless they're silk or designer labeled or signed. And they have to be ironed. Yuck. Lesson learned: I don't much like to iron.

I thought I could fix this clock. It's kinda cool, handmade in the shape of West Virginia, with a WV roadmap for the face. But. I tried and tried to remove the little box with the workings in it and I could not get it loose. Then I'd also have to buy a replacement for it.  Is it worth the trouble? Not to me. Lesson learned: don't buy things that need to be fixed unless I really do intend to do it.

Holiday items I've never used and a plethora of old kitchen knives and utensils that aren't vintage, or aren't in good enough condition to re-sell. My kitchen drawers are much easier to open and I can find things now! Lesson learned: harden my heart and clear it out. I still have a lot of Christmas items to sort. After the holidays, that will be the task waiting for me. It will be boxed and stored to be sold next fall.

That's just a few of the boxes on the way out the door. I still have more sorting to do, but there will be other auctions. No need to do it all at once, even though I am itching to get this job finished. Right now it's time to get back to listing on eBay, and then this afternoon, a little baking and perhaps a trip to Ravenswood to restock my booth. There have been some good sales there lately and I have some holes on my shelves. While I love extra space at home, extra space in the booth is best filled up!



Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.