Best Day EVER at the Goodwill Bins!
I got up uncharacteristically early yesterday and ran out of things on my to-list, so I decided to hit the Goodwill bins. My plan had been to grab a few lightweight items for the $100 Goodwill Gift Card Challenge, but let's just say that things got out of hand.
I'd started out carrying an IKEA bag, but ended up grabbing a cart after that plan became untenable.
Most noticeable in the cart are the child size dress forms.
This brand of professional dress forms sell new for up to $900. Granted, that's with the stand, but I figured it was still worth the gamble. It turns out that watching back to back episodes of The Great British Sewing Bee honed my eye for resale items!
They charged me seven bucks apiece and I plan to sell them locally for a couple hundred each.
I also bought this antique purse frame, which was sitting in a bin that had otherwise been ravaged by the seasoned resellers. Did I know what it was when I first spied it? Not really, but it took just a few seconds to input it into Google Lens.
I listed it on eBay last night and woke up to it having sold to someone in Ireland. The quick sale might be an indication that I underpriced it, but that's okay as I spent around a dollar for it.
I also grabbed this cute vintage wall phone, which I'll clean up to sell on eBay. I can't find this exact model anywhere on the internet, which is a good sign. It's always good to be the only person selling something.
People are nuts for Trader Joe's bags lately, especially internationally. So it was a no brainer to grab this vintage canvas tote. I've listed it for $30.
I also bought this vintage B. Kliban pillowcase, as this artist is having a resurgence after Ryan Gosling wore one of his T-shirts in Project Hail Mary.
It was pretty grubby, so I have it soaking in Oxyclean.
Also prominently featured in that shopping cart was this large vintage needlepoint piece. I listed it on Facebook Marketplace last night for $100, which might be a reach, but you'll never get big money unless you ask for big money!
Of course, not everything is big money. I thought this lightweight vintage piece was cute, so I added it to my cart and have it listed on Marketplace for $20.
I also nabbed these Bali-style Birkenstocks, as this Birks extremely well on eBay. The soles were grubby, but I gave them a good scrub and will list them on eBay.
One of my favorite finds was this brand new 3XL jock strap, which I bought only because I thought it would be fun to see if I could sell it. It weighed almost nothing, so the financial risk was low.
Of course, not everything I bought was to resell.
Like this December 1930 New Yorker cover, which I'll use to decoupage that blank journal/planner that I bought a few days ago. As the granddaughter of a furrier, my favorite character is the furry dapper gent!
I also bought these baseballs. My husband plays on a baseball team and recently asked me to keep an eye out for balls. Ironically, they were pretty heavy and likely the most expensive per-pound item that I bought.
I almost forgot to mention that I picked up this pair of Carhartt pants for my youngest kid, knowing that I could sell them if they weren't to their liking.
Additionally I also bought a vintage brass candlestick, fabric Chanel ribbon, a silver and glass beaded bracelet, two Roku devices, vintage Girl Scout bits, an unopened package of Stitch Witchery to keep and a Pottery Barn zippered pillowcase.
I spent $4.55 for the Goodwill Gift Card Challenge, which was for:
- The purse frame
- The Trader Joe's bag
- The Chanel ribbon
- The Girl Scout items
- The jock strap
- The Birkenstocks
Everything else was $37.91.
I looked up dozens of random things that I put back into the bins and sent a single photo to my sister:
It was good couple hours of thrifting!
Can't believe you passed on that t-shirt!
Yeah, but I was on a mission.
My son has both those Hanna Andersson pajamas I see in your cart seat, I actually did buy them off eBay (or possibly poshmark), I love their pajamas and they do hold up well, but I still prefer not to pay full price for them!
I was actually just moving them to a different bin that already had a couple pairs of Hannas in it.
You had some serious scores! Well done.
1) I've sold a few things on eBay this week
2) I bought my family weekend tickets early for DS19, as that enables you to get the very discounted football tickets. I didn't know that last year, and we paid 4x more.
3) Cancelled our hotel for Memorial Day weekend. We will find a less crowded time to go.
4) Made lunch out of random things around the house
5) Reconciled the budget, bills & kept up on tracking our expenses, which can be tedious, but gives us good insight into how things are going & where we can adjust.
That is a haul! I wish I had a GW Bins near me. There is one in my city but on the complete opposite side, requiring lengthy and exhausting city driving. Plus their pricing is not great. I have never been.
What's the point if the pricing isn't even good?!
Savannah, GA just went up to 2.19/lb. No discount if you buy more than 25 o 50 lbs like they do in Alabama. Boo hiss. You're right, whats the point? Corporate greed,
Wow! What a great day!
Will you resell the Girl Scout bits? I always pick those up because they weigh nothing. I figure I should do something with them one of these days.
The jock strap is an *interesting* purchase. 3xl! Uhmmm…
Yes, I've listed them as a lot for $20.
Katy, as always, I enjoy hitting the bins vicariously through you, and I cheer for the profits for the food bank.
Also, a few things--the 3XL jockstrap, Mr. NCA's instruction to "keep an eye out for balls," and the t-shirt you photographed but did not buy for your sister--have my dirty-old-lady mind going places it probably shouldn't. As my darling and equally dirty-minded mother used to say, "Get your mind out of the gutter and come on down in the sewer with me!" 😀
JUst think of it as The Non-Consumer Advocate after dark.
Frugal fail: I did not get chosen for the opinion panel I signed up for. So obviously I am not going to get that extra pay, more than $300. But I'd shelled out that amount to fix my computer so I'd be ready. Oh, well, phooey hooey...I'm now $600 in the hole....but I needed to have the computer fixed/updated anyway, so let me reframe my misfortune the way Frugal Girl does: maybe what I'd paid for the computer repair is just a wash. At least I'm getting to do some online jigsaw puzzles for fun. And I also found another hidden object search game. All free!
The mail is horribly slow -- worse than usual, which is saying a LOT -- and I just got a dental bill that was supposedly sent out on March 9 and was due by March 22. I phoned the dentist office, forgetting they are off on Fridays. So I left a voice mail. Hopefully, they won't charge me a late fee since their bill just showed up in my mailbox today. I also got a letter from a bank saying that if I didn't want them to deduct money for an automatic payment, I should let them know by May 1-- seven days ago! Yeah, right, I can just go backwards in time to do it.
That moron that Trump appointed as head of the postal service is slowing down the mail to the point that it really lives up to its "snail mail" moniker. Isn't that guy also an owner of a rival package delivery company? Isn't it a conflict of interest for him to head up the postal service?
When I sell something very quickly after listing it on eBay, I always think the buyer must have had an alert setup. I like thinking that more than I underpriced it.
Now you have me thinking I should open my sales international. Most of my items are postcards and I offer free shipping so I want to keep that stateside.
That's a good way of reframing it.
Katy, that's a nice haul of items.
It's been a wonderful week of visits and meals while I recover.
1. Neighbor came to visit and brought snacks left over from book group that I could not attend.
2. Another neighbor dropped by for a visit bearing a lovely vase of flowers.
3. Niece came over and treated me to a takeout hoagie sandwich for dinner. She also brought some Trader Joe's bleu cheese potato chips that were outstanding.
4. Friend brought over a fabulous lunch from Cafe Latte, a local restaurant: cheddar broccoli soup; three spread sampler (olive cream cheese, tomato basil cream cheese and egg salad) with baguette, cucumbers, tomatoes and red onion; coconut tres leches cake. Neither of us ate the red onion so I put that in a small jar for a future recipe. She gave me all the leftovers, too. So generous.
5. Same friend brought over bags and bags of stuff from her mom's estate. I organized the loot, took pictures, wrote up posts and found new homes for everything via Buy Nothing. I also kept oodles of lotions and potions for myself along with some office supplies. Enlisted my sister to help bag, label, and put the Buy Nothing items outside our house for pick up.
1. Joined a medical study as a participant. I will get all the health data recorded and $190 if I finish the whole thing (which I plan to - only 8 days!)
2. In desperate need of caffeine so posted up at a cafe to finish the workday. The people watching is free.
3. Have a few hours to kill this evening and learned my favorite library branch is open until 8, so I'll head over there next to crochet and maybe burn through a book.
4. Taking the train everywhere which, after a stint traveling for work is so nice to not be waiting for cabs and paying for them.
5. Helping a friend out interviewing for a company I used to work for. Helping the community is free!
Hit a second, closer college to dumpster shop at. Sadly the closest GW bins are 2 hours away and their prices are getting out of hand per lb. brought some items to a consigment shop found in the dumpster, made $26. Listed a Heely's key (the shoes with wheels in them?) for $7 plus shipping and it sold overnight! Buyer on the opposite coast and paid $9 for 3oz shipping yikes!
Listed a cashmere blend Buck Henry (new brand to me) polo shirt for almost $50 and it sold within 90 minutes. I'm ok with that price, I always look at solds.
It's been a long busy week. Yay for Friday.
1. My biggest frugal win is I sold 5 orders on eBay this week, and I keep on listing. I have a small pile as I declutter.
2. I am hosting Mother's Day at my house. There will be 5 of us. It's a lot cheaper than taking everyone out. My mom just turned 85 and has some dental issues and I have noticed she is struggling with chewing. So with that in mind, I am making a huge pot of soup, homemade bread, and Paula Deen's banana pudding.
3. Stopped at a garage sale and found a pair of Ariat shoes for $5, which I will resale. That's all I bought.
4. Returned a sweater for store credit. It wasn't very much, but I hate being wasteful.
5. Shopped Kroger today as the have a digital coupon for 4Xs the fuel rewards points good on Friday only. While there I got two reduced roasts for roughly $12 each. That was more than half off. One is in the crockpot, and one in the freezer.
1. Your fur coat reminded me of a big repeating sale when I was the goddess of clothing at our Quaker bazaar. Someone donated a raccoon coat. I sold it for $100 to a guy from the meeting who swanned around camping it up for the rest of the sale. The next year he donated it back, and I sold it for $100 again. There was a third repeat on the sale, but the third buyer must have kept the coat.
2. We bought breakfast sandwiches at the Sheep and Wool Festival for $5/each. They came wrapped in foil. I saved it—at this very minute that foil is covering a pan of enchiladas.
3. I loved the festival and bought nothing besides food. Fun to learn about spinning, but I do not need a new pastime that requires new equipment.
4. Picked up some fabric at a meeting and took it to the free fabric repository at a neighboring church.
5. Same old, same old—eating at home, drinking water, gardening, and being grateful for all we have.
What a haul!
Your planner is going to look great. Looking forward to seeing pics.
You are in luck as today's blog post shows this very thing!
https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/five-frugal-things-a-6-99-to-60-miracle/
I love that "I heart Sluts" is a registered trademark!
We bought a distressed property several years ago, and there was a 5 gallon bucket of dirty baseballs in the shed. I listed them for $10 thinking maybe someone could use them, and got deluged with messages wanting to come get them ASAP.
I definitely should have asked for more!
Great haul at the bins! Love following along with your treasure hunts and the food bank challenge.