I have a profitable hobby. AND an avenue to find treasures, both material and artistic.
Today, I visited 3 Goodwills. I had something in mind, plastic storage bins, as I'm working on an epic Lego project which I will most likely blog about at a different time.
But today. I found bins. And so much more.
- A gorgeous, large turquoise ring for 75% less than I would buy it at pawn.
- A dainty, silver toe ring with crystals. Again, easily 75% off retail had I got it new.
- Some funky VHS tapes for a friend who collects.
- 4 of the series of Castle, which had great reviews on Amazon, and was reselling for EASILY 150% more than I bought them for on OfferUp.
- Music. Oh, my, how I love finding music at Goodwill.
- Ravensburger puzzles, always good for at LEAST 100% markup for resale, sometimes more, depending on the puzzle.
- a 1972 Great Britain Monopoly, incomplete, but with pewter? pieces. I think I'll upcycle the game pieces into steampunk earrings or something. I paid $5.60 for the game. I can easily get $30 for the pieces by themselves. Not to mention the funky British Pound monopoly money!
- And a couple other Monopoly sets with the metal pieces (and retired thimble). Not sure what I'm going to do with these, except move them out again fairly quickly.
- A couple other obscure-ish, cool board games.
Here's my strategy. I hit the game/puzzle shelf. I browse and have Amazon open on the phone for resell value. Especially for games I haven't heard of or are old. If I need to, I'll check eBay... I grab Ravensburger puzzles, cuz they're some of the best quality and are excellent trade in fodder for Bookmans.
From here, I go to the craft wall. I look for quality yarns. I kick myself still; a few months ago, there was a bag full of strips of inkle-woven straps. Amazing colors, cotton, and would have been great for accessorizing bags or tying up camp gear. Oh well. Don't ever second guess yourself at GW; it'll be gone if you try to go back.
After the crafts, I check the household area. Today, I also got some Party Light candles for a couple bucks. 4 tea lights are currently freshening up my bathroom (thanks, cat). I also look for quality household items. I almost picked up a new Pampered Chef 9" round stoneware baking pan...thinking I could probably resell it for $10. But nah. Let it go. I look for unique items, like handblown glasses/stemware, great quality pots and pans, Chicago Cutlery or Henkels knives...upper end stuff. Sometimes I get really lucky and just upgrade my own kitchen. Sometimes I resell... Yesterday I got a Pampered Chef chopper thingie (for nuts and onions and stuff, you Pampered Chef people know what I'm talking about, retails new for around $30-40) for $2. I'm keeping that until I transition to my RV life. Then I'll yard sale it. Or donate it back.
After crafts, I check clothes for high end clothes for moi. Eileen Fisher, Flax, Talbots, JJill, Free People are some of my favorites. And yea, I find them periodically. See, I can justify buying clothes seasonally at GW when a couple outfits cost me $20-30 and 1 single new item from the above is between $80-200. I have zero qualms. And I can be picky, because I've found, what I want always presents itself; I just have to be patient.
I wander by the scarves and shawls next, looking for silk/cashmere. Today I got a hand knit cotton thingie, like new. The yarn was in fantastic shape. So I got it for $3 and ripped it out when I got home. I'm weaving dishcloths out of it. I can sell each cloth for a MINIMUM of $5. That's probably a 5000% profit, at least. If I get 10 clothes, for $50-80...I dunno, math is hard. I make a lot back. And I like keeping busy. I'm fiddly that way...so weaving cloths is no big deal.
Then, the DVDs/CDs. I also got Weekend at Bernie's today, in addition to the list above. Eventually, I might transition to an electronic library. I certainly cannot take all my physical library with me when I go nomad. But for now? I pick out cult movies that have some resale value.
Same with music.
Today I picked up a couple artists I hadn't heard of before; Kishi Bashi (Lighght), Chasen (Shine Through the Stars) and an addition to my Putumayo World Music collection; A Native America Odyssey. I also got a Gavin Degraw album I don't already have (Chariot) as well as a King of Leon (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
Today's happy takeaway for music: Chasen turns out to be a contemporary Christian band. Which is irrelevant to me, because unless I heard a couple songs specifically addressing Jesus and God, it sounded like just a great mix from a band I'd never heard before. The songs earlier on in the album are sweet, love-inspired promissory songs. And as I'm still working through my breakup from a 3-year relationship, these songs were poignant to me. Drown is especially good. ----- Getting over love is just sucky. The wave of emotions that continue after the initial hurt...the confusion and conflict abate, but it's a painfully slow process. The draw is like the moon and the tides. Let him go or go after him. I'm sure there will be lots of writing about this particular topic, as it is still roiling around in my heart, tumultuous and emotional. But for now, I'm still. He needs to heal. He needs to find himself. So I let him be...and I continue my own path. Alcoholism is a fucking sonofabitch. That's all I have to say for now about that.
Tomorrow I'm partaking in a medical study at oh-dark-hundred (7:30am, I'm not a morning person anymore), and need to fast tonight. I think I'm eating a muffin tomorrow and need to go back in a couple weeks for follow-up bloodwork. I'll get a $40 Target card for my time. Whoopie. More Goodwill cash ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment