February 22nd, 2018
Volume XIV, Issue 01
Hi!
I haven't done very well with my New Year's Resolution now have I? I had promised to write 2 ezines a month in 2018. I think that moving my entire household from Rancho Mirage to Ventura, in addition to moving my 13,000+ items that are listed on eBay and opening a new business….may have just put me over the edge. LOL. It has been a super fun adventure and one I can't wait to share with you.
But let me share a score before I get started on life's roller coaster. Since I haven't written an ezine since Christmas, here is an awesome Christmas score. This darling piece was made in Germany and I took a best offer of $100. The buyer absolutely loved it!
Click here
to see this auction.
After Christmas and once the little boys and my mom returned to Bellingham, it was time to get into serious WE ARE MOVING mode!
Here is a cute photo of the boys with my mom at the Palm Springs Airport.
I will have to say that I am going to miss the ease of having family & friends fly in and out of that darling little airport. My mom is flying in today from Bellingham and I must leave in about an hour to pick her up from LAX. Not a fun drive! And her flight was delayed two hours due to ice and wind. I will have to go in late to pick her up because I have a new consignor dropping off furniture at about the same time.
But back to crunch time in the desert. And I do mean crunch time. I was running eBay sales like crazy to get rid of as much merchandise as I could prior to the move. I was thrilled to sell this Fenton Lamp for a best offer of $225.00 right before the move!
Click here
to see this auction.
Even with all the madness, we did manage to squeeze in a birthday party for Indiana on December 29th. She had turned 19 on the 15th of December. Yikes! I can't believe I have a 19 and 21 year old and most of you have watched them grow up. Crazy isn't it?
Here are a few of the kiddos hanging out in the kitchen…isn't that where all good parties end up?
My brother was supposed to be headed back up to San Francisco and his job at Lucas Films, but he stayed for the party to do some of his freelance work. Here he is taking photos of a face mask for Proctor & Gamble using my eBay photo light box and a white plate from my eBay inventory. He even had the nerve to ask if I had a plate stand! Seriously? If I have one plate stand, I have 1,000. My grandmother would pull the Fenton wooden plate stands that came with every collector's plate out of the original box and hoard them. I am the proud owner of about 100 of these. LOL.
My mom flew back down to on January 5th to help me get outta dodge. I listed a ton of furniture on Craigslist and sold almost every single piece. Here is my huge desk set that I sold for $500. What a relief! I was NOT going to move that monster to Ventura.
One day I got a phone call from a Marine named Joel who wanted to know more about the black couches that I was selling. I had purchased that black couch set from American Express when Houston was 2 ½ and Indy was a newborn. It had been through a lot with our family. Houston broke his arm falling off of the top of it when he was about 4…so it was hard for me to part with. I do collect couches you know.
After I hung up with the Marine, I said to my mom, "What do you say we give the couch to Joel?" She was all for it. I text him right back and said, "I don't want you to waste a trip from 29 Palms to look at this couch to purchase, my mom & I talked it over and we are going to give it to you as a thank you for serving our country."
Joel brought one of the men (James) who serves beneath him. They were darling! How cute is my mom with them? Joel even invited me to the Marine Ball that takes place in Las Vegas in November. If he is still serious about that in November, I am going!
Time for a score! I had always loved this ring in my grandmother's antique store so picked it out as part of my inheritance. I never wore it and after Sherri Mertle's teleseminar on selling gold, I listed it on eBay. Sold it for a best offer of $200. Thank you, Sherri!
Click here
to see this auction.
Pepperdine had its regular January Improv show on Friday, the 19th. Indy didn't know if she would be cast (and she wasn't), but my mom and I decided to go anyway. We booked the M Motel in Malibu and headed up there after I did a TV interview for the local news in Palm Springs. What a day! Improv was still fun even without Indiana performing 
.
Saturday morning, Houston, Noel, Indiana, Carmen, my mom and I headed up to Ventura to have breakfast at Pete's Breakfast House .
It is about five doors down from my store on Main Street and is very famous from being on the Guy Fieri show. After breakfast we showed the kids the store! They loved it. Here we are in front of one of the blue walls before it got covered up with silver pegboard.
Then we headed up the hill to check out the new house. I think the kids liked the mini barn out back better than anything! Houston and Indy picked out their rooms and then they headed back to Malibu and my mom and I hit the road back to Rancho Mirage and A LOT of packing! Luckily, the kids had both completely packed up their rooms back in the desert, so those were two rooms I didn't have to worry about!
The next weekend (January 27th & 28th) would be my first of 3 weekends of moving. I had hoped to get it all in 2 weekends of moving with Steve Labrano and Labrano's Moving. But, it was not to be. It would take three trips in his 26' Box Truck. Steve was fantastic to work with and I recommend him to anyone in Southern California.
I planned my move like this…
- Weekend 1…Home
- Weekend 2...eBay Merchandise
- Weekend 3...Leftover Home and unlisted inventory
By doing it this way, I could leave my eBay store open. While my mom and I set up the house during that first weekend and part of the next week, Carmen would do my shipping for me. God Bless you Carmen!
Here is Steve with the truck half loaded with my household stuff.
Here is my mom in what is left of my office. All we needed were my eBay I sell books, a computer, a printer and most of the eBay inventory in the garage. There was still some of my personal furniture left and I still had a 10 by 20' Storage unit that was "chugarum" full as my grandmother would have said. LOL.
With all of this going on I was still able to accept offers because of my planning and Carmen!
Check out this Sid Dickens Tile that I sold for a best offer of $100. I collect these tiles and know how expensive they are and am shocked when I can pick them up at garage sales for $5 to $10. Sid is from Vancouver, Canada so I often find these pieces in Coachella Valley because of all the snowbirds from Canada that winter there.
Click here
to see this auction.
Once the movers had the truck loaded, I started out towards Ventura in Indiana's Audi and my mom followed in the Mercedes. It was my plan to eventually get it to her in Malibu, but right around Redlands, the check engine light came on. I got off the freeway and called AAA. Amazingly enough, we were 99 miles from Malibu and the AAA tow to Malibu free! That was bad luck that turned into good luck!
We got the Audi diagnosed in Malibu and it is the catalytic convertor (that we won't worry about until the next smog check is due) and an engine coil that I will have checked. Her Audi is now with her at Pepperdine and she will drive it home next Sunday for spring break and I will have it serviced in Ventura on Monday, the 26th of February.
I had tried to sell the Audi on Craig's List for what I had originally paid ($5k) and there were no takers. Highest offer I got was $3.5k. I know that it is in good condition and I figured for that amount of money I couldn't replace a car for Indiana. So we may as well keep it as it will be fine for her to drive from Malibu to Ventura--too low profile for me to want her driving it on the LA freeways. When she needs to go into LA or back to the desert she can take a bigger car, either mine or Houston's.
Here is one of the photos my mom made me take of the car for Craig's List. My mom insisted that we get it washed and park it in a desert landscape. Smart Mor Mor. How cute is that?
For the three weekends of moving, I had arranged with my movers to do a Saturday packing of the truck and a Sunday unloading. I did NOT want them working a 15 hour day and making mistakes with my expensive furniture so they agreed to spend the night in Ventura. My mom and I spent the night at the Crowne Point hotel that first Saturday night. The hotel was totally beautiful and on the beach, but we were too exhausted to enjoy it!
Next day was move in day number 1! Here are the guys moving a couch.
My mom and I did as much as we could that day with unpacking, but had to leave at 5 pm to head to Malibu as there was a special "up close and personal" long form Improv show at Pepperdine that Indiana would be participating in. Yay! My mom was finally going to see her perform Improv.
It was a blast and Indiana and her friend Sydney did a duet that was hysterical. Here it is on youtube.
Here is the PIT (Pepperdine Improv Troupe) after the show. In the front to the far right is the head of the Improv program, Brian Jones (he is hysterical).
I must tell you how nice it was to be able to drive home (in under 40 minutes) to our new place in Ventura after a Pepperdine performance. In the past, I would usually have had to pay for an expensive hotel room or drive the 3-5 hours back home to Rancho Mirage after the performance.
That Monday after our first move, Max (my friend and handyman) showed up in Ventura to start working at the store. He would hang and paint the metallic pegboard and tear out old shelves and cabinets.
My mom and I stayed in Ventura to unpack until Tuesday, when we returned to the desert to pack some more. We also had a happy hour scheduled with many of my best friends and then we would stay the night at my friend Kel's house (as there were no real beds at my house). My mom was flying out the next day, Wednesday, back to Bellingham. Lucky Mor Mor! She got to leave!
My friends surprised Mor Mor and I with a going away party during Happy Hour. It was sooooooo fun! Love all these gals!
Time for a score! My mom had a score recently with a needlepoint pillow (I think she got $100 for it) so I bought two of these black floral pillows and priced them high! Took a best offer of $70 for both. Thanks Mom I was trying to get out of my house by February 15th as my landlord already had it rented
Click here
to see this auction.
The next week was a whirlwind as I planned for my 2nd weekend of moving which would take place February 3rd & 4th. I was trying to get out of my house by February 15th as my landlord already had it rented ! After dropping my mom off at the airport on Wednesday morning, I was still shooting for a move over only 2 weekends not 3, so I decided I had better move my storage unit home to sort it. Well that took most of Wednesday.
Here is that in progress. Steve was already booked so I had to use a different moving company. Darn it!
Then it was time to start packing the eBay stuff. I had waited as long as possible so that I could keep my eBay store open.
I had purchased about 400 boxes that would fit perfectly right back on my Costco racks. I had 25 Costco racks, 6 shelves each so 150 shelves and three boxes would fit on each one. That was 450 boxes, but I purchased less than that at approximately $1 per box.
The boxes measured 18" deep by 14" wide by varying heights for the different shelves. I actually measured each and every shelf….Yikes! The varying heights were 8, 10, 12 and 14". It seriously made the packing go pretty quickly, but I had no idea how long it was going to take and completely underestimated. We didn't wrap much of anything and just used heavy brown paper to wrap stacks of dishes and fragile items.
On Thursday, my true-blue friend, Tina Burke Brown, one of my best friends from high school came to help pack. If you can believe it, this is the only photo that I have of that nightmare eBay pack job. It is no wonder as I was seriously only focused on packing.
The Friday afternoon before the movers were going to show up on Saturday morning turned into PANIC time. I looked at my handyman, Jason, who I was paying to pack boxes and said, "We can finish this right?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "NO WAY!"
I asked him how late he could stay. He needed to leave at 5 pm to feed his dog and grab dinner but would be back at 6 pm and he brought a friend. We all packed like crazy until almost 1 am and there were still about five racks to go. Ughhhhh.
Well, I knew I could be packing while the guys started loading the trucks. Thank God Coco came to help in the am, and another handyman DJ also came to help. My friend Max (just back from Ventura) came to watch (as this would have been his 3rd time moving my eBay merchandise and he was just plain OVER IT). Love you Max!
When my movers walked in at 10:30 am on Saturday (thank GOD they were late), Steve looked around and said this is definitely two more trucks. Max agreed and said "Maybe 2 ½" I told them to "shut the door" it would only be 2 more trucks and if it didn't fit in truck #3 it would not be going.
Then I asked my movers, Steve, Cory, and Gordon to please help pack the rest of the eBay merch. Somehow, we got it all boxed up (those last 5 shelves were a mess and it will be a miracle if I find everything that sells), but we DID it!
OMG, I was beyond exhausted after that day, but somehow, I packed up my car and headed to Ventura. I had some extra motivation as the kids (Houston, Indiana, Reilly, Carmen and Sydney) were already on their way to our new house in Ventura so that "my kids" could unpack their rooms and I was going to take them out to dinner.
Well, I arrived in Ventura around 6:30 pm and was wiped out! I had to rush to the store to meet the concrete staining guy, Darren. He still didn't have a test patch for me to OK, so I gave the "kids" $100 so that they could go out to dinner and I would hang out at the store.
Here is my "squad" of kids in the store before the floor staining and before they headed out to dinner.
The back-garage sample was finished around 8 pm and I gave Darren the AOK and I headed home.
Luckily, I got back to the house before the Pepperdine crew and I had some time to go over the floor plan of the store and figure out what shelves would need to go in what location. I needed to make sure that any shelving unit that originally backed up to another stayed in the same place. That way if items were pushed from their correct shelf to an incorrect one, it would be easier to find those items.
I finally had it all figured out and realized I did not have enough space for 8 of the shelving units. I decided to put those 8 shelving units in my garage at home and those 8 shelves were the first ones loaded onto the truck making them the last 8 to come off. We would start at the store and then unpack at the house. Brilliant plan, I must say!
The kids showed up just as I was finishing floor plans and it was time for the fun to begin! It was so awesome to have them in the HOUSE! Unpacking their rooms, laughing, talking and filling up our new home with LOVE and JOY!
Here are some candid shots.
OK, time for an eBay score! This one sold before I had moved the eBay inventory from the desert, but I did not find it until we were unpacking in Ventura. LOL. All's well that ends well. Took a best offer of $38.00. Only paid $1.00.
Click here
to see this auction.
The next day was Super Bowl Sunday and I snuck out of the house (so as not to wake those sleeping Pepperdine kids) at 8:30 to meet my movers at the store. The boys were motivated as they wanted to get back to Palm Desert to watch the game. Steve Labrano's family (my mover) owns the Red Barn in Palm Desert and they wanted to be there for the game. Couldn't blame them.
So, we hustled! The floor plan really helped. I offered to buy my kids breakfast so Indy and Houston stopped by to grab some money and I got a picture of them in the back part of the shop, with the newly stained beautiful floors and some of the racks in position. Nice!
Then as they were leaving for breakfast (and to go back to Pepperdine) I got a shot of what the racks looked like in the truck. Thank goodness I have some proof!
Then there was/is that wall of boxes that would need to be all unpacked before I returned to the desert for round 3. Have I exhausted you all yet? Just writing this is making me tired
After unloading at the store, the movers and I headed to my house. We got the racks perfectly placed and the guys were off to return to the desert. It was Super Bowl Sunday, so I text my neighbor across the street (Gina) to see if she knew of any high school kids or other people I could hire to unpack boxes.
She was on it! I had moms from Ventura texting me and calling me throughout the Super Bowl. Way to go Gina! I love my new neighbors . I also put an ad on Next Door and by Sunday night, I had about 4-5 people lined up for the next day. I also found a handyman to finish Max's work on the walls. I had three days to unpack all my eBay inventory, get the store ship shape (including painting, more pegboard, new garage door openers, security, signage etc.) and head back to Rancho Mirage for that final load.
Monday morning we started unpacking at the store, it went well. it went well. Here is Val (one of my first "on trial" workers) unpacking in one of the aisles.
While all that was going on, Carlos and Miguel, were painting and hanging pegboard. How cute is Carlos?
On Tuesday of that week I did a radio interview with Griff and Lee about my move to Ventura. Seriously, it was non-stop! You can check out that radio interview here. By Tuesday afternoon we were finished unpacking at the store…believe it or not!
OK, time for a score. This sold for a best offer of $125.00 while it was being driven from Rancho Mirage to Ventura. How cool is that?
Click here
to see this auction.
Wednesday (still in Ventura), I asked for all of my helpers to meet me up at my house. Four gals showed up and worked from 8 am to noon. In just four hours, they had unpacked 8 shelves! Way to go One of the gals is an "on trial" worker as well (Lyn) and she is the one with a wicked sense of humor and a taxidermy bird in front of her face LOL.
Thursday morning, I drove back to Rancho Mirage to pack & sort the stuff from the storage unit--egads . On my way, I got a call from eBay Radio and Griff & Lee wanted my comment on the new "Always Open on eBay" campaign. It is a new program to help brick & mortar stores. The timing couldn't have been better..seriously?
When I arrived home to Rancho Mirage (after pulling off in Palm Springs to do my 2nd eBay radio interview that week) I was overwhelmed by all the STUFF still left. I sent out an SOS and Coco stopped by to help for a bit and Kel, Candy and Ron showed up by UBER about 8 pm. We focused on the garage. Thank GOD for good friends! Here are Kel and Candy with Ron sitting in the background. Late night garage packing…doesn't get much better or should I say……worse?
The next day my plan was to attack the house and all the storage unit stuff. Again, overwhelming. Luckily, Kel did not have to work and came over to help. She was a Godsend. Here she is putting together some boxes with my pile of crap!
A framed photo kept showing up during my move, it was a picture of my dad as a young man. I must share a picture because I think Houston looks so much like him.
OK, before we get to my final Saturday morning (February 10th) of moving its time for a score!
Sold this darling Mission Brass shelf during the 3-week move and it was easy to find! Took a $100 best offer. I don't think I could have gotten $100 for this in my new store. It is a fine-line, some things will sell better in a brick & mortar and others on eBay.
Click here
to see this auction.
On weekend 3's Saturday morning, I still had a TON of personal stuff to pack. My master closet and bathroom still had stuff in them as well as some things in the kitchen. I kept working away as the guys loaded the truck.
Here is a shot of some of the stuff all packed up from my storage unit in the living room.
I was exhausted and my darling neighbor Sandra text me around lunch time and said, "I am bringing you a hot lunch and YOU will eat it." She is the best neighbor EVER. She brought over this warm home cooked meal with all the condiments in baggies, a diet coke, a homemade warm muffin and plastic utensils. PRAISE THE LORD!
The movers finished up at 1:30 and headed to Ventura. I spent another 2 hours packing and barely got everything into my SUV…but I did it. It was sad to close up that house and say goodbye to the Coachella Valley. I had spent the last 16 years there raising my kids and we made such great memories. We had lived in Lake Mirage for the past 7 years and it really is a desert oasis. I took one final picture and drove away. I actually cried on the way out of the valley.
The next day was the usual unloading and the boys (my movers) were sad to leave. Steve is even considering moving to Ventura LOL. Ventura really is a hidden gem. I was happy to be done , but knew I had a HUGE week ahead of me.
I needed to learn the new consignment software, set up my office, get computers going, order office supplies, printers, a fridge, microwave etc. and take in consignments for the grand opening on March 1st. It was overwhelming and yet exciting!
OK, time for a score!
Click here
to see this auction.
This is the 3rd of 3 of the same vintage colognes that I had purchased in the desert a few months ago. The first two had already sold for between $80 and $100. I got a best offer on the final one for $100 and was ready to accept it when they retracted it! I HATE it when that happens. Five minutes later I heard the Kaching on my phone and it had sold for FULL PRICE. YAYAYA! Ventura is good luck. As Griff & Lee did tell me on the last interview, "Buena Ventura" means Good Fortune! I will take it
During that crazy busy week, I also hired the most amazing carpenter, Toni, to build me a front counter. It is going to be awesome!
AND, Harry arrived from Rancho Mirage. “Harry the Horse" is an incredible example of Folk Art that my darling neighbor Sandra insisted that I take to showcase the front window of my store. She said "You need a showstopper" well, Harry is more than that. He has become my friend.
He arrived by private Mercedes Sprinter Van with my buddy Jose (Shipping Services USA) who was my former next-door neighbor at my old office.
Here we are in the store front window.
Harry has been covered in blankets since arrival (to keep his original paint from fading) and to keep him warm. It has been a little chilly here.
Sandra and her husband (who was a top executive at May Company when I was a buyer) had purchased Harry for their wonderful Folk Art Collection in Indiana back in the 1980's. Harry is for sale. Serious inquiries only. Not so sure I am ready to part with Harry yet.
My new brick and mortar store is shaping up.
We had 4 new consignors bring in some awesome stuff today! Even a piece that I am going to list on eBay. Check it out here.
Click here
to see this auction.
Stuff is rolling in and it is sooooo fun. My mom arrived in town yesterday (Sunday, February 18th) and Tiki Jason surprised us last night. Having a blast!
Any of you in the Conejo Valley or close by, we are accepting consignments daily. Please spread the word for me and you are all cordially invited to my grand opening on March 1st! The day that would have been my dad's 84th birthday. It is going to be a BLAST!
1975 E. Main St. Ventura, CA 93001
Phone 805-628-3289 or cell 760-880-3535
Email: Lynn@thequeenofauctions.com
We are accepting consignments for our Grand Opening Thursday, March 1st!
You're welcome to bring in small items anytime between 10 am to 5 pm Mon-Sat
For larger items please email or text photos.
We are looking for furniture…
bar stools, sofas, couches, chairs, tables, dressers, coffee tables, dining room tables, artwork, rugs, lamps, lighting, throw pillows, decor, dishes, flatware, dinnerware, throws...etc. etc. etc...
…in very good condition from a smoke free environment.
Think Pottery Barn or Williams Sonoma. Also, Mid Century Modern, Boho (1970's), Distressed, Chalk Painted, Shabby Chic, etc…
In honor of my store's Brick and Mortar's GRAND OPENING, we are having a GRAND OPENING SALE of our teaching products. SALE will end SOON on March 1st at midnight!
Let's celebrate STARTING THE NEW YEAR off on the right foot with tools that keep us focused on listing faster and getting more items on eBay for 2018 selling!
Take 33% off everything on our website (except for Antiques from A to Z and Queen's Court memberships.)
Be sure to enter our 33% off coupon code: GRANDOPENING
Check out all of our products here .
We have included links to some of our more recent and most helpful products, most importantly, the 9 videos in our teaching series. They are helping many of you to grow your business. That makes me super happy!
Here is a list of the downloadable videos so far. Remember, each of these is a key step in learning how you can use "Assembly Line Listing" to ramp up your eBay sales and start 2018 STRONG.
Be sure to enter our 33% off coupon code: GRANDOPENING
Don't forget all of our ebooks, like:
Be sure to enter our 33% off coupon code: GRANDOPENING
And three of our most recent AWESOME teleseminars:
And the video download from my 2015 eBay Radio Presentation
And a download from my 2016 eCom Chicago Presentation
OK, there are so many more great products and if you can't find what you are looking for, please email me at Lynn@thequeenofauctions.com so I can point you in the right direction!
Ok, one last potential score and a photo of the store from tonight.
This is from my friend Sandra's Personal Folk Art Collection. LOVE IT!
Click here
to see this auction.
Here is my mama (aka Mor Mor) in the store tonight, 2/19, as I finish up this ezine that will reach you on 2/22. The store is going to be awesome! Please stop in and see me if you are in the area. Such a fun day...pricing and meeting new consignors and finding certain items that will sell better on eBay. It doesn't get any better than VENTURA...my new home!
Thanks for reading my ezines! I appreciate it!
Happy eBaying!
Lynn
