‘Shoes, Boots and Scarves, Oh My!‘
by Lynn Dralle, The Queen of Auctions

Indiana has been wanting a pair of Ugg type boots and she didn’t get any for Christmas. She won’t be able to wear them much living here in the desert, but in the winter it does get really cold at night. So, while my mom and I were out thrift store shopping last Sunday, I spotted this awesome pair of Italian real fur boots. They were in incredible condition and only $3.99. I scooped them up even though they said 36 on the base and I didn’t know if that European size would fit her. I always knew (in the back of my mind) that I could sell them on eBay!

Well, they didn’t fit and she didn’t really like them, so up on eBay they went. Turns out the suggested retail for these Garden Spot Italian boots is $150 to $180!

Italian Apres Ski Boots. Check them out here.

Here are the Ugg type boots that Indy ended up getting with some of her Christmas money. She bought them on eBay–of course!

The auction is here.

We won this auction with auctionsniper.com. I highly recommend using a sniping service like this when buying anything on eBay!

At the next thrift store that my mom and I stopped by, they had a ton of designer shoes. Some were brand new and others were used. I found Indy a pair of Converse All Star black high tops for $10.00 in brand new condition. Just the night before, she had been on eBay looking at Vans vs. Converse and she couldn’t decide which pair to buy with the rest of her Christmas money.

Now, she didn’t have to! She absolutely loved these shoes I picked up for her and I haven’t seen her that happy in about a week (since Santa came!)

Here she is in her new shoes. Well, here are her feet in the new shoes!

I also bought a brand new pair of Sbicca mules, a slightly used pair of BCBG slides and a used pair of Coach flip flops. They were all $10 each. I did it for a fun trial.

The Coach flip flops were pretty cool (I like them) but the soles were pretty dirty. I asked my mom to write them up on I Sell sheets and the next thing you know, she is in the kitchen cleaning them up. Way to go mom!

I have all three pairs listed now. here is a link to the Coach flip flops.

here is a link to the Sbicca mules.

here is a link to the BCBGirls sandals.

When I told my mom that I was writing about boots, shoes and scarves, she told me about a great score she had had recently. She bought five pairs of used Dansko shoes at a yard sale for $3.00 each. It was in a not so great area of Bellingham and it was late in the day. The lady running the sale originally wanted $7 each and because it was time to close up shop, my mom was able to negotiate the price down to $3.00 each. That is more like it!

She put them all up at auction for $19.99 to $24.99 and one sold for $24.99. That covered her initial investment of $15.00 and then some. No worries about the other four pairs, because they all sold out of her eBay store within 3 months at between $19.99 and $24.99.

Here is a link to the one that sold the most recently. FYI, this brand of shoes is made in Portugal.

The last fun clothing category that often gets overlooked is scarves. Think about it. They are easy to store, easy to ship and can sell for big bucks. Check out this neat email I got from Mandy, a Queen’s Court member.

Hi Lynn,

This was a great score! A Hermes Paris 100% silk scarf I found at Value Village for 2.99 with its seam label and the copyright printed right on the scarf!

It sold with a bidding war for way more than I could have ever imagined. Yippee! I’m going to check the scarves more often when out Thrifting!

Mandy
Mandicrafts

Mandy’s auction is here.

When I emailed Mandy to ask her if I could include her score in the newsletter, here is what she sent back.

Sure you can use the scarf in the ezine, but the follow up to it was that they complained that it had a worn spot and pin holes and a stain. I’d inspected it before it shipped and offered a full refund, confident I could resell or over it as a second chance offer, but they still wanted to give it as a gift and asked for compensation before leaving feedback.

I refunded $20 and that made them happy enough to leave good feedback and it was still a great score for me without all the return hassle!!

Some of that extortion we are all experiencing with feedback held hostage!!

No kidding! But Mandy did the right thing by offering a parital refund. Good job, Mandy! And I just heard from Mandy again, she made Silver Powerseller today!!!! Congratulations–What an awesome accomplishment.

What great lessons learned, just like with antiques and collectibles, anything made in Europe or by a famous designer in Boots, Shoes or Scarves is usually going to be a score! Don’t pass these items up when out thrifting or garage saling.

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

eBay PowerSeller and third generation antiques dealer, Lynn Dralle, is the creator of Boot Camp in a Box, the home-study course where you can learn to implement the Dralle Method to maximize your eBay profits.

If you liked today’s issue, you’ll love this step-by-step course that is guaranteed to be the most complete and enjoyable guide to selling on eBay that MAKES YOU MONEY.

Read all about it here.

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Lynn is an experienced eBay Power Seller, author and teacher. If you want to know the eBay tips, tricks and tools that Lynn uses for buying and selling at online auction click here.