Seeing red no longer

Under the watchful eye of both John Wayne and Hopalong Cassidy, Ella and her brother, Jimmy, painted the red wall of TBB, now formally known as Ella’s Eclectic Emporium (Triple E), on Sunday afternoon.  I had the difficult task of pouring paint, wiping paint, and taping and de-taping the trim areas since I can’t be trusted with a paint brush.

BEFORE: The antique mall owner thought the red wall was "unlucky,"
and suggested that we paint it

AFTER: John Wayne rode off into the sunset with a new owner after we painted

I know, it sounds about as much fun as, well, watching paint dry.  

This large metal sign is priced at $75

Still, by late afternoon, Triple E finally was ready for occupancy, and we responded by putting a sign on the wall.  Anti-climatic, to be sure, but it was a start of what I hope will be a prosperous endeavor as we head into the autumn antiquing season, as well as the dreaded ever expanding silly season known as Christmas.

Of course, we need to fill the booth, and keep Barry’s Bonanza stocked as well.  To do so, we’ve been attending auctions, as I’ve written about before, and Saturday night, we traveled up the road to a new to us auction after seeing pictures posted on auctionzip.com.  I didn’t win what I really wanted (the Wonder Woman Barbie), but we did come home with additional sellable knick knacks, for lack of a better term, and a vintage baby cradle that needs a little work.  We have lots of “smalls,” but we really need a few more furniture-type pieces.

Backtracking to Saturday morning, sales were plentiful, but we really didn’t find a whole lot. At a business liquidation sale, we pick up six western signs, and three western decorative pieces (from a closed bar).  The sale also had hundreds of CDs, with most bundled in packs of 10.  I really didn’t feel like scanning CDs, but did leave my number with the seller in case she wanted to sell all the CDs in bulk. 

I missed out on purchasing a vintage sewing machine because I asked the wrong person about the price.  A church youth group was having a sale, and the small Singer machine, with wooden cover, was sitting ignored on a table.  It was in rough shape, but still sellable.  Since everything was “make an offer,” I asked an adult about the price, and she suggested, after making a comment about looking it up on Ebay, that she would accept $30, which was a little high for me.  I then watched a man pick up the machine, and ask the teen cashier about the price.  She said “make an offer.” He said “$5.”  She said “sold,” and he walked out the door with it. 

I’m an idiot.

In the “I never thought I would resort to this” department, thanks to a coworker who delivers pizza, I’ve started keeping an eye out for trash piles on the side of the road.  The coworker spots roadside treasures on his pizza runs, and picks them up on the way back to the restaurant.  Once he accumulates enough good stuff (tables, chairs, etc.), he takes it to the local flea market on Saturday mornings. 

What’s next for me, dumpster diving?

Sales continue to be slow across all venues, including Ebay.  Of course, I have been neglecting Ebay in favor the booth recently so it shouldn’t surprise me.   While it’s easier to put items in the booth, I tend to price the items a bit lower to spur sales.  So, I am losing money for the luxury of not having to store it in my house, or to ship it once it sells.  Looking around my house, I think it’s a worthwhile trade.

The week ahead promises more work.  I have lots of stuff to list online, more stuff to put in the booths, and lots of grass that needs cutting.

As my friend, Joe, says, “every day’s a holiday, and every meal’s a feast.”