Where the good stuff goes

There is a local thrifting YouTuber (golden state picker) that I occasionally watch who also shops at the Savers store here in San Jose.  He shows many times in his videos some amazing stuff he finds. I wasn't sure how he was finding them because when I shop at Savers there's nothing on the shelves. Yesterday I saw him and a gang of his friends all hanging out in the kid's section at the back of the store. I was in  plush toys section, which also happens to be right next to the doorway the carts come out of with all new inventory.  A cart came out (stopped right next to me) and they swarmed before it even got a foot out of the doorway. Now this is a very common thing  that resellers do and it doesn't seem to bug the staff.  After getting stuck in the swarm, I understand how he's able to get to the good stuff before it even hits the floor. The resellers are just lined up waiting for the  new carts. 

What I find interesting he is has never said in any of his videos this is his strategy in getting to the good stuff first. 

Oxford Gargoyles

It's been slim picking at the thrift stores and yes I know I whine about this a lot. I found these weird wall hanging called Oxford Gargoyles. I thought they're funny but because of the weight not sure they will sell well on WhatNot. The  shipping will be pretty high. I squeezed in an auction this morning because I won't be able to do any this weekend. A big city wide marathon is happening and I can't park my car anywhere close to the condo I'm at. Hope they sell!

Another whirlwind month

It's been another whirlwind month! I started my whatnot auction and it's starting to get easier. My mornings are now spent running an auction and then heading out to the pst office. Do my sourcing and stopping by Cottage Crafts on my way home.

I finally had time to drive down to my storage unit in Gilroy and get things organized. It's a much bigger unit than I really need now but they only have big outdoor ones. I do like that I can drive up to my unit but it does get a fair amount of dust plus it's south facing so gets super hot if the sun is out, which is all the time.  Since I was down there I had lunch with an old card making friend who lives in Gilroy.   She's really into needlepoint (I know nothing about needlepoint) and she's helping out at a new store opening up in Morgan Hill. Sorry I didn't get the name of the store, but I will! While I was at the shop visiting my friends, I asked if Kay (the shop owner)  if she wanted to borrow my printer's cabinet I have in storage.  I saw that she was using a big map file cabinet to store some thread and reminded me of my printer's cabinet. Then it lead to the eight foot pine bench I got for my daughter a while back. The bench would be a great way to display all the finished pillows the store has. One of my other oak cabinets will also be going over to the store.  I'm just thrilled my furniture is getting out of the hot storage unit and shown some love again.

It took five times by myself getting that bench into my car! Definitely got my work out that day! The soft opening is this Friday so I really wanted to get the bench into the store. The other cabinets will have to be moved by the professionals.

On top of all that I'm still in search of a place to call home. The clock is ticking as I have to find some place by next month. My stress level is a little high right now!

Thanksgiving soup

I still in search of the place to rent here in San Jose/Cupertino and it's really important that it has a full kitchen. 

Up in Tahoe the house had a cook's kitchen but with only one grocery store it was very limiting. Now that I'm back in San Jose and close to all the Asian grocery stores, getting the ingredients isn't a problem. The kitchen here is nice but it's not a cook's kitchen. 

I had a drawer full of carrots, celery, onions and potatoes. I was thinking making a carrot cake (with all the carrots) but being a kitchen where they don't bake makes it challenging. I decided to try my hand at making a cream soup. I roasted some chicken a few night ago so I threw that into the pot with all the vegetables. I have to say it turned out really well, tastes like thanksgiving dinner all rolled into one! Not sure I could repeat it again but it sure is tasty. 

My theory why thrift store prices have gone up.

So here is my theory on why the prices at thrift stores have shot through the roof in the pass couple of years. 

Now that you can search on eBay for what people are selling things for, (not to be confused with what items actual sell for) and using apps like Google lens the stores are doing a quick search. 

The only time I find something to flip is something that isn't easy to check online.  Doesn't pop up quickly unless you know exactly what it is. In the photo is the example of what I'm talking about. This is a hand carved piece made from tree bark. A few years ago I found three and realized it was hand carved. I really didn't think they would sell but they were unusual enough to add to my booth at Cottage Crafts. I was surprised at how fast they sold. 

I was at The Happy Dragon which use to be my go to place to thrift but now even the junky stuff is way over priced. They had a sign up of a guy that shop lifted a $3,000 statue. First of all why would you keep something priced high in a store? Why not try to sell it on eBay? The store is run by senior women volunteers so even if they saw him walk out with it, they couldn't stop him. That was the reason when I ran the Thirty Kitty I didn't have any $$$ in the store. 

My Whatnot auction routine.

I've finally found a routine I like for my Whatnot auctions. It's a little out of the norm of what many do but it's working for me. 

I run a short auction, lasting only an hour tops. I list everything in my store so you can preview what will be coming up for auction. I start my auction at 8:00 am, a little early for California but for the rest of the country it works out. I'm done by 9:00 am so I can get things packed up and ready to go to the post office by 10:00. It's part of the agreement with Whatnot that you ship out within two days. You only get paid once your items has been delivered. I head to the closest post office near whatever goodwill I will be visiting that day. I make my thrifting rounds and then head to Cottage Crafts to drop off whatever I've found before heading home. Once back home I prep for the next auction. 

I did a dutch theme auction and it turned out to be my best show yet. I was little surprised on how well everything sold! 

My Monday Morning

My morning breakfast today

Since Ive been doing my Whatnot auctions on the weekends, Monday is the day when I get all my domestic things done. I have the time to make a big breakfast. With all the veggies coming in from my brother, I have all the supplies. Made country hash brown, I really prefer the skinny hash browns but this style take less time to prep. The jalapeño pepper this time around are super hot. As I was cutting it open my eyes started watering up and I started coughing. I so knew better not to touch anything until I washed my hand throughly. I miss dipping toast in my eggs but with my gluten issue I just don't go there. Now off the finish the laundry and then back to prepping for my next auction and head out to the post office. 

WhatNot auctions

up coming auction pearls and perfume

I've done a few WhatNot auctions and I think I got the hang of it now. It's not a money maker by a long shot but it does helping to moving along my large supply of back stock inventory. As much as I don't want to do eBay it looks like I will have to go that route if I want to make a profit. 

During all this I've been looking for a place to call home. I drove down to Pacific Grove and looked at a few place. One place was so tiny, there was no way I could get my furniture (I don't have a lot) into the space. Whoever built and designed this in-laws unit had no idea what people would need to make it livable. Right now it's being rented to single military guys who are training at the language center in Monterey. They don't need a lot of space   because they're always at school.  Downside is once their training is done they go off to the deployment so no long term renting.  The other issue with the place is there's no reliable  street parking. Being close to a heavily used beach area, it can be challenging to find parking, which is important to me. So the search continues!

Busy Sunday

Henk's first birthday!

A lot was happening on Sunday! First it actually rained here in San Jose, haven't seen that in a long time. Wasn't a down pour but it was nice to get the dust off everything outside. 

Then it is was a zoom call to watch Henk figure out what a smash cake was all about. I'm not a fan of zoom calls in general but I guess that's the wave of the future. Can't believe he's already year old! I remember just this year he was still trying to hold his head up!

I spent all day getting ready for my up coming WhatNot auctions. I'm getting faster at entering everything but it still takes some time to get it done. I did sell ten things at my last auction which doesn't sound like a lot but it's a start!

I'm really trying to whittle down all the boxes still laying around here. It's all the little stuff that's hard to toss out but a real pain to tag. 

Second WhatNot auction

Today is my second and hopefully successful auction on WhatNot.  I'm auctioning off these pin cushion half dolls that I got when I was in Paris and London. They don't sell well in my booth because I have to have them under lock and key. The few times I did put them out in the open, they were stolen!

I went to the Happy Dragon thrift store in Los Gatos this week and boy have the prices jumped up!  I was amazed at how high the prices are on the houseware stuff, even things that have no resale value. Someone must be Googling everything. 

Stopped off at the GoodWills on the way home and it's the same thing, nothing worth flipping. :( I do have plans to drive down to the Goodwill bin store in Salinas now that the weather has cooled down. That is really hard core picking but really the only place to find any deals. 

Wish me luck in my auction today! 

Finally a successful whatnot auction!

My very first package

My first Whatnot auction was a total disaster!  I really wanted to quit but I know I have to start selling online if and when cottage crafts lose their lease. The shopping mall land has been sold for several years now and the plan is to build yet another high rise of apartments. The shopping mall spans the boundaries of two cities (built back in the day) so there are legal issues that have to be sorted out plus the neighborhood fighting the new build. 

The WhatNot tutorials just don't work for me and their customer support is fast to respond but it's always, "just watch this video" auto response. If their videos worked, I wouldn't be ask for help! So I went and searched for you tube videos (and I really had to dig to find them) of real people showing how to start an auction with out hyping themselves up with how great their sales are etc.

My second official auction went very smoothly and super fast. I still have to learn how to do a give away and how to package up my items but with practice I'll get better. So I'm pretty proud that I stuck it out and hopefully build my follow up so I can make a profit. :)

Learning to walk

No, Henky didn't leak through is diaper, he's just messy when he drinks from a cup. He's very proud of himself when he stands up which he's doing a lot of lately. He's not walking yet but he's getting close. He's very different from Mees at the this age. Mees was always black and blue for falling and hitting his head. Mees really wanted to run before  he could walk.  

Henky likes to stand but hasn't taken that first step yet. He's birthday is coming up soon and so sad I won't be there to celebrate with him. :(