Not Sure What to Say...

... but here I go anyway!!

It's been months.  MONTHS.  My last post was right after my birthday.

Well, the eBay business is dead.  I killed it.  I want to keep blogging about what's on my mind nowadays but:

a) Those of you who came for the shoes would probably not enjoy that and
b) A lot of people I know personally read my blog and I don't really feel like hanging my dirty laundry out to dry, unless I can find a way to do it anonymously

I'm not doing a ton of shopping lately, except for houses.  My husband and I decided we'd like to stay in this area for a while, and it doesn't make much sense to keep throwing money down the drain with a rental.  Unfortunately I don't get coupons in the mail for house discounts, but I'm sure there's some sort of method to this as well!

In other news, my husband quit his job and is taking care of our son full time for now.  My job has gotten significantly more demanding, but I really enjoy my coworkers, so that more than make up for the stress.  I've got travel scheduled pretty much every month between now and the summer - anything and everything from Cleveland to Caracas to Boston to London.  Needless to say some of those places feel a little more appealing to me than others. :)

I'd love to hear from you guys.  Drop me a note, would you?  I'm not sure if I'll be back, at least in this blog's current incarnation, but I'll keep the site open in case some of you want to get in touch with me.

Take care, guys.  I really enjoyed this.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Ok, so it's almost a week late, but it's also probably the most exciting thing that's happened to me this week.  On Monday, December 6th, I turned 34.  I'm going through this weird phase right now where I've started to act like I'm 24 again - going to happy hours, gossipping with the girls, and generally not acting (or dressing "my age".  For the most part I'm enjoying this harmless renaissance, but sometimes I wonder whether it will affect my reputation at work or how people see me as a professional.  We're not talking about dancing drunk on tables or anything like that, but still...

I'm not sure this really relates to my now basically defunct eBay business - I'm fact, I'm sure it doesn't - but the thing with the business is once I got all the strategies down it became very transactional and frankly there wasn't all that much to write about.  "Another item sold.  I shipped it today.  Wish it had gone for more.  Oh well" doesn't make for a very titillating blog entry.  Soooo I'll tell you about the shoes I bought myself as a birthday present!  They are sparkly.  Very very sparkly.  I wore them to my office holiday party.  I also wore a little black dress significantly shorter than anyting I would ever dare wear to the office.

It may have something to do with the 30 lbs I've lost since my son was born - or the 15 lbs I've lost in the last 6 months.  Or maybe it's a midlife crisis.  Whatever it is, I hope it wear off soon - it's really taking a toll on my wallet! :)

Radio Silence

I'm so sorry for the radio silence.  I didn't realize until today it's been more than two weeks since I last posted!  Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you're all doing well.

The truth is that while I've had some activity on eBay, I've been out of the shopping loop for a while.  I'm a really fickle creature, and there's a lot going on right now at work and in my life that is sucking my attention away from the business.

Most importantly, though, I've discovered that my 2.5 year old son's behavior has improved ten fold since I stopped fully dedicating myself to being a shoe broker on evenings and weekends.  Despite the fact that a lot of what I do can be done from home, my being constantly glued to the computer was taking a toll on him.  He was acting out, throwing tantrums, being clingy, and just generally an unhappy kid.

Slowly but surely, he's getting back to his normal, happy self - with the occasional temper tantrum (he is two, after all!).  Somehow I'm going to have to find a way to be more balanced in my interests.

In other news, I went shopping on Black Friday and was sorely disappointed.  Not a good deal in sight on the kind of stuff I like.  In other, other news, my main eBay account might seem empty but my "secret" account is in full swing!  I've got a bunch of very cute ladies' shoes there in a size 7.5 - most of them never worn.  A friend of mine is having knee surgery, and I'm giving her a hand in selling her awesome high heel collection.  Just look for the Naughty Monkey and you will find the secret account!

O-M-G I So Totally LOVE My New Shoes! *Giggle*

Today I want to talk about the duality of me.  And shoes, of course.

I got a pair of new shoes in the mail this morning.  I saw them at Neiman Marcus a few weeks back and ignored every piece of advice I've ever given you guys by buying them on the spot at FULL PRICE.  They didn't have my size so one of the sales associates had them special ordered for me. I didn't even use a coupon,online code, NOTHIN'.  The shoes are high-heeled, cutout oxfords in a style I never, EVER would have imagined myself liking.  Just goes to show what they say about love is true - it is blind and it knows no bounds.

I rarely buy things for myself on my shopping excursions but this time I just couldn't help it.  The thing I want to talk about, though, is how much I've been daydreaming about these shoes as I waited.  And how excited I was when I got them.  And how I'm never taking them off again.

Here's the thing.  I've been a lot more in touch with my "girly" side lately.  Up until recently I suppressed that part of myself and something about the last few months has made that side come back with a vengeance.  I'm gossipping with my girlfriends in the office, talking about movie stars and crushes, getting my eyebrows waxed... all the things that I would roll my eyes at in my head while I was in "austere, kick-ass, all-business" mode.  As torn as I feel about my newly resurfaced girliness, I'm having a great time right now and while I'm a tiny bit ashamed of my girliness nothing's going to stop me from getting a huge kick out of wearing my awesome new shoes to work on Monday. 

These shoes represent the fact that I'm complex.  I can be totally no nonesense and totally "girly" in one conversation.  I can giggle while I look authoritative.  And I can get as excited about a new pair of shoes as I do about getting praise from my bosses at work.  This is who I am.  And God damn it, I LOVE MYSELF.

PS: So what do you think of my shoes??  Aren't they totally HOT?

My New Distribution Strategy

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

I think I've probably mentioned on here before how I'm originally from Nicaragua.  I lived there most of my life, though I went to the American school until the age of 18, and then took off for college in California.  My family is pretty priviledged by Nicaragua standards, although we've probably be upper middle class in the US - if that.

One of the privilidges that the upper class Nicaraguan ladies enjoy is coming shopping in the US.  Nicaraguan shopping leaves a LOT to be desired of.  You can't get designer brands and even a simple pair of Nine West pumps from a few seasons ago can run you upwards of $150 if purchased there.  I don't have a ton of friends in Nicaragua anymore, but my mom is there and my sister still has a lot of friends there as well.  Well, my sister is so likeable she has a lot of friends EVERYWHERE, but I will try to stick to the point.

With my sister's help (she has an MBA with a concentration in marketing) I have been tapping into the Nicaraguan market.  Not only can I get the designer items my clients can't get there, I can also get them for cheaper than they would expect to pay on one of their US shopping trips.  My last three clients have all been from Nicaragua, and through word of mouth my special projects continue to roll in.

For those of you wondering why my eBay store looks so threadbare, now you know why!  My countrymen and women have been keeping me busy!!  Although... this is super top secret but my alter ego eBay seller ID just got a big load of awesome shoes that I'm helping a friend sell.  If you're a 7.5, watch out!  I'm probably going to try to sell you some shoes!!

War of the Shoes

Here's an old school type of post for you.

Behold two shoes.  Both are Christian Louboutin.  Both New In Box.  One is a size 36.5 and the other a 38.5.  One is white, and a sandal, and therefore painfully out of season.  It's also a small size, which is harder to sell.  The other is purple - a fall/winter color - but it's a wedge, and Louboutin wedges don't sell as well because as I've said before, people who pay a ton of money for shoes usually want other people to know they've paid a ton of money for shoes.  The red soles are a clear indication that said lot of money has been made, and wedges and flats make it harder for people to see the red soles.

They're roughly the same price and I'm relisting them both at the same time (tonight).  Which one do you think will sell first??  Winner gets $10 "store credit" for my shopping services.

Christian Louboutin White Joli Noeud 36.5

Louboutin Lady Lynch Zeppa Size 38.5

A Plug - and More Pics of My Clients!

This smashing model is my longtime friend and one of my favorite clients, Rosa.  She's wearing a pair of pants I got for her, and looking HOT doing it.  But that's not all.  Not only does Rosa look like a rock star, she's also an incredibly smart businesswoman AND she has an amazing political analysis blog called "Rosa's Reality Check" that you all need to check out.

At the risk of going off topic, I have to admit I don't really care for politics, particularly since it frustrates me that politics in this country are SO partisan.  Most people don't vote for issues, they vote for parties.  What I like about Rosa's blog is that she uses her knowledge of constitutional law to dissect the political system as opposed to parties or candidates - and she rails against BOTH sides. :)  She's also a powerful and entertaining writer, so all in all, a must read!

As for me, I've got a new segementation strategy that I've been dying to tell you guys about.  Watch for a new post about this in the next couple of days!

Happy Halloween!

I'm back in town and trying desperately to recover from a marathon 3 and a half days in Mexico.  I'm trying really hard to get back into the swing of my business, and even went to see my secret supplier for a short while on Saturday to check whether there were any good goods left over from the special event on the 27th.  There were (lots of Prada, YSL, Manolo Blahnik, even some Louboutin), but my heart just wasn't in it.  I ended up buying a pair of flats for myself that I was seriously needing and putting a pair of shoes on hold for a friend of mine.

There were about three or four other places I should have visited to complete the rounds but my son was invited to a birthday party and I couldn't resist considering how cute I knew he would look in his penguin costume.  I did put in a few hours today shopping for some of my favorite clients, but I rarely find good deals online.

Finally, I've still got two pairs of Louboutins on eBay that haven't sold - one because they're a small size (6.5) and one because it's a wedge (people who pay over $300 for a pair of shoes generally want you to be able to tell they paid $300 for a pair of shoes - you can't see the red soles on the wedges).  I've also got a pre-owned Gucci bag for sale, so we'll see how I do this week.  Nothing like a good bidding war to get the adrenaline pumping again. :)

Good night, everyone!  Wish me luck on my first full week back!

On Hiatus

Hey guys!  I know, I know, it's been a while.

I'm going on a short hiatus from the blog.  I'll still be working on my projects over this weekend and for those of you working with me I will have updates on Monday.  After that I'm going on a business trip to Mexico City so I'll kind of be out of pocket.

Unfortunately my business trip is going to put a serious damper on my shopping activities.  My secret supplier invited me to a super special event to celebrate their new arrivals on October 27th.  I was invited to come to the store 1 hour before opening to get my pick of the best stuff.  Sadly I will be in Mexico that day so no special event for me.  Hopefully there will be SOMETHING left for me to buy after I return even if I can't go on the first day.  Ack.

Wish me luck and I'll speak to you all soon!

Props to My Lovely, Lovely Client and Her Handsome Beau

Remember my wedding client I was telling you guys about?  Here she is, in all her splendor!  Isn't she booo-tiful?  And you know that purdy dress she's wearing?  Guess who got it for her! :)

Congratulations to the lovely couple!

I Think There's Something Wrong With My Business Model

I was out shopping today for one of my special projects when I came upon this pair of beauties at a Barney's outlet near my house -picture courtesy of Net-a-porter.  There are Christian Louboutin Gres Mule 70 sandals in gold.  They were $266 including tax.  I considered buying them to post on eBay for a minute, since they were a pretty popular style in the Spring/Summer line and I was fairly confident I could sell them.  If I had decided to buy them I would have listed them on eBay at first as an auction for a starting bid of  $319, which would have enable me to roughly break even, if not make a couple of bucks.  If I had sold them to client, depending on their budget, I would have sold them for about $315, for a $50 profit.

I decided not to get them because I'm trying to be careful with our cashflow, I have about six projects I'm slowly working through right now, and while I knew I would get paid for them I didn't know WHEN.  However, when I get home I decided to do a little research on them I found out that had I listed them on eBay for the price I mentioned they would have BY FAR been the cheapest pair in this style and color.  Other sellers have them for $499.  Net-a-porter is selling them for over $700.

This isn't the first time this has happened, although it kind of makes me wonder.  Am I SO GOOD at this that I manage to find these items for a much better price than everyone else, OR are other sellers pocketing $150 to $200 per item while I drive 100 miles every weekend and spend HOURS on my computer for a measely $50?

One way or another I have to look into this because I'm clearly under pricing my items, and potentially missing out on a much bigger profit opportunity by doing so.

100% Sell Through This Week

I had four pairs of shoes for sale this week and they all sold! Woo-hoo!!  The includes the LAST remaining pair from my original foray into luxury shoes.  You konw, the pair from the extremely expensive designer no one's ever heard of that are super impractical and I paid way too much for.  I took a $140 loss, but hey, such is life.

Not Your Mama's eBay?

I don't really have that much to say about eBay anymore.  Is that a turn off for you guys?  The thing is, most of my business now is coming from personal shopping.  I have an average of 5 to 7 projects in any given month, and that makes me just as much money as selling on eBay used to... except it's better, because it's a guarateed sale, whereas with the eBay merchandise I STILL have two pairs of shoes that I'm going to have to pay people to take from me!  It's ironic, but now that I'm a Powerseller and have Top Seller status I list half as much as I used to because 75% of the time I buy something it's for someone specific.

The problem with the personal shopping is that I can't talk about it as much as I do eBay.  I'm sure people don't want me blabbing about their personal purchases, and besides, going into detail about my projects involves revealing trade secrets about how I do what I do.  Yes, I've given you guys tips and the like but it's not the same as telling you exactly where to look for things and how to get them at a discount.

So it struck me as really ironic that this blog is called Not Your Mama's eBay but I never really write about eBay anymore!  I'm going to have to think up some eBay-related thing to tell you guys about, otherwise I'll be forced to change the name of my blog. :)  Hopefully a few of the things I'm selling this week will atually sell.  Maybe they'll sell for a terrible price and THEN I'll have a fun story to share with you.  Either that or I'll have to start dipping into my arsenal of personal stories to keep you all around.  One way or another I'll have a lot more to talk about next week!

Sharing the Magical Shopping Powers - Family Style

As I mentioned in my last post, my parents are visiting this weekend, so things have been a little more hectic than usual.  What I didn't mention is that my two brothers and my one sister are here as well, since we're celebrating my dad's 61st birthday this weekend.

Some of my very earliest shopping memories involve going to Dadeland Mall in Miami with my mom and my sister for our biannual "there is absolutely nothing to buy in Nicaragua because we're a crappy communist country" international shopping excursion.  This weekend my mom, my sister and I reprised our shopping trips of yore by embarking on a tri-state shopping tour - Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC.  Ok, we only passed through Washington, DC, but tri-state sounded so much cooler.  Not that DC is a state, but anyhow... I took my mom and sister to all the places I go shop either for eBay or for my personal shopping projects.  I brought along all my coupons, discounts and invitations to special events.

We covered a grand total of 240 miles spread out across 2 days.  Shoes were our main focus, although my mom did buy two evening dresses and my sister got a handbag and some running shorts in addition to her three pairs of shoes.  I picked up a handbag for a special project, but as usual, nothing for myself.

Anyway, the real point of the story is about the shoes below.  Many people think they can get the best deals on shoes and clothing online.  I cringe every time I hear one of my friends say they bought something on Bluefly, Endless or Zappos.  I took my sister to one of the places I regulalry shop.  It was one of the shoe warehouse places - you know the kind, nothing special, everyone has one within driving distance of where they live.  Well, she picked up the Giuseppe Zanotti shoes you see below for about $175 before tax.  They were 70% off, and they had them in just about every size you can think of.  Fast forward to this morning.  I'm doing a little research on a different pair of shoes, and I come across my sister's shoes on Bluefly.  At a discount.  For $500 plus tax.

We didn't do anything special.  Didn't buy wholesale.  Didn't even use a coupon for God's sake.  All we did was get off our butts to do a little in person shopping in strategically selected places.  That's it.  That's what my magical shopping powers boil down to - patience, research and two well-heeled feet to pound the pavement with.

And if all else fails, if that combination sounds like too much hard work for you, that's what I'm here for.  Give me a holler!

I Think I Died and Went to Shoe Heaven

I got here yesterday and I'm leaving within the next hour, but I couldn't come to California and not go check out a new secret supplier.  After my business meeting today I drove about an hour south of the city today to visit an outlet in this area.  I didn't think it would be worth it, but wanted to give it a shot.

HOLY BONANZA, Batman!  I've never seen so many cheap red soles together in the same place.  AND I made friends with the shoe section manager, who said she would keep me updated on new styles that come into the store.

Woohoo!!

Back Stateside and Busier than Ever

Those of you who are Facebook friends of the blog have already met my new white patent Christian Louboutin Joli Noeuds.  I brought back one more, less exciting but more practical friend from Italy: a pair of Tory Burch Reva Gabi ballerina flats in a size 7.  I'll admit, these were supposed to be for me, but in typical fashion I convinced myself in the store that they fit perfectly, given how inexpensive they were, and then realized back my hotel room that no matter how much I liked these I am NOT a size 7.  I also have a VERY high arch, inherited from my mom, which makes it difficult for me to wear flats.

In any event, I got them for such a steal that I've decided to put them in my store inventory closet rather than my personal closet.

Now that we're done with introductions, I have to tell you my re-entry to the US has been extremely smooth.  Already my little helper (my son) and I ventured out to as yet underdiscovered venues, which helped convince me that I already knew all of the venues worth knowing.  Fortunately my little helper was extremely well behaved and didn't knock over any racks of shoes, but now the poor baby is sick with a runny nose and a fever so he's going to have to sit today's shopping trip out.

This week is going to be a fairly busy ones, which means I might neglect the blog a bit while I sort myself out.  I'm going to San Francisco on a business trip Monday night, and then my parents are coming in on Wednesday and staying for almost a week.  Should anything exciting happen, though, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Special Report - Madrid Shopping Experience

Madrid, much like Milan and Florence, must be a nice place to shop during the sales season.  I have to be honest with you all.  I'm very proud of my magic shopping powers and all week I have been feeling a little bit like Superman on the planet Krypton.  That is to say, I'm not familiar with the stores, with the currency and with the modus operandi so I have no idea where to go to get the kinds of deals I can get in the US.  The retail price difference and VAT refund are not enough to make most purchases worth it.  Yes, I've saved a few dollars here and there on European designer goods, like a tie I bought for my husband that was $50 cheaper here, but in general the savings are relatively small compared to the price of the items.

I did find one thing that might be worth buying in Europe to resell in the U.S., and that is Louis Vuitton handbags.  I was looking into the Louis Vuitton Neverfull for a client of mine and after the tax refund the smallest of the Neverfull series is about $150 cheaper here than in the us.

Anyway, hopefully once I get back home and away from the kryptonite on this planet my magic shopping powers will return and I can carry on doing what I've been doing.  Unfortunately my flight home is delayed and I will probably get home too late to hit the outlets, but hey, there's always the weekend!

See you soon, everybody.

Special Report - Italian Outlet Shopping Results

After a long day that involved combing through rows and rows of Prada, Miu Miu, Gucci, Valentino, Dior, Fendi, Balenciaga and YSL, among others, I have finally arrived in Milano and the verdict is in: the outlets in Tuscany are very disappointing.

My cousin Valentina and I woke up very early this morning - at 7 AM - and got ready for the 2.5 hr drive from the outskirts of Rome to the outskirts of Florence, heading first for the Prada outlet "Lo Spaccio" in Montevarchi and then for the luxury outlet shopping center "The Mall" in Leccio Regello.  I had heard great things about Lo Spaccio and also had great expectations given my previous experience with Italian outlet shopping.  I come to Italy relatively often and had visited the Tod's outlet in Casettedete before, having successfully obtained a pair of Tod's flats for about $100.

I must preface this by saying that the Italian sales season ended not one week ago, and had that still be going on I would probably have been telling a very different story.  But the sad truth, as I told my sister in my live report over Blackberry Messenger today, is that I could have done better than the prices I saw today at the outlets I frequent in the US.  The cheapest pair of shoes I saw at Lo Spaccio were about $200 for a pair of Miu Miu platforms, which is not bad considering, but every time I got excited about a pair of shoes they didn't have the size I was looking for.  Furthermore the bags were beyond hideous and expensive on top of that.

The Mall, on the other hand, which I expected to be grossly overrated, had moments of great promise.  There were a few leather Gucci bags for less than $300, but they were outlet quality and frankly did not look the part. Valentino had some amazing shoes for about $150 but not in the correct sizes.  Burberry was outrageously expensive but had a great selection.  In every store I visited there was some sort of but.

Finally, after six hours of desperately trying to find something worth buying, both for the people who made special requests and well as for reselling on eBay, I had to walk away empty handed.

But all is not lost!!  During the late afternoon my cousin dropped me off at an outlet where they sell Louboutin shoes before heading back into Rome and before my scheduled departure for Milan.  It was there that I finally found something I'm sure will come in handy for SOMEONE.  A pair of Louboutin Jolie Noed Dorcet shoes (pictured above) in white patent in a 36.5 for an incredible price.  I found a few other Louboutin gems but purchased only this one due to financial constraints.  I would still like to find things to bring back for my personal shopping clients and I'd like to conserve some cash or credit to go hunt those things down tomorrow after my business meeting.  After all, I am in the fashion capital of Europe.  I'm sure I can dig something up at a decent price!

Buona Notte!  Vado a dormire! (Good night - I'm off to sleep!)

Buona Sera from Italy

Ciao! Come va?

Today is my fourth day in Italy and my first day on the mainland.  I spent a few days in Sicily for my cousin's wedding and now I'm slowly making my way back to civilization.  I've yet to do any work shopping, since there's really not much selection in Sicily, but the one store I stepped into in Agrigento was very, very promising.

While I have access to a computer I wanted to let you guys know something very exciting happened to me this week.  Lisa, one of my clients and the author of a great blog called Fantabulously Frugal, wrote a post about her experience working with me.  Needless to say I'm thrilled to bits Lisa had a good buying experience and I wanted to thank her for writing about me by referring you guys to her blog.  Please, while I'm away and not writing very much, visit Fantabulously Frugal and show Lisa lots of love!!

In other news, I'm going to the outlets on Monday, so if you hang around here then I might be able to do a mini virtual sample sale, if they'll let me take pictures of the merchandise.  More on that as my plans evolve.

Arrivederci!

Off to Europe Tomorrow

My sister gave me this GREAT idea to do an "online sample sale" from Italy while I'm at the outlets.  I'll let you guys know whether it's logistically possible.

Wish my luck on my trip. It's the first time I've left my son for this long. :(

I hope those damn shoes are worth it.