Thursday, December 11, 2014


I've just updated one of my best-selling ebooks, "Flip It Again"! It's now "20 Common Items You Can Sell (and Resell) for $50 and Up," not just 10 items.

You can read more and buy it at this page.

Here's more info about it, from that page:

NEW! Flip It Again, Version 2.0: 20 Common Items You Can Sell (and Resell Again and Again) for $50 & Up

Make money with Yard Sales
Things you can sell, and resell, again and again, is back and updated, with 10 new items!
Sure, you're out there at the sales, looking for those special one-off items that the other sellers haven't seen yet. But wouldn't it be nice to find a steady stream of items that sell for decent profits -- as in $50 and up -- on a regular basis, and not have to be in line at 4 a.m. the morning a sale starts to get to them?
After 12 years of selling online, I've developed a roster of all-star, "under the radar" items that are often passed over by other sellers. Some of them are unassuming looking, others are more in-your-face, but they are my favorite things to find and sell again and again and again.
I've thought off and on over the years of compiling them into one ebook, but was hesitant to divulge all these gems in one place. But then I realized there are plenty of sales to go around and I want to share these tips with my loyal readers, and attract even more readers. 
So now, for the first time, you can find out about these items. Things like:
I have seen this particular item at sales too many times to count, and also sold it more times than I can remember. It's one of my all-time favorite things to buy and resell, and for whatever reason, it's often left behind at estate and yard sales.
I'll show you what it is, how to recognize it on the shelf, and break down what versions of it sell for the most money.
This shiny red thing I have found anywhere and everywhere -- including at small curbside sales I normally would have passed over. Despite its bright redness, it often goes unpicked at many a shop and sale.
solid information about what to buy at yard sales
It's part of a genre of items which I will discuss, and what the rules of thumb are to reselling many things of this type for the most money. New Items Include:
Frequent Flips - yard sales
  • It's clear, it's beautiful, and it's known to sport a bird on top, but not always. It's highly collectible. The most rare and desirable ones recently sold on eBay for around $250 - $800. You may not find those, but you are likely to find, like me, versions of this that go for just under $50 to around $100. I'll tell you the places to look for it, including one place a lot of people don't think to or like to go. But once you realize where, you'll realize what a no-brainer it is. I'll also tell you about another thing like it to keep an eye out for, which also has a distinctive shape. And what could the Taj Mahal have to do with it? Hmmm...read and find out! 
     
  • This next thing is really a type of thing. And I find them everywhere. They don't require scanners, unless you really feel like it; they always are worth reselling for me. There's just one disctinction that separates the "buys" from the "nahs" on these items, and it's super easy to suss out! (Well, ok, sometime you may need to look close up). I find them in a lot of places, un-picked, but I'll tell you where all to look. 
     
  • This next thing is another type of thing. Meaning you can find them in every type of usual sourcing venue. I can and I do! I'll tell you what they are, and why sometimes even their "old school" counterparts are worth grabbing. 
     
  • Then there are all the old favorites, including:
  • It's blue, it's "big," and it's highly collectible. The oldest ones recently sold for $300 - $810 on the 'Bay. You may not make that kind of dough on every one of these bad boys, but you can reasonably expect to make $35-$50 for many of the ones you are likely to find. It caters to a huge group of people, and that helps its popularity. I'll tell you where I've found it most often, and under what circumstances it's not worth plunking down your hard-earned jack. 
     
  • It's large...but not so large you can't haul it to your car without help. It comes with a little something extra...I'll tell you where to look for it and what it means for the price you'll get for this oversized gem.
     
  • Because of their design, these are tough to miss at a sale. And yet I have time and time again seen them sitting there on shelves, brightly colored wallflowers. What to look for in them so you can sell them for $79 - $495.
  • Plus much more. And let's not forget it will also show you how you can... Make money flipping *this* book again and again, with the "Flip It Again" affiliate program.
"Flip It Again" is just $24.98...less than half the profit you will likely make if you find even one of these items. Don't you owe it to yourself to invest that amount to gain another sellers' knowledge from 12 years of experience selling on eBay and (more recently) on amazon.com?

All From the publisher of the Yard Salers newsletter and author of the award-winning eBay Price Guide (named Best of Reference 2007 by the New York Public Library).

CLICK HERE to purchase the ebook and download it instantly!

Monday, November 10, 2014

The Wall Street Journal's "Christmas Sale Tracker" Monitors 10 Popular Gift Prices as They Change

Here's a neat idea: I just read in an article in today's Wall Street Journal (Nov. 10, 2014) that this year the Journal was introducing a tool called the "Christmas Sale Tracker," at http://graphics.wsj.com/Christmas-Sale-Tracker/KitchenAid-Mixer.

As the article explains, "This holiday season, The Wall Street Journal will monitor those strategies with a new online tool - the Christmas Sale Tracker - which will follow the prices of 10 popular holiday gifts, including a doll set from the Walt Disney Co. movie “Frozen” and a Razor electric scooter, at big retailers such as Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Toys ‘R’ Us."

"The tracker will collect prices once an hour from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 to determine the best times to buy those products, how early retailers offer their best deals and how quickly rivals match lower offers.
Already, the WSJ Christmas Sale Tracker shows that retailers seem to be testing how directly price cuts drive traffic and Web sales, by changing prices on popular items such as the Jawbone Up24 fitness tracker and a KitchenAid mixer in the weeks leading up to the holiday-shopping bonanza."

And what's the best day to snag low prices? Not Black Friday. According to the Journal piece, "Instead, retailers’ biggest price cuts last year came on the Monday before Thanksgiving, and shoppers who bought items on Thanksgiving Day snapped up the season’s lowest prices, according to Adobe."

So if you want to get a sense of how prices for top items change over time, check out the tracker!  And if you want to get low-priced holiday deals, it really does pay to shop early...before or on Thanksgiving Day!

Monday, October 6, 2014

I Just Sold Two of These Books...My Top 10 Selling Items

Want to sell the same things again and again?

I recently sold two copies from this one set of books. I find these books again and again at yard sales, estate sales, library sales, thrift stores, you name it.

It's almost always still there, even late in the day at sales, so I assume not many folks know this well-kept secret.

Find out what this set is, as well as the nine other items (not just books, but other types of items as well) by buying one of my best-selling ebooks, "Flip It Again."

Just click here for more info and to buy! Get it now before the price goes up this Fall.

Here's a bit more info, below:

Flip It Again: 10 Common Items You Can Sell (and Resell Again and Again) for $50 & Up

Make money with Yard Sales
Sure, you're out there at the sales, looking for those special one-off items that the other sellers haven't seen yet. But wouldn't it be nice to find a steady stream of items that sell for decent profits -- as in $50 and up -- on a regular basis, and not have to be in line at 4 a.m. the morning a sale starts to get to them?
After 12 years of selling online, I've developed a roster of all-star, "under the radar" items that are often passed over by other sellers. Some of them are unassuming looking, others are more in-your-face, but they are my favorite things to find and sell again and again and again.

I've thought off and on over the years of compiling them into one ebook, but was hesitant to divulge all these gems in one place. But then I realized there are plenty of sales to go around and I want to share these tips with my loyal readers, and attract even more readers. 
Click here for more info and to buy! 


Friday, September 26, 2014

Mr. Lid Food Container Product Review - Part Two


Hey all!


Below is my original post about the "Mr Lid" container for food. It's now about a year later and I continue to use my lidded containers a lot. I use them every day for the little round cat food container after it's opened...one little round cat food fits well into the smallest size Mr. Lid container.

We also use them for leftovers, etc. and I love that they stack, tho my food containers cabinet could be neater; it's not Mr. Lid's fault.

I also wanted to repost this on my Bidbits.net blog, because I noticed when you search on my name in Google, the old post that was linked to my now-defunct shopyack.com blog does not come up. (The post is still alive, just at http://shopyack.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-working-mom-reviews-mr-lid-can-it.html).

Thanks, all!


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

A Working Mom Reviews Mr. Lid - Can it Solve Your Refrigerator Storage Woes? **** 1/2 Stars 4 1/2 Stars

I bought Mr. Lid from my local CVS a while ago for $19.95 and been meaning to tell you all how it worked out. (Did I mention I'm addicted to "As Seen on TV" products?).

Is Mr. Lid the greatest thing since sliced bread? It's pretty darn great...you can store your sliced bread in it if you want..or, more likely, that bread from last night's restaurant meal. Here's what their wed site at MrLid.com looks like:


It comes with, as it says, 20 containers...that's a good amount!

They're various sizes, and they're not too tall, so you can stack them with each other when you're not using them, and they fit in the fridge well.

One of the main uses for my smaller Mr. Lid container is for the wet cat food tin I use to give my cat every morning. It usually lasts three days, so I pop the tin into one of Mr. Lid's smallest containers, and voila! it's good to go for the rest of the days I'll be scooping it out to Pop, our kitty.

Here's a pic of just a few of my Mr. Lid containers:


I'd say for $19.95, with their buy one set get one free deal..that's a pretty darn good deal!

The only caveat I have is if you push too hard down on some of the containers to close the lid, it can get kind of "stuck" and difficult to open. So just give it a light punch with the butt of your fist, and it will stay closed enough without being hermetically sealed. ;)

All in all I give Mr. Lid 41/2 stars out of 5..."that's high praise" in the Julia ranking system, as Nicolas Cage would say. (Or rather, as the Saturday Night Live guy Adam Sandberg playing Nicolas Cage would say). 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

US Post Office Runs a Kind of "Lottery" with New "Inverted Jenny" Stamps - Might Your Sheet Be a Winner?

The US Post Office is running a kind of lottery.

To celebrate the famous, rare, "inverted Jenny" stamps, which were only one sheet of original
misprinted stamps (where the "Curtis Jenny" plane was printed upside down instead of right-side up) that were sold in 1918, the Post Office came up with a fun idea. (Goodness knows, they could use ideas to make money!).

Each individual original "Inverted Jenny" from 1918 now sells for around one million dollars. (The sheet was long since broken up into individual stamps or groupings).

But with the new reissued "Jennys," the key is finding the right-side up ones!

The USPS issued all the new sheets with the Jenny planes upside down, as a commemorative edition, and only 100 sheets apparently have the right-side up planes.

They are sold sealed, so you can be sure they weren't tampered with.

Open one up, and see if you get the "new" inverted-inverted Jenny, which is actually right-side up!

Below is a scan of the sealed sheet I bought today at my local post office (they only had one left):


Here is a good article about the original "Inverted Jenny" and that lucky first buyer of the sheet.



Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Business Buzzwords of the Year

If I had a nickel for every time I heard "reached out" in a business context, I'd have...well, at least a dollar.

Other phrases: "the notion that..." (I believe this was started by President Barack Obama)

"The narrative..."

Starting a talking head opinion with "Look, ...."

" "     "OK, so...."

Any others?

Update: another one:

"curate" or "curated"