Peaches, beaches and books … oh my

To say spring has sprung around here, at least when it comes to yard sales, is to put it mildly.  Sales are popping up like weeds, and while two weeks ago I was complaining about the dearth of sales, today I am bemoaning the fact that there are just too many places to be in such a short period of time on Saturday.

The centerpiece of this weekend, at least around here, is the annual Peaches to Beaches yard sale, which stretches from middle Georgia to the ocean.  Of course, it’s just 240+ miles of hit and miss road-side sales, with some bigger sales in the small communities along the way.

It would be a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday if there weren’t other places to be.

Like a big book sale.

Yep, someone had the bright idea to schedule a book sale on the same day as the fruit to sand mega thrifting event.  Fortunately, the book sale isn’t that far from the route, and, like in past years, we will travel the route backward toward home, sort of like beaches to peaches.

Lorraine over at clamco.blogspot.com commented on my last blog, wondering about how sales were going in our antique booth.   Like anything else, it’s a numbers game, and when you have a lot of inventory, you typically make sales.  Right now, though, our booth is still kind of bare, so sales have been slow to non-existent.  I’ll post the numbers, no matter how embarrassing, when I get the sales report in April.

Of course, we have only been in the booth business for a little over two weeks, so I am trying to keep the dreaded “did I make a mistake, or bite off more than I can chew” mentality at bay. 

A 3 foot Barbie!

I have learned that much of my inventory backlog is too flea market-ish for the booth, and when scouting, Ella and I have to constantly shift gears, seeking not only our typical Amazon/Ebay items, but also items that will fit, both literally and figuratively, in our booth.  We need more “antiquey” items, for lack of a better term, plus additional collectibles.

Even knowing this, I still can’t stop purchasing fun stuff for the booth. Yesterday, I saw a Barbie on our local Bookoo site that was neither antiquey nor truly collectible.  It is, however, more than 3 feet tall, and after parting with a measly $8, I took her home with me.  This My Size Barbie, which is in excellent condition, costs $70 to $80 new.  What makes the doll so cool, though, is that her clothes can be worn by an appropriately sized child, preferably a girl, but, hey, I’m not judging.

Hopefully, she will class up the booth for as long as she stays unpurchased.  I plan on asking $50 for her.

Sales have slowed down again this week.  I know that the more you list, the more you sell.  Since I have been working to get the booth up and running, I have been very lax about getting Amazon and Ebay items listed. I hope that once the booth is full, it will become less labor intensive so I can concentrate on my other more profitable sources of income.

Speaking of Amazon, I just received an email from the big river stating that my Amazon Prime membership will increase to $99 per year when it renews in 2015.  It's been $79 per year for a while, so I guess it was only a matter of time before they increased it.  However, I don't think that an additional $20 per year is too bad considering how much I use it.

Have a lucrative weekend everyone.