So here we are in the middle of the Christmas selling season. With the holiday just weeks away, the inventory is flying out of MoneyintheGarage corporate headquarters! Just like last year, I've pretty much sold all the Christmas inventory I stockpiled for the season. It's amazing how you can save your Christmas themed stuff all year and it's cleared out in just a matter of weeks. That's what's awesome about listing this time of year...everything sells! Here's a few Christmas themed items I've flipped so far this holiday season...
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| Last of the inflatables |
The last of my holiday inflatables went out the door last Saturday. It was a cool looking Santa I purchased back in the fall for five bucks. Although it didn't come in the original box, it still had a lot going for it. The thing was huge, standing 8 feet high with the big guy sitting on top of a lighted Christmas train. This big, jolly Santa seemed like a winner to me, but surprisingly, it took a long time to sell. I ended up getting $35 dollars for him on Craigslist Not bad, but much less when compared to my other holiday inflatables sales which averaged fifty bucks a piece. While I could have held firm to my original price of fifty, I didn't want to take the chance of getting stuck with Santa. Finally, a buyer came along and offered me $35 dollars. With the holiday season over in just a few weeks and the potential of having to store Santa for an entire year, I decided to take the guy's offer. This particular customer may get my "clueless buyer " award for the year. As I handed him the rolled up Santa, the buyer looked at me and said, "Okay, how's it work?" This seemed like a dumb question to me, but since I am always customer friendly to anyone willing to pay me $35 for nylon fabric, I patiently explained the following complicated procedure...plug him in! The buyer seemed to be satisfied with this extremely technical advise and went on his way. (I sure hope he didn't forget my instructions once he got home!)
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| Elf from where? |
In another memorable Christmas sale made last week, I sold this two foot high elf dutifully holding up a serving tray. Guess where I acquired him? A trash can! I was driving through a neighborhood last week, when I spotted this guy with the base sticking out of a curbside trash can. Naturally, I circled back and grabbed him. Since he was in perfect condition, I didn't even bother to clean him up. Once home, I immediately snapped a photo and posted him on our local Facebook Yard Sale group. (I added the candle for ambiance.) My trash-picked elf sold in just ten minutes for a twenty dollar bill! Unbelievable, right? I have no idea what possesses people to throw away perfectly good stuff? But as long as they do, I'll be watching their trash cans!
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| Don't forget to remove the price tags! |
About two weeks ago, I made a major score with this train set. I found this big Bachmann set at my local Goodwill store, paying $35 for it. Over the years, I've had some good luck with train sets at Goodwill. This year alone, I've score three very cool sets. But this set was a real doozie! When I got it home, I was stoked to find the set had never been opened! Everything was sealed, right down to the conductor figure who was still in a plastic baggie! I made sure I bragged about this "pristine" unopened set in my Craigslist ad. Since there's no better time of year then Christmas to sell a train set, my Bachmann set got snapped up in just a few days. A dad bought the trains for his young son, paying me $125 big ones! I met the guy at my local Dunkin Donuts. I had a brief awkward moment when I realized there were still a couple of Goodwill price tag stickers on the back of the box. As I pulled the box from my car, I stalled by making small talk while at the same time, feverishly scraping the stickers off with my fingernail. Dad didn't seem to notice, but after counting my $95 profit, I reminded myself it's always smart to remove all the Goodwill stickers prior to selling. After all, it's never good for your buyer to discover you charged him four times the price on the box! Like I said...awkward!
That's a few highlights so far. I'll share more once the Christmas selling season calms down. For now, it's time to get back to posting and selling. How's your holiday selling season going so far? Share some of your personal bests in the comment section below.
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