The Halloween Rack - Not Just For Halloween Anymore

Just a quick tip this morning. Yesterday at the Goodwill they had several racks jam packed with Halloween costume clothing. Some items were traditional store bought costumes but many of the items on the racks were regular clothing items that make good halloween costumes i.e. sports jerseys, vintage clothes, wedding dresses. I found out last year that there are some great items set aside for these halloween racks that a picker may love to get their hands on for resale. Think seventies clothes, leather vests, camouflage, vintage clothing, loud artsy clothing. I bought the jacket below last year off the halloween rack. It was a very well made one of a kind jacket in great condition. Very artsy. It sold for $35 free shipping. I bought it after halloween when the rack was 75% off but this year I'll be picking through that rack pre halloween as well to see what hidden gems lie within.

Shipping Perfume and Weekend Plans

I frequently see questions around the internet on how or if you can ship perfume. I've sold a couple of bottles of perfume myself and had looked up the rules and regs to do it correctly. Below are statements all copied and pasted directly from the USPS site. I hope it helps clarify the rules for some people. I had also seen somewhere that if your package does contain restricted items it is to be handed directly to a postal employee not put in a drop box etc. I couldn't find that while I was making this post. It's probably so that they can ensure it is marked properly. I do know that when I've mailed perfume and brought it directly to the desk it is marked with stickers to make sure it only goes ground and that it does contain flammable

At retail units, mailers must be asked the question: “Does this parcel contain anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially hazardous, including lithium batteries and perfume?”

Examples of items that may be mailable but have specific restrictions…

• Aerosols
• Lithium Batteries
• Nail Polish
• Perfumes containing alcohol
• Pool Chemicals
• Paints
• Matches
• Certain Glues
• Live Animals
• Cremated Remains

Perfume − Perfume containing alcohol is prohibited on air transportation, and can only be shipped domestically via surface transportation. Perfume containing alcohol is prohibited in international shipments

Not sure if what you’re sending is restricted or prohibited? Just call 800-ASK-USPS® or your local Post Office.

This weekend I am going away for a mini vacation at my sister and brother in laws cabin. A nearby town is having a city wide rummage sale! I'm hoping to find lots of great buys and cool treasures. I'm expecting it will probably be my last chance to do rummage sales this season. If you are in the area the sale is in Weyauwega Wi. By the way that isn't the actually cabin we'll be staying in :)

Do you have any weekend thrifting plans?

BOLO Bill Cosby Sweaters

Yesterday I purchased the sweater pictured below. This is an example of the BOLO I'm referring to today..The Cosby Sweater. This is the second time I've found a 'Bill Cosby' sweater. They sell well. Especially the Coogi brand. See completeds My sweater is the Travelsmith brand. I paid $3.79 for it and I'm asking 39.99 for it.

The sweaters are usually very bright, loud, and colorful. Many have a 3D affect knit into them (see my second pic). They are usually very abstract and geometric. They are easy to spot in a rack of sweaters.

The show is celebrating 30 years this fall so there are many recent news pieces on the sweaters. Hopefully that will help sell more sweaters! I've got some more Cosby Sweater related links below the pics. Did you ever own or sell a Cosby sweater?

Cosby Sweater Band

100+ News articles on the Cosby Sweater

BOLO Giant Plush

You know those great big bears that we all thought we had to have when we were kids? You'd see it in the store or in a catalog (remember Christmas catalogs?) and you'd think wouldn't it be cool to have that sitting in your bedroom. Maybe it was just me LOL. Well they were probably too expensive for most of our families and/or pretty much a waste of money. I mean what does one do with said giant plush besides look at it. Well not a waste of money anymore. Especially if you can get one for $5 or less. I think this one cost me $4 and I just accepted an offer of $45 plus shipping. Here is a completed search on ebay of Huge Bear. Yes it will take up a lot of shelf space but you can squish him up pretty good if you have to and store him in a box. And it's not just bears. Pretty much any giant plush. See here. Here is mine. Laid flat he measures about 3 ft. Did you ever have a giant plush when you were a kid? 

 

Who Pays Shipping?

When a buyer returns something because it doesn't fit or they just don't like/want it do you pay for shipping either way?

I had a buyer return a clothing item because it didn't fit. I had measurements in the listing. She paid return shipping and when I received it I refunded her the cost of the item $29.99. I did not return the cost of the original shipping. She questioned that. Said we should each pay shipping one way. The cost of doing business. Hmmm. I don't get many returns so I'm questioning myself now. If I make a mistake or don't describe something correctly I eat all of the shipping but that was not the case here. What do you do? I'm hoping I don't get a negative off of this. I'm nervously watching my message box now.

ETA: Thanks for the comments. I agree but I did end up refunding her original shipping. The item she returned was a leather vest with sheepskin (furry) lining. Even though I provided measurements they don't account for the thickness of the inside material. I'm not sure this point how I'm going to account for that in the listing...Anyway she was not happy when I initially explained that I don't return shipping and she pressed her point. I didn't think it was worth making her mad and getting a negative out of it and probably DSRs. I hope now that she gives me positive feedback and stars. Who knows. Hoping for some good karma.

Eeek!

I can't log into my ebay account. It says my login name or password are incorrect. When I say I can't remember my password (I can) so that it will email me a chance to reset it, it says my email address is not registered with ebay! I have to leave for an appt so I can't do anything about it right now. Freaked out though. I just printed postage and was logged in and then this happened moments later. I hope it is resolved by the time I get back from my appt.

Some related news articles

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29054972

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/09/03/ebay-blames-outage-on-server-maintenance/

http://www.inquisitr.com/1450527/ebay-down-did-hackers-crash-ebays-19th-birthday-party/

It affected both ebay and paypal. Both are working for me now. How did everyone else fair?